Thuy-Vy Do, PhD

Senior Scientist
Ph.D. - Tumor Cell Biology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
B.S. - Biology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Research Focus

The hallmarks of cancer include sustained proliferative signaling, subversion of growth suppressors, escaping cell death, replicative immortality, promotion of angiogenesis, and acquisition of the invasive and metastatic phenotype. The driving force behind these hallmarks of cancer is the genomic instability inherent in all cancers. The breast cancer-associated 1 or 2 (BRCA1/2) genes act caretakers for chromosomal stability through their roles in DNA repair and in the DNA damage checkpoint. We are interested in a) elucidating the roles of BRCA1/2 and the oncogene, Aurora A, in mediating DNA repair, and b) identifying Aurora A-regulated signaling pathways that mediate epithelial ovarian cancer cell dissemination. Our goal is to identify key players in these oncogenic pathways so that we may select therapeutic targets for preclinical studies that will be translated to the clinic.