Daniela Matei
Northwestern University, IL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Ovarian cancer often comes back after chemotherapy, and the returning tumors no longer respond to the drugs. One idea is that a small group of cancer stem cells survives treatment and regrows the tumor.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Genetics
Biochemistry
- Topics
ovarian cancer
cancer stem cells
chemoresistance
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2030
What they work on
- Identify DNA-packing and epigenetic features unique to ovarian cancer stem cells by combining Hi-C, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq and single-cell RNA sequencing with nanoscale chromatin imaging.
- Test whether ovarian cancer cells that become chemotherapy-resistant adopt stem-like 3D chromatin packing, using epigenetic edits at specific genes paired with high-resolution imaging.
- Determine whether small enzyme-inhibitor drugs that reshape the epigenome block stemness and chemoresistance by altering how chromatin is packed.
- Supply cells and tissues in stem/non-stem and drug-sensitive/resistant states to test the nano-ChIA imaging platform and give feedback to improve it.
More about the research
These cells may survive by changing which genes they switch on. A cell controls this partly through how tightly its DNA is folded and packed inside the nucleus. The research asks whether changes in this DNA packing let ovarian cancer cells shift between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant, stem-like states. It also includes leadership of a cancer center program that moves lab findings toward clinical trials.
Why it matters
Ovarian cancer remains lethal and hard to treat, largely because tumors recur in drug-resistant forms. By linking DNA packing to cancer stem cells and chemotherapy resistance, this work could point to epigenetic drugs that block the switch to a resistant state. The cancer center program aims to bring lab discoveries into clinical trials for patients with many cancer types.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jian Ouyang
Medical University of South Carolina, SC·Genetics
Provide reliable, cost-effective next-generation sequencing library preparation, including bulk RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq and methylation sequencing, for cancer center investigators.
Laurianne Van Landeghem
North Carolina State University, NC·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether enteric glial cells help colon cancer stem cells resist chemotherapy by releasing FSTL3, using primary human cell cultures and 3D co-culture platforms.
Stefanie Galban
University of Michigan, MI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine how ALDH1A3 and ALDH2, enzymes marking cancer stem cells, are controlled by the H3 K27M histone mutation and by IL1β from microglia, using isogenic DIPG models in vitro and in vivo.
The school
Northwestern University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 536 research doctorates a year.
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