Event
BIOE Seminar: Daniele Gilkes
Friday, September 28, 2018
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room 2132
Dr. Giuliano Scarcelli
scarc@umd.edu
Dr. Daniele Gilkes
Assistant Professor, Oncology
Johns Hopkins University
Understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment
Of all the deaths attributed to cancer, 90% are due to metastasis, or the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to distant organs, and treatments that prevent or cure metastasis remain elusive. Emerging data indicate that low oxygen states within a tumor, termed hypoxia, can alter the chemical and physical parameters of the extracellular matrix (ECM), or scaffold of the tumor tissue. These changes generate a microenvironment that may be more conducive for promoting metastasis. During tumor evolution, changes in the composition and the overall content of the ECM reflect both its biophysical and biological properties and these strongly influence the cells properties, such as cellular proliferation and cell motility. The talk will cover how hypoxia arises within normal tissue and also in tumors. We will cover the role of hypoxia in collagen biogenesis which influences compositional changes to the tumor microenvironment and discuss how these changes lead to a stiffer tumor stroma. The challenges in determining the influence of chemical versus physical cues on cancer progression will also be considered.
About the Speaker
Daniele Gilkes earned her BS in Chemical Engineering and MS in Materials Science from the University of Florida. After a brief time in Industry, she pursued her PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of South Florida. Her post-doctoral fellowship was conducted at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where she was mentored by Gregg Semenza, MD, PhD and Denis Wirtz, PhD. She is currently Assistant Professor of Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Oncology with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The overall objective of her laboratory is to identify biomarkers and therapeutic strategies that focus on prolonging survival and preventing and treating metastasis for breast cancer patients.
