Home Department: Symbolic Systems
Mentor: Julien Sage (Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology and Genetics)

“Leveraging Deep Learning Models to Evaluate Transcriptional Regulators of Small-Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) Plasticity"

SCLC is an aggressive subtype of lung cancer with dismal survival rates. SCLC exhibits high intra-tumor heterogeneity, where individual tumors are comprised of multiple cancer cell types with varied responses to therapy, making the disease extremely difficult to treat. Marcus’s project seeks to identify and contextualize the transcriptional regulators that drive intra-tumoral heterogeneity and, ultimately, cancer cell plasticity. Transcription factors will be identified through bioinformatic analysis and further validated by functional experiments including ex vivo 3D organoids and in vivo mouse models. Insights aim to identify potential therapeutic targets to limit tumor evolution and improve treatment outcomes.