In-Vivo Organogenesis Approach to Elucidate Drivers of Medulloblastoma Development and Identify Therapeutic Targets

University of California, San Francisco, CA

Medulloblastoma is a brain tumor that primarily affects children and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Currently, 30-40% of children with medulloblastoma die and therapies for treating medulloblastoma have not majorly changed since the 1980s. Recent research has shown that medulloblastoma actually represents many different types of tumors and potential factors driving medulloblastoma development have been proposed. However, these insights have not translated into improved patient outcomes because an efficient approach for validating these findings and for testing new therapies is lacking. We propose to address this critical need by developing an approach that will dramatically accelerate the identification of drivers of medulloblastoma and the testing of new therapies.