JOIN US IN SAVING LIVES
Please make a 2013 year-end donation and help us cure cancer and other deadly diseases.Donate >
The primary focus of the Weeraratna laboratory is the study of how melanoma spreads, or metastasizes. The progression of melanoma from early to late stage involves a series of signaling changes within the cell, often described in terms of "pathways." In particular, Weeraratna focuses on the non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway and how changes in genes and their protein products involved in this pathway can lead to changes in how malignant cells multiply, move throughout the body, and invade other tissues.
In a related course of study, Weeraratna is also extremely interested in exploring how changes in the microenvironment contribute to both tumor progression and therapy resistance. These changes may be induced changes such as chemotherapy or irradiation, or more "natural" changes such as hypoxia and aging. As an example, melanoma incidence is increased in elderly patients, who also have a worse prognosis, and this could be due to a number of age-related factors, such as decreased immunity, but may also be due to changes in the aging microenvironment. Using melanoma cells and both young and old normal skin cells as a model, Weeraratna is trying to unravel just what these changes may be, and how they affect tumor progression.
The microscope in the image belonged to William E. Horner, M.D., a collaborator with Caspar Wistar, M.D., in the early 1800s.
Dr. Horner, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, was a pioneer of the use of microscopes in anatomical and medical research. He authored Special Anatomy and Histology, a seminal text on the subject.