What inspires you as a scientist and working to find better treatments for gliomas?
I have lost a dear friend to this disease. She inspires me every day to come to the lab, and work towards better treatment outcomes for glioma patients and their families.
What are the challenges in studying brain tumors? Recent discoveries you are excited about?
The biggest challenge is the time it takes to go from a discovery in the lab to a clinical study. I am excited about a new drug called vorasidenib, which was reported last year to improve survival in patients with an IDH-mutant glioma. The target for vorasidenib was first discovered in 2008, yet it took 15 years to get to this point. And that was relatively fast!
As we honor Brain Tumor Awareness Month, what are you most hopeful for in terms of the future treatment of brain tumors?
The recent success with vorasidenib shows that there is hope for brain tumor patients, that we are able to develop new treatments that make a difference. We need to find more of those!