Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
I am interested in understanding mechanisms of cancer development, progression and resistance to therapies. During my graduate studies at the EMBL, I investigated mechanisms of oncogene activation by chromosome rearrangements as well as cell transformation by tumor suppressor inactivation. From these projects I acquired expertise in genomic engineering and screening techniques. Furthermore, as part of a bioinformatics and genomics lab, I gained experience in programming, an important skill for elaborate data analysis. During my postdoc in the Sage lab, I focus on small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is characterized by rapid relapse, metastasis and resistance to therapies. My overall goal is to identify mechanisms that confer sensitivity to drug treatment in resistant cells by conducting unbiased whole genome gene inactivation screens as well as genomic analyses. I am excited to learn in depth how to investigate cellular pathways whose dysregulation lead to tumorigenesis and drug resistance in vitro and in vivo. I hope that my research will contribute to the development of treatment strategies that can potentially be used in the clinic.