Dr. Rachel Karchin has been awarded a Susan B. Komen Investigator Initiated Research (IIR) Grant that will provide three years of support to stimulate exploration of new ideas and novel approaches in breast cancer research and clinical practice that will lead to reductions in breast cancer incidence and mortality within the next decade.

Her team will be studying somatic mutations in the PI3 kinase gene, which are involved in 30% of breast cancers.  The work will combine computational modeling of mutations, statistical learning methods, and experimental tests in cell culture, chicken embryo chorioallantoic membranes and nude mice, contributing to development of more specific inhibitors of PI3K.

Collaborators on the project are Drs. Saraswati Sukumar and Ben Ho Park of the Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Center.

Congratulations to Dr. Karchin!