Maryam Yousefi, Ph.D.

While there is a great appreciation of the genetic diversity of lung tumors, our understanding of the relationship between lung cancer genetics and treatment is very limited due to high cost and absence of adequate computing systems. Our laboratory has established a cost-effective approach to generate different lung cancer genetic variations in individual mice and to measure tumor sizes. Using this approach, we will simultaneously assess the response of more than 10 different genetic variations in lung tumors in individual mice to various therapeutic regimens using genome-editing, tumor barcoding, and DNA sequencing. This work will evaluate the effect of therapies at a level of precision that far exceeds current approaches and will allow making clear and testable predictions of patient responses to various targeted therapies.