Speaker: Mark Nelson, PhD
Dr. Nelson’s research focuses on molecular diagnosis of cancer. The laboratory uses a combination of bioinformatics, cancer biology, epigenomics, and genomic approaches. Dr. Nelson’s group is currently working on liquid biopsy for cancer detection. A liquid biopsy is a simple and minimally invasive alternative to surgical biopsies which enables doctors to discover information about a cancer through a simple blood draw or other biofluid (e.g., cerebral spinal fluid, saliva, urine, etc.). Using cell-free tumor DNA as an analyte, we are validating novel DNA methylation biomarkers for early cancer detection, recognition of tumor recurrence, and response to therapy. We have ongoing translational biomarker studies in lung, liver, and pancreatic studies.