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Christine M. Heske, M.D.

  • Center for Cancer Research
  • National Cancer Institute
NIH Distinguished Scholar
Head, Translational Sarcoma Biology Group

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Dr. Heske is a physician-scientist with a laboratory and clinical research focus on novel therapeutic agents for pediatric sarcomas including rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma. Specifically, she seeks to identify and evaluate new therapeutic targets for these cancers by understanding the mechanisms behind therapeutic resistance and developing strategies to overcome such resistance through targeting tumor metabolism and DNA damage repair.

Areas of Expertise

DNA Damage and Repair
Early Phase Clinical Trials

Information for Patients

Learn more about our clinical trials and the highly specialized care teams that lead them. 

Publications

Selected Recent Publications

Enhancing standard of care chemotherapy efficacy using DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) inhibition in preclinical models of Ewing sarcoma

Collins VJ, Ludwig KR, Nelson AE, Sundara Rajan S, Yeung C, Vulikh K, Isanogle KA, Mendoza A, Difilippantonio S, Karim BO, Caplen NJ, Heske CM.
Mol Cell Ther. 2024.
Full-Text Article
[ Journal Article ]

Inhibition of NAD+-dependent metabolic processes induces cellular necrosis and tumor regression in rhabdomyosarcoma models.

McKay-Corkum GB, Collins VJ, Yeung C, Ito T, Issaq SH, Holland D, Vulikh K, Zhang Y, Lee U, Lei H, Mendoza A, Shern JF, Yohe ME, Yamamoto K, Wilson K, Ji J, Karim BO, Thomas CJ, Krishna MC, Neckers LM, Heske CM.
Clin Cancer Res. 2023.
Full-Text Article
[ Journal Article ]

Phase I trial of ganitumab plus dasatinib to cotarget the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and Src family kinase YES in rhabdomyosarcoma

Akshintala S, Sundby RT, Bernstein D, Glod JW, Kaplan RN, Yohe ME, Gross AM, Derdak J, Lei H, Pan A, Dombi E, Palacio-Yance I, Herrera KR, Miettinen MM, Chen HX, Steinberg SM, Helman LJ, Mascarenhas L, Widemann BC, Navid F, Shern JF, Heske CM.
Clin Cancer Res. 2023.
Full-Text Article
[ Journal Article ]

Targeting Glycolysis through Inhibition of Lactate Dehydrogenase Impairs Tumor Growth in Preclinical Models of Ewing Sarcoma

Yeung C, Gibson AE, Issaq SH, Oshima N, Baumgart JT, Edessa LD, Rai G, Urban DJ, Johnson MS, Benavides GA, Squadrito GL, Yohe ME, Lei H, Eldridge S, Hamre J 3rd, Dowdy T, Ruiz-Rodado V, Lita A, Mendoza A, Shern JF, Larion M, Helman LJ, Stott GM, Krishna MC, Hall MD, Darley-Usmar V, Neckers LM, Heske CM.
Cancer Res. 2019.
Full-Text Article
[ Journal Article ]

Job Vacancies

Interested in joining the Heske Lab?

Postdoctoral fellows (Ph.D., M.D.), postbaccalaureate fellows, and summer interns (undergraduate) have been trained in the Heske lab since it opened in 2016. Interested candidates should send a CV and statement of interest to christine.heske@nih.gov.

Watch the video: Launch Your Postdoc Career with a Tenure-Track Investigator

News

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