MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas, United States
My name is Matei Banu, I am currently a neurosurgical oncology fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center and recent graduate from New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. My career goal is to become an academic neurosurgeon focused on brain tumors and a principal investigator of an NIH funded neuro-oncology laboratory, working to develop new therapeutic approaches for brain and skull base tumors. My current research focuses on understanding treatment resistance and recurrence in GBM as well as investigating novel treatment strategies that are tailored based on molecular and imagistic biomarkers. Glioma cell subpopulations and non-neoplastic cells in the tumor microenvironment exhibit distinct molecular, epigenetic or metabolic vulnerabilities that can be therapeutically targeted. Understanding these vulnerabilities and using combined drug regimens are essential to increase treatment efficacy. My current research proposes using a metabolic approach to target the immunosuppressive glioma microenvironment, using novel ferroptosis-inducing agents. I am investigating the potential of ferroptosis-inducing drugs to disrupt glioma cell-microglia crosstalk and potentially target immunosuppressive T cell populations in order potentially increase susceptibility to immunotherapy. My goal is to identify novel treatment strategies tailored to tumor and patient specific characteristics that could be quickly translated to clinical practice. My project is therefore also designed to identify potential molecular and metabolic biomarkers, that could be used to improve patient selection and to track response to treatment.
