RESEARCH IN ONCOLOGY

Featuring: C. David James, PhD, Maciej Lesniak, MD, Roger Stupp, MD, Alexander Stegh, PhD, Chad Mirkin, PhD, Priya Kumthekar, MD, GME, Atique Ahmed, PhD
Northwestern’s Brain Tumor SPORE — part of the Lurie Cancer Center — began in 2018, and the bench to bedside process is producing results. Under the leadership of Lesniak and James, the SPORE has made advances in understanding the genetic basis of the disease and developed potential therapies that reduce treatment resistance and clinical trials using immunotherapies. The SPORE philosophy of collaboration and team science under one roof is alive and well.

“Over the last ten to fifteen years, our body of knowledge about the molecular characteristics of glioblastoma has increased tremendously,” James said. “As we take the information generated by dozens, if not hundreds of labs and analyze individual patient tumors to determine characteristics that can be targeted with specific therapies, I think we will begin to see more rapid progress in effective treatment of this cancer.”