Chirag Patel

This interdisciplinary and translational laboratory studies the biology of glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of primary brain cancer in adults. With the hope of ultimately improving outcomes for patients with brain tumors, we investigate novel therapeutic strategies in pre-clinical models. One such strategy is therapeutic alternating electric fields, which have been shown to work in concert with traditional chemotherapy and radiation therapy to better impair cancer growth. We have previously shown that the electric fields permeabilize the membranes of cancer cells in a selective and reversible manner, a finding that could be leveraged to improve both cancer therapy and biomarker detection. We aim to elucidate the other anti-cancer mechanisms of this emerging therapeutic modality. In addition, we study the interactions between tumors and the brain microenvironment. Specifically, we use biomimetic 3D platforms to study the electrophysiology of cancers and how this property of cancer cells may provide unique insights to understanding patterns of susceptibility versus resistance to therapy. This work will enhance our understanding of the nervous system's interactions with, and control of, cancer. Finally, we are studying the utility of novel MRI and PET approaches in predicting and enabling earlier detection of cancer recurrence in the brain.