Elizabeth Nakasone
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is a leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and both cases and deaths are rising. Death rates differ between patient populations.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Genetics
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
pancreatic cancer
cancer health disparities
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2031
What they work on
- Develop and validate a natural language processing model that extracts structured and unstructured clinical and pathology data from records, then use it to map tumor mutations in pancreatic cancer patients in Hawai‘i and link them to outcomes.
- Analyze clinical whole-exome and whole-transcriptome sequencing to assess tumor subtypes, stromal makeup and stromal activation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from high-risk populations.
- Use AI-driven spatial transcriptomics to map how tumor cells and surrounding stroma are organized and interact within pancreatic tumors, and relate these patterns to patient survival.
- Generate patient-derived organoids from metastatic pancreatic cancer biopsies of high-risk patients, and validate them by genomic, histopathology and drug-sensitivity tests compared with clinical outcomes.
More about the research
In the groups at highest risk, mortality stays high even after accounting for known risk factors and income or other social measures, which hints at a biological cause. These groups are poorly represented in public genetic and clinical databases and tissue banks, which limits research and the development of tailored treatments.
Why it matters
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers, and patients in some high-risk populations fare worse for reasons not fully explained. By filling data gaps for patients in Hawai‘i, this work could reveal biomarkers that predict outcomes or treatment response. The patient-derived organoids may also become resources for testing therapies in underrepresented groups.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Saunjoo Yoon
University of Florida, FL·Pharmacology
Test the effectiveness of 4NSGnpcetu, anti-EGFR antibody-coated nanoparticles carrying a modified gemcitabine, in patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoids with stroma and in primary tumor cells from patients.
Nicholas Woods
University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether Tazemetostat, which blocks the gene-silencing complex PRC2, prevents chemotherapy-induced shifts in tumor subtype, using organoids grown from tumors of Black and White PDAC patients.
Wantong Yao
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define the molecular pathways through which a newly identified stress-response regulator helps pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells survive nutrient shortage, low oxygen and oxidative stress, and evade the immune system.
The school
University of Hawaii at Manoa: 23 labs on PI Pages, $376M a year on research, 182 research doctorates a year.
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