University of California, Irvine
$100,000 Tower Career Development Grant
Research Title:
Targeting Liver Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States by 2030. More than half of cases are only discovered once the disease has already spread into other organs, with the liver being the most common site of metastasis. Despite this, most preclinical work studying pancreatic cancer has been done in models of cancer localized to the pancreas. Using metastasis models, my laboratory has found different programs are driving how cells communicate with each other in pancreas and liver tumors. We expect these will lead to weaknesses that can be exploited to slow the growth of tumors in the liver or possibly prevent the establishment of metastasis from happening. Our focus on this aspect of the disease has a significantly higher probability of identifying successful approaches that will transform clinical care.
Christopher Halbrook, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and a member of the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Institute for Immunology. Dr. Halbrook has been primarily focused on studying pancreatic cancer for over a decade, starting with his predoctoral training at Stony Brook University and the Mayo Clinic, then continuing in his postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan. During this time, Dr. Halbrook’s research led to seminal findings describing different mechanisms of metabolic crosstalk with functional consequences on tumor growth, chemoresistance, and immune suppression in pancreatic cancer.
Since joining UCI in October of 2020, Dr. Halbrook’s research program focuses on targeting interactions that create a pro-tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer to allow for effective therapy. His research team is currently working to define how interactions in the primary vs. metastatic tumor niche contribute to immune suppression, investigating the role of metabolism in supporting cancer cell proliferation and therapy resistance, and determining how inflammation is linked to pancreatic disease and tissue regeneration. Other key missions of Dr. Halbrook’s work include training the next generation of cancer research scientists and advocating a better future for pancreatic cancer patients.