Dr. Vito Quaranta Uses Computational Models to Study the Complexities of Tumor Heterogeneity

Vito Quaranta, M.D., a CSBC Investigator at Vanderbilt University, uses systems approaches to study heterogeneity and treatment responses in cancer. As a young investigator, he created antibodies that could target tumor-specific antigens in pancreatic tumors. One of these antigens turned out to be a cell adhesion protein and led him into the field of cell adhesion and migration. In the early 2000s, he started using systems biology approaches in his cell adhesion research and built cellular-level models integrating cancer cell interactions with the extracellular matrix. Now, he is investigating how lung cancer cells adapt to different microenvironments and cancer treatments.