Modern molecular characterization of tumors of the urinary bladder has illuminated cellular pathways that may be important for bladder cancer development. Dr. Arora is investigating the role played by a family of proteins called nuclear receptors in driving bladder cancer development and progression. These studies will provide insights into the fundamental basis of bladder cancer, while validating potential drug targets. Nuclear receptors are particularly attractive drug targets because they are highly amenable to modulation with drugs. He hopes to pave the way for the development of drugs to effectively target nuclear receptors in bladder cancer.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can occur on a number of epithelial surface tissues ranging from the skin and lung to the esophagus and oropharynx, and collectively, are the most common form of cancer in the world. Recent sequencing studies have found that mutations in epigenetic regulators that control gene expression frequently occur in all forms of SCC. Dr. Capell aims to harness the great accessibility of human skin to understand how altered epigenetics promotes cutaneous SCC. Given that epigenetic changes are inherently reversible and numerous epigenetic drugs are currently in development, he hopes that by understanding these mechanisms he will identify better therapies for these incredibly common and potentially deadly cancers.

Dr. Didychuk is investigating the mechanism by which the Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) co-opts the cellular host machinery to produce its own gene products in a manner distinct from other viruses and host cells. This research should reveal insights into this unique mode of transcriptional control. KHSV is an oncogenic virus that causes various cancers including, Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman’s disease, in immunocompromised individuals.

One of the unique features of liver cancer is the way in which it obtains and uses different forms of energy, especially fats. Drs. Evason and Ducker found that a certain type of fat (phosphatidylcholine lipids) is elevated in both zebrafish and human liver cancer cells. They are using zebrafish, which form tumors similar to the human disease and can be easily manipulated to study liver cancer. The goal of this project is to determine why phosphatidylcholine lipid levels are higher in liver cancer and how they might be targeted with drugs to prevent or cure this disease.

Earlier cancer detection usually means a greater chance of remission or cure, but cost-effective and highly specific cancer screening is not yet available for most cancers. More than 90 percent of cancers harbor aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell; this abnormality is highly specific for cancer and can be detected with DNA sequencing. Dr. Dudley is developing a new approach for detecting cells with abnormal amounts of DNA, which could identify cancer sooner. He aims to apply this approach to urine and Pap smear samples to create an inexpensive and sensitive screening test for bladder, ovarian and endometrial cancers.

Dr. Eldred is focusing on retinoblastoma, a tumor of the eye that primarily occurs in children. She is developing three-dimensional tissue cultures that replicate the complexity of the human retina. Using these retinal “organoid” models, Dr. Eldred will generate mutations of the retinoblastoma (RB1) gene in previously healthy tissue to observe the effects of different mutations on the formation and growth of retinoblastoma. She hopes this will also shed light on the roles of tumor-causing oncogenes and tumor suppressors involved in retinoblastoma progression. A deeper understanding of specific RB1 mutations may guide the prevention, diagnosis, and development of individualized treatment plans for patients with retinoblastoma and other cancers involving mutations in the RB1 pathway.   

One of the unique features of liver cancer is the way in which it obtains and uses different forms of energy, especially fats. Drs. Evason and Ducker found that a certain type of fat (phosphatidylcholine lipids) is elevated in both zebrafish and human liver cancer cells. They are using zebrafish, which form tumors similar to the human disease and can be easily manipulated to study liver cancer. The goal of this project is to determine why phosphatidylcholine lipid levels are higher in liver cancer and how they might be targeted with drugs to prevent or cure this disease.

Dr. Flynn aims to understand the interplay between cancer metabolism and RNA biology at the level of protein modifications, such as glycosylation. The use of metabolites to fuel cellular processes including cell division and protein synthesis are critical in both healthy tissue and cancer growth. This work will define glycosylation events that respond to and regulate the cancer state within RNA-based networks, thereby establishing new layers of regulation for future therapeutic targeting.

Christopher’s research centers on the earliest steps whereby normal cells transform into abnormal cells with the potential to become cancer. He will focus on better understanding the first steps of the process by which normal blood cells become lymphomas, cancers that are generally thought to arise from blood cells that have already committed to becoming lymphocytes, an important component of the immune system. He hypothesizes, however, that some lymphomas actually arise from earlier hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). He will interrogate this hypothesis by studying a cohort of lymphoma patients who also have detectable genetic mutations in HSCs that are known to be associated with blood cancers – a condition known as clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential, or CHIP – to determine whether the mutations in the HSCs were the earliest events in the development of the patients’ lymphomas. Having a better understanding of lymphomas’ cellular basis will hopefully allow new insights into their clinical behavior and therapeutic vulnerabilities.

Dr. Kalish is studying a rare hereditary syndrome called Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), which increases the risk of children developing kidney and liver cancers. These individuals have epigenetic changes on chromosome 11 that are found in other types of cancers. Epigenetic markers modify DNA so gene expression is turned on or off; changes in this process can cause cancer. By understanding how cancer is triggered in BWS, Dr. Kalish aims to identify pathways that can be targeted for the development of new treatments both for BWS patients and for others with cancers that have similar epigenetic changes. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Kalish established the BWS Registry, which compiles both clinical data and patient samples, and created the first human cell-based models of BWS. Dr. Kalish works under the mentorship of Marisa Bartolomei, PhD, at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia.