July Trainee Seminar and Sponsored Happy Hour

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Please join us to hear from trainees conducting brain cancer and technology-related research. This is part of a special summer seminar series that will be followed by a BIBC sponsored social hour at Rappourt Taproom.

This will be the last BIBC seminar for the summer and will resume in the fall

Dr. Andrea Comba, PhD, Research Investigator: “Oncostreams: Spatiotemporal analysis of high-grade gliomas reveals COL1A1 as an actionable target to disrupt mesenchymal transformation and invasion”

Dr. Comba is a Research Investigator in the Castro-Lowenstein Lab, Department of Neurosurgery

Abstract: Intra-tumoral heterogeneity and diffuse infiltration are hallmarks of GBMs that challenge treatment efficacy. However, the mechanisms that set up both tumor heterogeneity and invasion remain poorly understood. We studied the tumoral landscape integrating morphological features, cellular dynamic properties and the spatial transcriptomic signature of high grade gliomas with translational implications. Our results disclose the existence of distinctive intra-tumoral histopathological features, named oncostreams, which are characterized as dynamic multicellular fascicles of spindle-like and aligned cells with mesenchymal properties. Disruption of oncostreams reprograms the malignant histopathological phenotype and prolongs animal survival, representing a pathological marker of potential value for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for glioma.

Zeqi Niu, PhD Candidate: “Monitoring and targeting cancer metastasis through Circulating Tumor Cells using microfluidic technologies”

Zeqi Niu is a Doctoral Student in Sunitha Nagrath’s lab, Department of Chemical Engineering.

Abstract: Metastasis is associated with 90% of cancer-related mortality. During the metastatic process, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are shed from solid tumors into the bloodstream. Isolation and characterization of CTCs and immune cell populations from patient blood samples can help monitor the disease status and guide personalized treatment. Moreover, developing methods to target CTCs can potentially help control metastasis. My research goal is to characterize CTCs isolated from clinical blood samples, and explore natural killer (NK) cell-based therapeutics to target CTCs. In this talk, I will be showcasing the application of the graphene oxide (GO) chip to isolate and characterize CTCs, as well as developing workflows to harvest cytotoxic NK cell exosomes.

 

The BIBC will be hosting a social hour following the seminar at Rappourt Taproom across the street from NCRC B10 from 4:30-6pm.

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