Title: Using Functional Precision Medicine to Guide Cancer Treatments

By: Dr. Diana Azzam

Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Scientific Director, Center for Advancing Personalized Cancer Treatments (CAPCT)

Diana Azzam, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and the Scientific Director of the newly established Center for Advancing Personalized Cancer Treatments (CAPCT) at Florida International University (FIU). She holds a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the American University of Beirut and a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of Miami. Her lab focuses on implementing functional precision medicine (FPM) approaches in adult and pediatric cancer patients who have run out of treatment options. Working with local hospitals, including Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic Florida, her lab delivers individualized treatment plans based on a patient’s cancer genomic profile and ex vivo drug response. She is currently engaged in two clinical studies to assess the feasibility and clinical utility of FPM in relapsed/refractory patients with childhood cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT05857969) and adult cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT06024603). Dr. Azzam is working on setting up the first CLIA-certified lab in the State of Florida dedicated to functional cancer drug testing. Her goal is to launch large-scale prospective multi-center randomized clinical trials to better assess efficacy of FPM approaches in the treatment of refractory/relapsed cancers. In parallel, she is working on utilizing FPM as a tool to reduce health disparities in childhood cancer patients from minority populations. She is also integrating a novel machine-learning approach to identify specific biomarkers among minority populations that can be targeted using FDA-approved drugs. Her lab also investigates cancer stem cells and how they may result from chronic environmental exposures to toxic metals such as arsenic.

Light refreshments will be provided.