ASSISTANT PROF DERRICK ONG
President’s Assistant Professor, Aging and Cancer Stem Cell Laboratory, National University of
Singapore
ABSTRACT
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant adult brain tumor with an abysmal patient prognosis. The current standard of care for GBM remains to
be aggressive surgery followed by radiotherapy, in combination with adjuvant temozolomide treatment. Tumor recurrence is almost inevitable due to the presence of glioma stem cells (GSCs), which exhibit stem cell–like traits, enhanced invasiveness, therapy resilience and extensive cellular plasticity. We employ patient-derived GSCs as an experimental model to discover new GBM dependencies that contribute to GBM clinical hallmarks. Here, I will outline some of our efforts towards a better molecular understanding of GBM pathogenesis, and how some of our basic science findings may be translated into actionable clinical modalities.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Derrick is the President’s Assistant Professor at the Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore. He obtained his PhD (Chemical Biology) at The
Scripps Research Institute (CA) under Dr Jeffery Kelly, a pioneer in proteostasis. For his postdoctoral work, Derrick was mentored by Dr Ronald DePinho, an
expert in aging and cancer, first at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/ Harvard Medical School, and then University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His
major research interest lies in the identification of novel molecular mechanisms that contribute to glioblastoma pathogenesis, and to develop new therapeutic
options for this deadly disease. Derrick has also received several competitive awards, including the National Research Foundation Fellowship, NUS Early
Career Research Award and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Research Excellence Award.
