Renee Read, PhD
Renee Read, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Emory University School of Medicine. Her laboratory focuses on research into adult and pediatric high-grade gliomas, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Her long-term goal is to develop new therapeutic strategies for these deadly tumors, with an emphasis on approaches that target tumor-cell specific dependencies on neurodevelopmental processes and intercellular communication with other neural cell types. Her research program employs multi-organismal experimental approaches using human tissues and complex three-dimensional model systems, including mouse genetic models and human primary tumor tissue and brain organoid models.
Through these efforts, she has developed several productive collaborations with brain tumor investigators in the Departments of Neurosurgery, Pathology, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics at Emory, as well as with leading brain tumor investigators at other institutions. These collaborations have bolstered her transition into translational neuro-oncology research, enabling several team science research projects and early phase clinical trials for glioma patients. Dr. Read’s research program, including clinical trials, has been supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the Department of Defense, and several private foundations including the American Brain Tumor Association, the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation, and industry partners such as Bausch Health. Most recently, her program expanded to include research on tumor development and therapeutics for the neural tumor syndrome Neurofibromatosis Type 2.
