Seshiru Nakazawa, MD, PhD, (Seshiru_Nakazawa@dfci.harvard.edu) is studying the mechanisms of MET dysregulation and small cell transformation based on patient-derived models and clinical data. He also aims to modulate metabolic pathways to overcome treatment resistance to current molecular-targeted therapies.
Maisam Makarem MD, PhD, (maisam_makarem@dfci.harvard.edu) is exploring mechanisms of resistance to EGFR Exon 20 inhibitors, and exploring the clinicopathologic and genomic characteristics of patients with EGFR uncommon mutations.
Marie-Anais Locquet, PhD, (Marie-anais_Locquet@dfci.harvard.edu) focuses on preventing and reverting acquired resistance to EGFR-targeting therapies in NSCLC. She is working on therapeutic strategies to directly degrade EGFR by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway, as well as identifying potentially targetable vulnerabilities in EGFR-TKI resistant cells. Marie also develops in vitro 3D models of NSCLC from both patients samples and PDX.
Antja-Voy Hartley, PhD (Antja-Voy_Hartley@dfci.harvard.edu) focuses on designing rational and novel combination treatments to overcome resistance to EGFR-targeted therapies in EGFR-mutant lung cancers. Additionally, she explores options for targeted therapies for the treatment of mesotheliomas by linking the tumors’ genomic landscape to potential therapeutic vulnerabilities.
Francesco Facchinetti, MD, PhD (Francesco_Facchinetti@dfci.harvard.edu) studies features and liabilities of drug tolerant persister (DTP) cells in the setting of lung cancers driven by EGFR mutations and other oncogenic drivers. In addition, Francesco works on novel therapies acting as EGFR degraders.
Simon Baldacci, MD, PhD, (Simon_Baldacci@dfci.harvard.edu) is studying the minimal residual disease population following drug treatment in EGFR mutant cell lines and PDX models. The overall goal is to identify novel drug therapies which may target these residual tumor cells, leading to successful translation into a clinical trial protocol.