The Translational Neuro-Oncology laboratory of Jann N. Sarkaria, M.D., is focused on developing novel therapeutic strategies for people with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and brain metastases.

Global interests in the lab include understanding the basis of resistance to chemotherapy and radiation, identifying methods to overcome therapy resistance, integration of novel signal transduction inhibitors into conventional therapies for newly diagnosed or recurrent GBM, and use of next-generation sequencing and proteomics to guide individualized therapy for patients with GBM.

Focus areas
Drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier can be a major obstacle to delivering effective therapies for patients with brain tumors. Thus, a major focus of the laboratory is defining which drugs have adequate penetration into brain tumors and testing novel delivery methods to enhance drug accumulation into brain tumors.
Patient-derived xenograft models. The laboratory has an extensive collection of GBM and brain metastases patient-derived xenograft models with extensive characterization by various next-generation sequencing platforms as well as significant phenotypic characterization. These models are used extensively in the laboratory for translational studies.