Project Title: “Targeting Homologous Repair to Overcome Genotoxic Therapy Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer”
Adam Wolfe, M.D., Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). As a physician-scientist, he treats patients with gastrointestinal cancers at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute using state-of-the-art radiation therapy. His research focus is on discovering novel therapy strategies for the deadly disease of pancreatic cancer. In the lab, he utilizes genetic and proteomic approaches to address the fundamental mechanisms of genetic alterations in cancer cells which result in heightened DNA repair leading to radiation and chemotherapy resistance. Dr. Wolfe received a KL2 Mentored Career Development Award in 2021 to investigate the mechanism underlying the role of oncogenic KRAS in regulating the nuclear DNA repair enzyme RAD18, a major promoter of DNA repair in pancreatic cancer. The goals of this KL2 award are to propel the independent physician-scientist career of Dr. Wolfe, and to understand the mechanisms of efficient DNA repair in order to develop novel targeted therapies for more effective treatment strategies of pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Wolfe joined the UAMS faculty in 2021 after completing his residency in Radiation Oncology at the Ohio State University (OSU) where he completed a Holman fellowship researching DNA repair mechanisms of resistance in pancreatic and thyroid cancers. He was awarded research funding from both the Radiation Oncology Institute (ROI) and Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) during his fellowship at OSU. He received his dual M.D. and Ph.D degrees from the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at The University of Texas McGovern Medical School and MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2016.
Mentors:
Fen Xia, M.D., Ph.D. Professor, Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Alan Tackett, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Kevin Raney, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Marjan Boerma, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Justin Leung, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation and Cancer Biology