Heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is an emerging therapeutic modality that improves survival for ovarian cancer patients. However, the mechanisms by which HIPEC improves ovarian cancer outcomes and the patients most likely to benefit from this procedure remain unclear. Our laboratory is utilizing genome-wide transcriptomic profiling and proteomics to better understand the impact of HIPEC on ovarian cancer, biomarkers to identify patients most likely to benefit from its use and develop novel therapeutic agents to further improve HIPECs efficacy.   

We have uncovered novel patterns of signaling within the stromal microenvironment of endometrial cancers which potentially play a key role in determining its response to immunotherapy. We are utilizing a variety of approaches to dissect the role of these pathways both in vitro and in vivo, assess how they are impacted by obesity and metabolism and determine how they can be best leveraged to improve endometrial cancer outcomes. 

Inflammation has long been hypothesized to play a key role in the growth of uterine leiomyomas, smooth muscle tumors found in as many as 70% of women. However, the mechanisms by which inflammation drives leiomyoma growth remain poorly understood. Our laboratory is integrating mass spectroscopy, spatial and single-cell transcriptomics and metabolomics to parse the role of subpopulations of inflammatory cells in these tumors and develop novel, non-hormonal options that can ideally be used to control leiomyoma growth without impairing fertility. This data is being used to better understand the genesis of leiomyosarcomas and applications.