S423 BST
200 Lothrop St
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Liver-Related Work

My research aims to challenge the unmet need of effective targeted therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the 5th most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States with an estimated 32,000 annual deaths. The standard of care for HCC as established by the IMBrave150 trial is a combination of the PD-L1 inhibitor, Atezolizumab, and an antiangiogenic, Bevacizumab. While this combination extends overall survival to 19.2 months in unresectable HCC, only 52% of patients survive to 18 months. Due to the molecular heterogeneity of HCC, whether a patient responds to therapeutic intervention strongly depends on underlying molecular drivers. It has been my goal to study these mechanisms to improve therapeutic efficacy in a personalized approach. For example, my work has identified that IQGAP1, a scaffold protein, potentiates hepatocellular carcinogenesis in a subset of patients. Studying the dysregulation in molecules such as IQGAP1 will improve our knowledge of effective personalized therapies targeted for specific HCCs. I plan to implement these findings with the goal of improving the translatability of pre-clinical animal models for HCC. An explanation for the current state of HCC therapeutics may be the ineffective translation of pre-clinical animal models to human disease. In fact, only about 1/3 of therapeutic approaches generated using animal models move to Phase I trials, and, of those that make it, only 8% pass. Improvements in this space are desperately needed to translate findings into practical therapeutic options. My goal is to develop a model of HCC that merges molecular, immunological, and clinical information to better represent the human condition so novel therapeutic strategies are effectively translated into patients.

NIH Report:

View Dr. Delgado’s Report on nih.gov

Publications:

View Dr. Delgado’s publications on PubMed

Collaborations:

Past, current and ongoing collaborations with Drs. Andrew Duncan, Sayee Anakk, Hanna Erickson, Reza Zarnegar, Alex Soto-Gutierrez, Paul Monga, Amaia Lujambio, Sungjin Ko, and Aatur Singhi

Resources:

Hepatocyte and non-parenchymal cell isolations

Research Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology