Cancer Stem Cell Models Empower the Discovery of Novel Therapeutic Targets using Advanced in Vivo Screening

Webinar Description:

Advances in our understanding of cancer stem cells and the tumor hierarchy have dramatically influenced our approach to the study of cancer biology and methods of novel target discovery. We will discuss the benefits, opportunities and, at times necessity of studying cancer biology directly within in vivo functional microenvironments, with a particular focus on cancer stem cells. We will also discuss a novel high-throughput in vivo screening strategy we developed to identify direct therapeutic targets within solid tumors. Using intracranial patient-derived xenograft models of glioblastoma, we discovered screening within a functional microenvironment reveals a host of targets not detected by parallel in vitro screening. These in vivo-specific targets were more clinically relevant and validated in preclinical models of glioblastoma, demonstrating the power and utility of functional in vivo screening to identify therapeutically relevant targets in cancer.

Learning Objectives:

• Define the functional criteria of cancer stem cells
• The role of the microenvironment in cancer biology and stem cell biology
• In vivo modeling of the primary tumor
• Technologies that allow for the study of cells within an in vivo tumor microenvironment
• Novel in vivo screening strategies for discovery of direct therapeutic targets

Speakers:

Jeremy N. Rich, MD, MHS, MBA

Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

Cleveland Clinic

Jeremy N. Rich, MD, MHS, MBA has served as the inaugural Chair of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. He is also Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University; Staff, Brain Tumor & Neuro-Oncology Center, Department of Neurology, and Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic; Co-Director, Center for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, National Center for Regenerative Medicine; and Adjunct Associate Professor, Duke University School of Medicine. He is a practicing Neuro-Oncologist serving patients afflicted with primary and metastatic brain tumors. His research has focused on improving the modeling and targeting of these cancers through integration of stem cell biology, signal transduction, and tumor microenvironmental concepts into cancer biology. His group provided the first evidence that solid tumor stem cells display therapeutic resistance and promote tumor angiogenesis. Other observations have included the effects of stressful environmental conditions in the preservation of the tumor hierarchy. He has published nearly 200 original reports and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP).

Tyler E. Miller, Ph.D.

Jeremy Rich Lab, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miller is a fellow in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Case Western Reserve University and recently received his PhD in Cancer Biology, Pathology. During his thesis training he was co-mentored by Dr. Jeremy Rich at Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Paul Tesar at Case Western and developed novel screening methods to discover epigenetic modulators of normal and neoplastic neural stem cells, with direct applications to multiple sclerosis and glioblastoma, respectively. Dr. Miller is currently finishing medical school training at Case Western Reserve Medical School.

Moderator:

Cole Jones

Marketing Product Manager

Miltenyi Biotec Inc.

Amanda Sanders

Marketing Communications Manager

Miltenyi Biotec Inc.