Professor, Dept. of Genetics
Professor, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology
Mark Trauner Faculty Scholar in Neuro-oncology
Dr. Ganjam Kalpana has an ongoing effort in establishing collaborations with Indian scientists to develop targeted therapies and novel diagnostic strategies for some rare but aggressive and currently incurable cancers. These are cancers that are associated with loss of INI1, a gene she originally described as a host factor for HIV-1. Her pioneering work has identified unique therapeutic strategies for these tumors and markers for diagnosis. Furthermore, because of the sheer numbers, it is possible to carry out the studies on these cancers in India, as enough sample size can be obtained. Dr. Kalpana’s also conducts preclinical studies using knock-out mice and microPET imaging.