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Mary Dolan's research is focused on improving the quality of life for cancer patients by identifying genetic variants associated with the risk of severe persistent toxicities from chemotherapy, such as peripheral neuropathy, ototoxicity, and tinnitus. Her lab particularly emphasizes the impact of these toxicities on children and young adults, aiming to understand the sequelae that persist throughout their lifetimes. To achieve this, her team conducts clinical genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variants linked to chemotherapy toxicity and to delineate the shared genetic architecture of idiopathic forms of these traits. Dolan's group integrates multiple large datasets involving genetic variation, gene expression, and other key factors to elucidate biochemical and cellular impacts of genes associated with chemotherapeutic toxicity. She has made significant observations demonstrating that chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity may be a heritable trait linked to pharmacologic SNPs. Additionally, her laboratory has developed induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neuronal cell models to evaluate genes contributing to chemotherapeutic-induced neuropathy, a common adverse effect seen with various chemotherapeutic agents. Her work is essential for gaining insights into potential druggable targets to treat or prevent severe side effects of chemotherapy, and she is leveraging machine learning techniques to build predictive models to identify patients at the greatest risk for severe toxicities.
Department of Philosophy