Our Researchers

Dr. Lisa Wang’s research interests focus on the molecular pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. She specifically focuses on the RECQL4 pathway and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS), a rare, inherited disorder that predisposes affected individuals to developing osteosarcoma.

Her research goals include: 

Dr. Nabil Ahmed is a physician-scientist engaged in translational research focusing on adoptive immunotherapy with gene-modified effector cells, to improve therapy for brain tumors. Dr Ahmed's initial studies demonstrated that antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells could eradicate established brain tumors in medulloblastoma and glioblastoma models. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that the tumor-specific T cells, unlike conventional therapies, can effectively target the stem cell compartment in the tumor eradicating experimental tumors in animal models.

Dr. Atreyi Dasgupta is a cancer biologist trained in cell signaling and transcriptional regulation. Her research focuses on bone cancer in children, particularly Ewing sarcoma, which is the second most prevalent type of pediatric bone cancer. Each year, around 250 patients in the United States are diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. Among these patients, those who present with metastatic disease have a very dismal 5 year survival rate - around 25% - even after a harsh therapy regimen. Her research is motivated by this tragic statistic. 

Solid tumors enable immune evasion by expressing high-levels of immune-inhibitory ligands that attenuate anti-tumor responses by inducing functional exhaustion and apoptotic death of the activated tumor-antigen specific T cells. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1; B7-H1)/ programmed death protein-1 (PD-1; CD279) immune-checkpoint is a key mediator of this tumor-derived immune-inhibition.

Dr. Chris Man’s laboratory is interested in applying computational and OMICS approaches to improve both the diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric cancer patients. The main focus of his research is to identify circulating and tumor biomarkers for early detection of chemoresistance and metastasis in pediatric osteosarcoma. Dr. Man and his lab are also interested in using bioinformatic and meta-analysis approaches to identify novel drug targets and pathways in pediatric cancers. The current projects include:

His research focuses in the role of cancer stem cells in the development and progression of pediatric sarcomas. Dr. Rainusso has been awarded numerous honors for his research, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award (2009). He is a St. Baldrick’s Scholar and has received funding from the Snowdrop Foundation, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Children’s Cancer Research Fund to support his work.

Dr. Pulivarthi Rao is Director of the Cancer Cytogenetics Core Laboratory and a principal investigator for the Cancer Genetics and Genomics Program at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Center. He is certified with a Clinical Laboratory Cytogenetics Director License by the New York State Department of Health.

Dr. Lisa Wang’s research interests focus on the molecular pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. She specifically focuses on the RECQL4 pathway and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS), a rare, inherited disorder that predisposes affected individuals to developing osteosarcoma.

Her research goals include: 

Dr. Whittle is an expert in the design and conduct of clinical trials for pediatric solid tumors. She has served as principal investigator of several investigator initiated, cooperative group, and industry sponsored clinical trials, and currently leads a Children's Oncology Group national phase I-II clinical trial investigating a new agent for use in pediatric solid tumors and lymphoma. At Texas Children's, she is the team leader for clinical research and oversees the conduct of studies that enroll pediatric and adolescent young adult solid tumor patients.

Dr. Vasudevan is the director of the Pediatric Surgical Oncology Laboratory that focuses on finding targeted therapies for pediatric solid tumors, in particular, hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and neuroblastoma. Dr. Vasudevan’s lab is currently focusing on the mechanisms behind vascular invasion and metastasis in heptoblastoma and has received grant funding from the Macy Easom Cancer Research Foundation for this work.