Gordon Mills
Oregon Health & Science University, OR·Medicine & Clinical Research
Millions of DNA changes have been found in cancers, but it is still hard to tell which ones drive disease and how to treat them. This is especially true for neomorphic changes.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Genetics
Computer Science
- Topics
neomorphic mutations
cancer driver genes
fusion genes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Develop computational algorithms that predict which cancer point mutations and fusion genes are neomorphic drivers, changes that give proteins new functions.
- Determine how candidate neomorphic driver aberrations alter protein and cellular pathways in glioma, sarcoma and endometrial cancers, using autochthonous tumor models created by electroporation.
- Identify therapeutic weaknesses created by neomorphic drivers, including combinations with immune-targeting therapies, resistance mechanisms and predictive biomarkers for clinical trials.
More about the research
These mutations or fused genes give a protein a new, unpredictable function, for example by changing what it binds, how it is controlled or where it sits in the cell. Because their effects are hard to predict, they may help explain why targeted drugs fail in many patients.
Why it matters
Patients with glioma, sarcoma and endometrial cancers have limited options, and neomorphic mutations can confuse treatment decisions. Predicting and targeting these changes could reveal new drug targets, biomarkers to pick the right patients, and combinations with immunotherapy to test in clinical trials.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Antonio Iavarone
University of Miami, FL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Identify homogeneous subgroups of brain tumors that share activation of the same biological pathways, using integrated computational analysis of patient tumor data to improve molecular stratification of glioblastoma.
Drew Pardoll
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify molecules made by regulatory T cells (Tregs), immune cells that suppress other immune cells, that are found specifically in tumors of patients who do not respond to anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 therapy.
Suryavathi Viswanadhapalli
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine how LIF/LIFR signaling, a growth-factor pathway linked to poor survival, drives endometrial cancer progression, using global genomic approaches in endometrial cancer cells.
The school
Oregon Health & Science University: 24 labs on PI Pages, $545M a year on research, 54 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.