Professor
NCI-Designated Cancer Center
Childhood brain cancer is not one disease, but many, each with its own genetic fingerprint and its own way of evading treatment. Advances in genomics now allow us to read these fingerprints in extraordinary detail, uncovering the hidden instructions that make some tumors grow so aggressively. This knowledge has transformed diagnosis, giving doctors faster, more precise answers than ever before.
Yet for many children, treatment remains out of reach. Some tumors resist surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. They grow back stronger or spread to other parts of the brain and body. Among the most aggressive are those fueled by extrachromosomal DNA — tiny, circular pieces carrying powerful cancer genes that push cells to grow without limits.
Our work seeks to stop these cancers at their source. By pairing cutting-edge genomic analysis with targeted experiments and large-scale drug screening, we search for medicines that can remove these rogue DNA circles and halt tumor growth. The science is complex, but the aim is simple: to turn discovery into life-saving treatments and brighter futures for children facing brain cancer.
