Lopez Lab
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor in Pathology
Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Overview

Our laboratory is focused on searching for cures for brain tumors. We have three main branches to our research:

Oligodendroglioma

Oligodendroglioma

We are exploring clinicopathological correlates in oliogendroglioma, by delving into the mechanisms that underlie features observed on histological sections. By understanding the mechanisms, we can begin to target pathways specifically activated in oligodendrogliomas at the time of progression.

Glioblastoma tumor microenvironment

Glioblastoma tumor microenvironment

The tumor microenvironment comprises tumor cells, inflammation, and blood vessels. In glioblastoma, a large component of the inflammatory infiltrate is macrophages. Our research explores the role of these macrophages in the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment.

Tumors metastatic to the brain

Tumors metastatic to the brain

Tumors from the lung, breast, kidney, colon, and skin frequently metastasize to the brain, where they cause significant morbidity and mortality. We aim to better understand the tumor microenvironment in these metastases, and how the microenvironment differs from that in primary gliomas, with the goal of identifying targets for activating the immune system against the metastatic tumors.

Publications

Publications by Lab Members

  • Feng H, Lopez GY, Kim CK, Alvarez A, Duncan CG, Nishikawa R, Nagane M, Su AJ, Auron PE, Hedberg ML, Wang L, Raizer JJ, Kessler JA, Parsa AT, Gao WQ, Kim SH, Minata M, Nakano I, Grandis JR, McLendon RE, Bigner DD, Lin HK, Furnari FB, Cavenee WK, Hu B, Yan H, Cheng SY. EGFR phosphorylation of DCBLD2 recruits TRAF6 and stimulates AKT-promoted tumorigenesis. J Clin Invest. 2014 Sep;124(9):3741-56. doi: 10.1172/JCI73093. Epub 2014 Jul 25. PubMed PMID: 25061874; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4151226.

People

We are hiring! We are actively looking for graduate students to join our growing group. Please reach out if you are interested in learning about available positions.

Huifang Dai

Huifang Dai
Research Analyst 

Jorge Santana Santini

Jorge Santana Santini
Research Technician