Maddie Turner

Program: Cancer Biology

Current advisor: David G. DeNardo, PhD

Undergraduate university: Rice University, 2021

Enrollment year: 2022

Research summary
Exploring tumor intrinsic and stromal mechanisms of Focal Adhesion Kinase/FAK and Ras/Raf/Mek inhibition in combination with radiation therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarinoma.

Radiation therapy (RT) is has been shown to help initiate anti-tumor immune responses in many cancer types; however, this does not occur in PDAC, which is resistant to most existing forms of therapy. Our lab has shown that combining Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) inhibition with RT enhances tumor regression and also prompts enhanced interferon signaling, although treatment resistance eventually develops in mouse models. I aim to address a potential mechanism of resistance through the addition Ras/Raf/Mek inhibition to this combination therapy, and to characterize both tumor-intrinsic and tumor-extrinsic factors contributing to disease response.

Graduate publications