Franklin A. Hays, PhD
Dr. Hays’s project analyzes a different but interrelated aspect of resistance to cancer therapy, specifically to chemotherapy. The project’s goal is to characterize, functionally and structurally, the human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter (hENT) involved in sensitivity and resistance to chemotherapeutic agents such as gemcitabine in lung cancer. Since resistance to gemcitabine or other nucleoside analogs could arise either from non-functional transporters with altered kinetics of gemcitabine transport, it is critical to characterize the role of hENTs in lung cancer. The results from this project are likely to provide novel insights to resistance to gemcitabine therapy and yield clues for development of strategies to overcome such resistance. His long-term goal is to fine tune chemotherapy treatment regimens for specific patient populations and tumor types in order to facilitate positive outcomes with reduced toxicity.
Mentor: Rajagopal Ramesh, PhD
Co-Mentor: Christopher M. West, PhD