Speaker Profile
M.D., American Cancer Society Professor, Otolaryngology, UCSF
Biography
My research efforts are focused on elucidating and targeting key signaling pathways and genomic alterations in head and neck cancer with the goals of enabling precision medicine studies based on strong studies in relevant models. I have leveraged my access to head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and their biospecimens to optimize translational research studies that include developing novel therapies in the laboratory for clinical application as well as generating and interrogating relevant preclinical models to determine the underlying mechanism of clinical findings. In my institutional roles at the University of Pittsburgh and now at UCSF, I facilitated collaborations between clinicians and investigators with an emphasis of developing a robust research infrastructure to support clinical and translational cancer studies.
Talk
Head And Neck Cancer Precision Medicine
Elucidation of the genomic landscape of head and neck cancer has identified both the opportunities and limitations of leveraging tumor mutation information to guide therapy. Well characterized preclinical models coupled are useful to test therapies prior to clinical translation. Both immunocompetent models and platforms for testing strategies in patients are needed in this era of immuno-oncology.
