Personnel:

Clinical Director: Kumarasen Cooper, MBChB, DPhil, FRC Path.
Laboratory Director: Mark Evans, PhD
Director: Microscopy Imaging Center, Douglas J. Taatjes, PhD

Goals:

General: Translational research provides an important link between clinical and basic research. Our goal is to develop a translational research program that will further our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease, and to apply this knowledge directly to improve patient care.

Specific: To initiate translational research projects in the two major areas of interest in the Department of Pathology, namely cancer and cardiovascular disease. In situ hybridization, immunocytochemical and molecular approaches are being applied to study both chromosomal changes within the genome, and changes in protein expression and/or localization within the cell. An underlying goal is to identify molecular markers that will have clinical relevance for both diagnosis and prognosis of disease, and/or for determining response to treatment.

Overview:

The focus of our laboratory is to develop and support translational research projects within the Department of Pathology. Our major research emphasis is cancer and cardiovascular disease. We employ in situ and molecular techniques to examine changes in chromosome structure, gene expression, and protein levels and/or localization within tissue specimens during initiation and progression of disease. Identification of molecular changes that might be useful for diagnostics, as prognostic indicators of disease aggressiveness, or that may predict response to therapy regimens is a high priority.

Initial research projects include: the role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in cervical cancer; molecular assessment of response/resistance to chemotherapy in ovarian cancer; and molecular changes resulting from hormone therapy of clinically localized prostate cancer. This multidisciplinary, interactive program centered in the Department of Pathology includes collaborators from the Vermont Cancer Center, Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont.