As each patient tumor has unique molecular characteristics - which can profoundly impact the biology of the tumor and/or response to therapeutics - for every patient sample we receive and every preclinical model we create, we perform next generation sequencing (RNA and Exome Sequencing) to obtain a detailed molecular profile of each tumor and its derivative model. These profiles inform on how faithful our models are in representing the molecular signatures of each patient tumor, and unique molecular profiles of each preclinical tumor model impacts our biological and drug treatment studies. Finally, we also incorporate molecular imaging, specifically positron emission tomography (PET) of both patients and model systems, to investigate how non-invasive imaging of important functional processes (e.g. metabolism) is different between tumors and how the imaging dynamics of these processes with drug treatment can predict individual tumor response.

Team Members and Collaborators