Mentor: Dr. Eric H Raabe

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. The worst subtype of medulloblastoma has DNA amplification of the oncogenes MYC and NMYC. Cancer cells with high MYC rely on a group of proteins that allow them to tolerate the large amounts of MYC proteins. Normally high levels of MYC proteins cause cells to die. The anti-death proteins that cells rely on to avoid MYC-driven cell death can be targeted pharmacologically. This project will study these drugs to see if they can be used against MYC-driven cancers. If we find that they work against MYC-driven medulloblastoma and don’t harm normal cells, we will in future studies test these drugs in mouse experiments.