NIH TL1 Award Will Fund Michael Turgeon's Thesis Project
MAY 2019
Michael Turgeon, MD, an Emory general surgery resident and Katz Foundation Clinical Research Fellow, has been awarded an NIH TL1 grant to pursue his Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) thesis at Emory's Laney Graduate School. The grant will provide a research stipend and cover tuition costs.
Dr. Turgeon's thesis is entitled "Distinct Immune Landscapes Mediating Tumor Dormancy of Metachronous Versus Synchronous Colorectal Liver Metastasis." He will be working under the mentorship of Shishir Maithel, MD, scientific director of Emory's Liver and Pancreas Center, and Gregory Lesinski, PhD, co-director of the Translational Gastrointestinal Malignancy Program.
TL1 grants support research training experiences for trainees who are pursuing careers in multi-disciplinary clinical and translational science. Dr. Turgeon is the second Emory general surgery resident associated with Dr. Maithel's lab to receive this prestigious award, the first being Adriana Gamboa, MD, in 2018.
The immunologic mechanisms which mediate tumor dormancy and reemergence in metastatic colorectal cancer are elusive. In colorectal cancer, tumor cells can escape these mechanisms to form macrometastases, either at the time patients present with their primary tumors (synchronous metastases) or greater than six months after their curative-intent resections (metachronous metastases). Though both patient groups have stage IV disease, patients with synchronous lesions experience worse clinical outcomes.
Using banked tumor tissue specimens of synchronous and metachronous colorectal liver metastases from de-identified patients over the past five years, Dr. Turgeon aims to characterize the cytokine/chemokine RNA profiles within the metastatic tumor microenvironment, particularly those involved in the recruitment of immunosuppressive cell types, to determine the frequencies of innate and adaptive immune cells as well as define the alternations to the hepatic stroma. These phenotypes will be compared to clinical outcomes.
In addition to elucidating fundamental aspects of tumor equilibrium and tumor escape within cancer immunology, the study will potentially identify novel immunologic targets in treating metastatic colorectal cancer.
