Research Assistant in the Becher Lab at Mount Sinai Hospital- Department of Pediatric Oncology
Molecular research on the biology of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma and potential therapies for it. Development of better models for disease in mice and cell cultures to test novel therapies and optimize the use of current treatments such as radiation therapy. Responsibilities include tissue culturing, maintaining mouse colonies, and bioluminescence imaging. Currently on a project investigating the efficacy of drug/drug vehicles crossing the blood-brain barrier and targeting the tumor with specificity
DIPG/DMG Learning Hub Development
Working with leaders from across disciplines in the DIPG/DMG community including clinicians, researchers, data scientists, and advocates. The overarching goal of the project is to optimize the use of patient data to streamline matching to clinical trials and facilitate the creation of n of 1 arms for clinical trials. This platform will provide physicians with in-depth, close-to-real-time information about their patients, researchers will have a platform to share successes and obstacles in their work, and patients will have access to tailored education regarding the latest treatments and information about DIPG/DMG.
Research on the Patient-Family Experience During Discussion and Decision Making Related to Post-Mortem Brain Tumor Tissue Donation
Research into factors impacting patient families and how they make decisions regarding post-mortem donation. Information about discussions with the care team, such as the timing of the discussion, the language used, and the party initiating the discussion will be assessed. Demographic information such as race, educational background, and travel time/access to medical care will also be analyzed. The goal of the project is to find the most effective and caring protocols for post-mortem tissue donation discussion in order to empower care teams to discuss the options with their patients.