Specialization
Angiogenesis
Radiobiology
Molecular Cell Biology
Glycobiology
Focus of research
My group is interested in deciphering the molecular response mechanisms to clinical schedules of fractionated radiotherapy. The overarching goal is to understand how tumor cells and the tumor micro-environment respond during longer periods of fractionated radiotherapy in order to optimize dose-scheduling of combination therapies.
Over the last decade, we have used different approaches to determine the role of the tumor microenvironment in the response to radiotherapy and to monitor the cellular response(s) of the tumor microenvironment to radiotherapy. This includes studies in cultured cell in vitro, in tumor models in vivo as well as in tumor tissues derived from cancer patients.
Regarding the modulation of the tumor micro-environment, we are particularly interested in the role of galectins, a family of carbohydrate (sugar) binding proteins that are linked to blood vessel growth as well as to regulation of the immune response. We study how galectins contribute to tumor progression and how targeting galectins can be exploited for cancer therapy.