Pippa Cosper
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes about 5% of cancers worldwide, including most cervical cancers and many throat cancers, known as oropharyngeal cancers. Patients with these cancers usually receive the same chemoradiation, which combines platinum chemotherapy with radiation.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
Genetics
- Topics
human papillomavirus
chromosomal instability
radiation oncology
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Define the types and extent of chromosomal instability, ongoing errors in how dividing cells sort chromosomes, caused by different HPV genotypes and different levels of the viral oncogenes that drive cancer.
- Test whether pre-existing chromosomal instability makes HPV-positive and HPV-negative cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, using cell culture, in vivo animal models and patient tumors.
- Determine how chromosomal instability shapes innate and adaptive immune responses after radiation, to find tumor and host factors that predict treatment response.
More about the research
Yet their outcomes differ a lot. Cervical cancer patients do worse than throat cancer patients, and HPV-negative tumors at both sites do worse than HPV-positive ones. This project asks whether a tumor's own biology, especially chromosomal instability, could explain these differences and help tailor radiation to each patient. Chromosomal instability (CIN) means cells keep making mistakes when they divide up their chromosomes.
Why it matters
Patients with cervical and head and neck cancers currently receive the same radiation treatment, even though their tumors respond differently. Biomarkers based on chromosomal instability and immune response could help doctors adjust radiation doses for each patient, raising cure rates for patients who need stronger treatment and reducing side effects for those who need less.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Tammara Watts
Duke University, NC·Medicine & Clinical Research
Identify ancestry-associated driver genes in HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers from Black and White patients and relate them to treatment response, recurrence and overall survival.
Dohun Pyeon
Michigan State University, MI·Microbiology & Immunology
Define how the chemokine CXCL14 increases MHC-I antigen presentation, which lets immune cells recognize tumor cells, to suppress HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Andreas Wieland
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology
Generate dimeric IgA antibodies that target the HPV cancer-driving proteins E6 and E7, using a platform of human monoclonal antibodies isolated from B cells inside patients' tumors.
The school
University of Wisconsin-Madison: 91 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 854 research doctorates a year.
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