Upcoming Collaborative Cancer Grand Rounds to examine synthetic lethality in cancer therapeutics

On Aug. 22, Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, who is a medical oncologist and physician-scientist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, will lead the next Collaborative Cancer Grand Rounds titled “Why have there not been any other drug approvals in synthetic lethality since PARP inhibitors in BRCA mutation cancers?” 

Yap’s research focuses on utilizing targeted therapies for DNA damage response using novel therapeutics. His studies have included the use of PARP1/2, ATR, PARP1-selective, WEE1, POLQ, USP1, PKMYT1, PARG, CHK1, ATM and DNA-PK inhibitors, as well as agents against other synthetic lethal targets such as Werner helicase and SMARC2. Yap is the principal investigator for several clinical trials involving innovative biomarker-driven approaches. He was the lead investigator for the AKT inhibitor arm of the UK National Lung Matrix Trial, which was one of the largest precision medicine trials in any cancer globally. 

Yap was recommended by Cancer Center member Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO, associate director of Clinical Investigations and co-leader of the Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Team at the U of A Cancer Center. 

The CCGR is from 11 a.m. to noon in the UACCC Kiewit Auditorium or Zoom. Contact Jayleigh Parker for the password at jayleighp@arizona.edu.