Assistant Professor
Division of Cancer and Developmental Biology
PharmD: University of Texas Health Science Center and University
of Texas at Austin, 1991
PhD: University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston-Medical
School and the University of Texas M.D.,
Anderson Cancer Center, 2001
Post-doctoral: Baylor College of Medicine, 2002-2006
Email: fbehbod @ kumc.edu
CV (PDF)
Publications: Click here for list of publications from PubMed
Ph.D. students are welcome. I AM CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND RESEARCH ASSITANTS. Please contact me directly.
Breast
pre-invasive lesions may contain a rare population of cancer
stem cells. Cancer stem cells may be unique in different types
of pre-cancer lesions and may explain why some patients will
experience recurrences or develop invasive cancers while others
do not. The main focus of the laboratory is to examine the
role of cancer stem cells and their niche microenvironment in invasive
progression of human ductal carcinoma in situ(a common form of
human breast pre-invasive lesion). These studies may lead
to the discovery of molecular targets for prevention of malignant
progression tailored to various types of human ductal carcinoma
in situ (DCIS).
We are utilizing cell lines such as SUM225 and MCF10DCIS.com
as well as human tissue obtained from biopsy samples of patients
with DCIS to test our hypothesis. Our strategy is to use
fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) and known surface markers
to isolate stem/progenitor subpopulations and to examine their
cancer stem cell potential using standard stem cells assays such
as1) in vitro self-renewal and differentiation by mammosphere
assay and colony formation in Matrigel, respectively, 2) in vivo
long term and short term self-renewal by using the newly developed
intraductal transplantation model (Fig. 1& 2), 3) tumorigenicity
by growth rate and potential to form invasive lesions, and 4)
quiescence by long term label retaining studies. Furthermore,
the role of endothelial cells in establishing a cancer stem cell
niche microenvironment will be examined by in vitro co-culture
and in vivo co-transplantation studies. Our rationale is that
cancer stem cells and normal tissue stem cells express similar
surface markers by which they may be identified and characterized.
Once cancer stem cells are identified, efforts will be aimed
at defining their unique molecular profiles.
Office: Lied Building, G015
Laboratory: Lied Building, G025
Sofia Kerbawy's Going Away Party
Fariba Behbod, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of Kansas Medical Center
3901 Rainbow Blvd., MS 1053
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 945-6642
Fax: (913) 588-7073
E-mail: fbehbod@kumc.edu
Kevin Campbell, BS
Research Assistant
University of Kansas Medical Center
3901 Rainbow Blvd., G025
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 945-6774
Fax: (913) 588-7073
E-mail: kcampbell@kumc.edu
Sofia Kerbawy, BS
Research Assistant
University of Kansas Medical Center
3901 Rainbow Blvd., G025
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 945-6774
Fax: (913) 588-7073
E-mail: skerbawy@kumc.edu
Arindam Paul, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Kansas Medical Center
3901 Rainbow Blvd., G025
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 945-6774
Fax: (913) 588-7073
E-mail: apaul@kumc.edu
Kelli Valdez, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Kansas Medical Center
3901 Rainbow Blvd., G025
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 945-6774
Fax: (913) 588-7073
E-mail: kvaldez@kumc.edu
©
The University of Kansas Medical Center