Kirsten H Limesand, PhD

Cancer Biology Program

Biography

Kirsten H. Limesand earned her BS in Microbiology from North Dakota State University and her PhD in Microbiology with an emphasis in Virology from Colorado State University. She then completed post-doctoral training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center where she first began her work on the regulation of apoptosis in salivary glands exposed to different damaging agents. In 2005, she was hired as an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 and Full Professor in 2015. 

Cancer Focus

Radiotherapy for head and neck cancer causes adverse secondary side effects in the normal salivary gland including xerostomia, oral mucositis, and malnutrition resulting in diminished quality of life for these individuals. Our overall vision is to restore salivary gland function in patients following radiotherapy by identifying healing stages in salivary glands that lead to the stratification and administration of precise therapeutics for their stage. Our approach to this framework involves understanding the response of endogenous cells within experimental models of radiation damage compared to models where we can reverse hypofunction. These studies have the potential to find new therapies to restore salivary gland function to patients with chronic dry mouth.