Antonio Iavarone, M.D. - "Next-generation multi-omics classification and therapeutic stratification of brain tumors"

  • When Sep 27, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM (Europe/Berlin / UTC200)
  • Where Tigem, Auditorium Angelo Maramai
  • Contact Name
  • Contact Phone 08119230659
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Antonio Iavarone, M.D. - "Next-generation multi-omics classification and therapeutic stratification of brain tumors"

Antonio Iavarone, M.D.
Professor of Neurological Surgery,

Deputy Director of the Sylvester , Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, Sylvester Brain Tumor Institute (SBTI)
University of Miami , Miller School of Medicine, USA

Short CV

Abstract
The overarching theme of our research program is to identify, stratify, and model key cancer genes from multiple molecular platforms. By focusing on the most significant and unbiased cancer modules, we have undertaken the task of identifying master regulators of cancer initiation and progression in distinct sub-groups of brain tumors. Some of the most notable examples include the ID proteins in cancer stem cells and the Stat3 and C/EBP transcription factors in glioblastomas undergoing progression along the mesenchymal lineage. We discovered the FGFR3-TACC3 gene fusion in glioblastoma. This translocation has emerged as the single most frequent gene fusion across all human tumors. We reported that FGFR3-TACC3 fusions trigger tumorigenesis through activation of oxidative phosphorylation. Our most recent work emphasized the importance of mitochondrial metabolism in tumor growth and enabled the stratification of cancer patients for precision targeting of tumor metabolism. Recently, using an unbiased algorithm based on kinase-phosphorylation site interactions that is applicable to any proteomic dataset, we identified and experimentally validated two protein kinases (PKCd and DNA-PKcs) as the master kinases that drive two functional subtypes of GBM and are therapeutic targets of other cancer subtypes.