The developmental biology of cancer
Biography:
The White lab is interested in the intersection between developmental biology and cancer biology. There are many parallels in these processes, including both cell-intrinsic fate decisions as well as cell-cell interactions in the microenvironment. Using both zebrafish and human pluripotent stem cell models of melanoma, his lab has described a mechanism called “oncogenic competence” that explains why DNA mutations are only sometimes able to initiate tumors. His lab has found that the ability to initiate melanoma is strongly influence by the anatomic position of the cell along the body axis. Whereas cutaneous melanomas are enriched for BRAF mutations, acral melanomas more commonly harbor amplifications of genes such as CRKL. These specific oncogenes depend upon the positional gene program in the melanocytes, suggesting that an anatomic code could be a targetable vulnerability in melanoma. Finally, his work has more recently investigated how cells in the TME such as keratinocytes and adipocytes promote melanoma progression and metastasis, acting through signaling and epigenetic mechanisms. He has been awarded the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, as well as awards from the Melanoma Research Alliance, the Pershing Square Foundation Award, the American Cancer Society, and the Mark Foundation ASPIRE award.
Date: 2 December 2024, 13:00 (Monday, 8th week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QU
Venue Details: Seminar Room 2, Room 20-138
Speaker: Professor Richard White (Oxford Ludwig Institute)
Organising department: Department of Biochemistry
Organiser contact email address: sarah-jane.scard@bioch.ox.ac.uk
Host: Professor Alison Woollard (Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Oxford)
Part of: Biochemistry Department Seminar
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Sarah-Jane Scard, Jessica Barnes