Speaker: Carla F. Kim, PhD
Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Principal Investigator, Boston Children’s Hospital Stem Cell Program Faculty, Stem Cell Program
Hosted by Evan Snyder, MD, PhD
Professor in Human Genetics Program
Director for Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine; Sanford Children’s Health Research Center
Her work has contributed to a better understanding of stem cell biology in the lung, development of innovative approaches for examining the cellular and molecular basis of cancer and pulmonary disease, and identification of new therapeutic avenues for lung cancer.
The success that Dr. Kim’s lab has had investigating the molecular pathways that regulate lung stem cells and the role of stem cells in lung cancer is a testament to her potential to make new strides in understanding lung disease and basic biology. Working with genetically engineered mouse models that accurately represent human lung cancer, Dr. Kim’s group was the first to identify cancer stem cell populations in the two most frequent types of lung cancer in patients (Cell Stem Cell, 2010 and Cancer Cell, 2014). Her lab’s knowledge in lung stem cells has revealed a new combination therapy approach for particular subsets of lung cancer patients (Fillmore et al, Nature, 2015). Dr. Kim’s lab has developed a 3D lung organoid system that makes it possible to derive specialized lung cells from lung stem cells (Lee et al, Cell, 2014).
Through a combination of mouse genetics and cell biology, Kim has developed tools to identify and characterize cells with progenitor cell activity in adult lung tissue. Her lab has applied our expertise in normal progenitors to the study of lung cancer, which resulted in our definition of the cancer stem cell populations in the two most common types of lung cancer.
The Kim lab has also examined the mechanisms that regulate lung progenitor cell self-renewal and differentiation, leading to an understanding of how multiple epigenetic factors affect lung injury repair, lung tumorigenesis and response to therapy in lung cancer. Working between platforms in sophisticated organoid culture techniques, genetically engineered mouse models of injury and cancer, and human cell lines and specimens, their research has progressed from basic biology to translational research to beginnings of clinical trials.
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Presented by the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.
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