My research interests are broad and encompass experience in preclinical and translational oncology research. Given my keen interest in translational research, I joined the multi-disciplinary Chiosis Laboratory, to gain a deeper understanding of the key requirements for the development of novel therapeutics and their translation from bench to clinic. Hsp90 has an important role in regulating diverse oncogenic signaling mechanisms by stabilizing and folding key proteins involved in carcinogenesis and is a highly sought after target for cancer therapy. Given the biological complexity of cancers and the inherent anti-apoptotic signaling resilience of tumors, targeting a multi-modal signaling regulator like Hsp90 would destabilize multiple proteins involved in diverse oncogenic biological processes. The Chiosis Laboratory has demonstrated the efficacy of PU-H71, an Hsp90 inhibitor currently in Phase I clinical trials, in a wide array of cancers (breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, lymphoma) and has shown that tumor cells form functionally distinct complexes referred to as the “oncogenic Hsp90” that are enriched and expanded in tumors cells and are important in folding and stabilizing the onco-proteins in cancer cells. My project involves two phases (1) Conducting exploratory steps of biomarker development utilizing chemical tools generated by chemists in the Chiosis Laboratory and (2) To understand the mechanism of action of Hsp90 inhibitors in cancer and develop rational mechanistically driven combination therapies with PU-H71

Patents