ToTOL - Research
The ToTOL research group combines the unique expertises Drs. Levi Beverly and Leah Siskind to study basic cancer biology, sphingolipid metabolism, experimental therapeutics, animal models and treatment-induced adverse side-effects. The lab currently has projects focused on lung cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute kidney disease and it progression to chronic kidney disease, as well as studies linking cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. See below for a short list of the exciting research happening now!
The Beverly lab is interested in using models of human cancer to elucidate the mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression and regression following therapeutic intervention. To this end, we have adopted a philosophy of combining pre-clinical models with biochemistry, molecular biology and cultured human cells to dissect signaling pathways and cellular processes involved in all aspects of cancer biology. Using information gathered from these experiments, we proceed back into our model systems to determine how our understanding of the disease initiation, progression or treatment response has advanced.
The Siskind lab focuses on acute kidney injury (AKI) and progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Many cancer chemotherapeutics, such as cisplatin, are effective in killing cancer cells and even curing cancer patients, however cisplatin (and other chemotherapeutics) can damage the kidney. Injury to the kidney can cause the oncologist to lower the chemotherapeutic dose or switch to a potentially less effective chemotherapeutic. Cancer patients that get AKI due to their chemotherapeutic treatment have a 30-fold increased risk of developing CKD later in life. The Siskind lab studies the mechanisms of cisplatin-induced AKI, progression to CKD and how cancer cells can directly alter kidney function.
