Tasfia Farah

Professional Background

I was born and raised in Bangladesh and earned my Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology in 2023. In 2024, I joined the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (IGPBS) at the University of Kansas Medical Center and subsequently joined Dr. Qi Chen’s lab following my rotations. My research focuses on investigating drug-mediated inhibition mechanisms in Neuroblastoma, Bladder Cancer, and Prostate Cancer.

Research

Overview

Neuroblastoma (NB) is an aggressive pediatric cancer with poor outcomes in patients harboring MYCN gene amplification (MNA), which drives metabolic plasticity and resistance to therapy. Approximately 40% of high-risk NB cases exhibit MNA. Current multimodal treatments including chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, stem cell transplantation, differentiation therapy, and immunotherapy are highly intensive and often cause severe short- and long-term toxicities that hinder survivors’ physical and cognitive development. Therefore, there is an urgent need for effective, low-toxicity therapeutic alternatives. High-dose intravenous ascorbate (Asc) has recently emerged as a promising non-toxic strategy that achieves pharmacologic concentrations capable of generating hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and inhibiting glycolysis in cancer cells. My work specifically focuses on the metabolic inhibition of MNA NB cells under ascorbate treatment.