Kristin Brown lab

The Kristin Brown lab, also known as the Brown lab, investigates the ways in which aberrant cellular metabolism contributes to malignant transformation and tumour progression

Almost a century ago, pioneering studies by Otto Warburg revealed a fundamental difference between the metabolism of normal and cancer cells. However, it is only in the last decade that significant inroads have been made to understanding the critical importance of deregulated cellular metabolism in cancer. Consequently, there is growing interest in developing therapeutic strategies to exploit the metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells. At the Kristin Brown lab, we are investigating: 

  • How a variety of cell-intrinsic factors (genetic/epigenetic alterations, tissue of origin, cell of origin) and cell-extrinsic factors (access to nutrients, therapy exposure and microenvironmental interactions) impact the metabolic state of a cancer cell. 

  •  How metabolic reprogramming contributes to cell survival, cell proliferation, therapy resistance, metastasis and immune escape. This fundamental knowledge is applied to the pre-clinical development of novel and more effective interventions for cancer therapy. 

Current projects

Related links

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