Targeting the DNA Damage Response for Cancer Therapy

About

Dr. Timothy Yap is a Medical Oncologist and Physician-Scientist based at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is an Associate Professor in the Department for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Program) and the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. Dr. Yap is the Medical Director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science a drug discovery biopharmaceutical unit where drug discovery and clinical translation are seamlessly integrated. He is also the Associate Director of Translational Research in the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy which is an integrated research and clinical trials program aimed at implementing personalized cancer therapy and improving patient outcomes. His main interests include the targeting of the DNA damage response (DDR) with novel therapeutics such as PARP inhibitors as well as the development of novel immunotherapeutics. Dr. Yap is and/or has been Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials and translational studies evaluating novel monotherapy and combination strategies for targeting the DDR in cancer such as PARP ATR WEE1 POLQ CHK1 USP1 PARG ATM DNA-PK and PARP1-selective inhibitors.Dr. Geoffrey Shapiro is Professor Clinical Director of the Dana-Farber Center for DNA Damage and Repair Leader of the Early Drug Development Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Cancer Center. In his leadership roles Dr. Shapiro has provided scientific and clinical direction for the design of early-phase clinical trials that evaluated a broad range of investigational agents including DNA damage response modulators that inhibit PARP and checkpoint kinases. He has also conducted studies of a variety of signal transduction and angiogenesis inhibitors. Furthermore Dr. Shapiro has made proof-of-mechanism studies a mission of his program and has worked closely with basic and translational scientists at his institution and elsewhere to establish robust preclinical rationale for many trials. Dr. Shapiros laboratory has made contributions toward the development of several combinations of targeted agents that are currently in clinical evaluation such as PARP inhibitors for the treatment of solid tumors. He has also established translational assays to identify target engagement of these combinations in patients. More recently Dr. Shapiro has sought to understand the effects of several classes of agents notably PARP inhibitors on the immune microenvironment to further develop rational combinations.