Christopher Vakoc

Christopher Vakoc is a molecular biologist and a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[1]

Education

Vakoc graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 2001.[1] He then attained his M.D. and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His PhD research was performed with Gerd Blobel on the regulation of gene expression during hematopoiesis.[1] In 2008, he established his own independent research group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[1][2]

Career and research

Vakoc uses CRISPR/Cas9 technology to probe the epigenetic regulation of cancer and to identify new cancer drug targets.[1][2] In 2011, Vakoc discovered that the epigenetic protein BRD4 was particularly important for leukemia, leading to a series of clinical trials with a new drug, JQ1.[3][4][5] By studying cancer epigenetics, Vakoc has also identified a new subtype of lung cancer[6] and has discovered how gene expression changes affect metastasis in pancreatic cancer.[7][8]

Recently, Vakoc has developed a CRISPR screening approach to identify the protein domains that are most important for cancer growth.[9][10]

Awards and honors

References
  1. "Christopher Vakoc, MD, PhD". Pershing Square Foundation. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  2. Ryan, Joe (2013-06-07). "Cold Spring Harbor Lab targeting cancer cells". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2013-09-01. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  3. "A Conversation with Christopher Vakoc". Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology. 81: 344–346. 2016-01-01. doi:10.1101/sqb.2016.81.031617. ISSN 0091-7451. PMID 28123048.
  4. Zuber, Johannes; Shi, Junwei; Wang, Eric; Rappaport, Amy R.; Herrmann, Harald; Sison, Edward A.; Magoon, Daniel; Qi, Jun; Blatt, Katharina; Wunderlich, Mark; Taylor, Meredith J. (October 2011). "RNAi screen identifies Brd4 as a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukaemia". Nature. 478 (7370): 524–528. doi:10.1038/nature10334. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3328300. PMID 21814200.
  5. Ricks, Delthia (2015-04-18). "Cold Spring Harbor researchers test treatment that can halt acute myeloid leukemia". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  6. Ricks, Delthia (2018-07-14). "Cold Spring Harbor scientists discover new form of lung cancer". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  7. Kwon, Diana (2017-07-27). "Enhancers Drive Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis: Study". The Scientist. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  8. "LI scientists make key pancreatic cancer find". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  9. Rood, Jenny (2015-05-13). "Targeting Protein Domains with CRISPR". The Scientist. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  10. Howley, Elaine K. (2018-09-12). "What's the likelihood that CRISPR will cure Cancer?". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 2018-09-13.
  11. "AACR recognizes outstanding cancer research achievements of Dr. Christopher Vakoc". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  12. Grisham, Julie (2019-11-08). "Three Scientists are Named Winners of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research". Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
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