UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 21

and a successful cancer researcher in his own
right. My two children love the Birmingham area
as well. They are in the Vestavia Hills school
system and were able to quickly settle in amongst
the friendly community. I feel very fortunate to
also have a wonderful “lab family.” My lab family
are the people with whom I spend most of my
time at work – the members who are the driving
force of my research.
Our research
A tumor is not a sole entity. It’s always
engaged in a dialogue with its surrounding.
The cancer community coined the terms
“tumor milieu” or “tumor microenvironment.”
Tumor cells modify their environment to make
it conducive for their growth and metastasis
(spread). Research has shown that even before
the cancer cells set up their route of migration,
they send out signals that travel through the
circulation and start conditioning the secondary
site for the arrival of the cancer cells.
I study the cross-talk, or the conversation,
between the tumor cells and the cells in the
tumor microenvironment. The microenvironment
is a village of multiple cells – stromal cells,
fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and the plethora
of immune cells. My research investigates the
dialogue between these cells and the tumor cells,
and how this dialogue enables the tumor cells to
break free of the bounds of being at the primary
site and metastasize to a secondary site. We
investigate metastasis, predominantly in breast
cancer. Breast cancer is known to metastasize
to different organs – the lungs, liver, bones, the
brain. The tumor cells that initially grow in the
breast find their way out of the confines of the
primary tumor, travel through the vasculature
system, and end up in the bone or the liver or the
brain. They set up shop at the secondary site and
start growing there.
One of the signaling mechanisms we
investigate is the hedgehog pathway, which
is very active during development. There are
several morphogenetic cues that happen in the
development of the embryo, which results in
cells moving about. After the development of the
embryo is complete, in a fully grown adult, this
pathway isn’t active, except for sites where there
is regeneration, such as our gastrointestinal tract
or during injury repair. Cancer cells are clever.
They turn on this signaling mechanism because
it gives them an adva ntage in terms of growth
and in being able to metastasize. We’ve been
investigating this hedgehog signaling for the
past 10 years (see cover story, page X). Ongoing
research areas encompass investigations on
further molecular characterization of the dialogue
between tumor cells and microenvironment and
its impact on drug resistance. The overall goal is
to discover novel targets of intervention.
Cancer Center Education and Training
Another area that I’m excited about is my new
role as the Cancer Center’s associate director of
education and training. My goal is to provide
oversight and coordination of our Cancer Center’s
extensive education and training programs and
build on the professional training opportunities
at UAB. I want to have a unified structure of
education and training, encompassing not just
graduate students and post-doctoral students,
but also clinicians, residents, fellows and junior
faculty. The goal at UAB is to ensure our faculty
and trainees succeed. My vision is to shape and
develop the minds and careers of future cancer
researchers and clinicians – essentially our future
leaders.
I’m a researcher at heart. I love doing my
research. That’s the one thing that gets me out of
bed every morning. What is the next big question
we can ask? What new experiment am I going
to design to address the next big question? I love
that aspect about research – asking the questions,
finding the answers, and in the process, being
able to train the next generation of cancer
researchers. We’re at war with cancer, and it’s not
a one-person army. We have to train an army of
qualified people. The only way we can train an
army of people is by training the next generation
of researchers. I love coming to work and training
students and fellows. I see these students at
different stages. They come in unsure, but with
a tremendous level of energy and enthusiasm to
take on a challenge. It is after they have joined a
laboratory and they qualify to candidacy that you
can see the change. They’re suddenly confident
and take ownership in their projects. Seeing that
transition is outstanding. That’s when I know,
“This is why I do what I do.”
# K N O W U A B C C C
•
“I’m a researcher
at heart. I
love doing my
research. That’s
the one thing
that gets me out
of bed every
morning.”
U A B . E D U / C A N C E R
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