NCI Division of Cancer Biology Junior Investigators Meeting (Abstract): Submission #11

serial: '11'
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data:
  category: 'Consider my abstract for a Methodology/Technology presentation'
  degree_s_: Ph.D.
  email: ezs0122@auburn.edu
  first_name: Elham
  keywords_abstracts: 'Lung cancer, Tumor microenvironment; Cancer-associated fibroblasts; PEG-fibrinogen hydrogels; High throughput screening'
  last_name: 'Seyyedi Zadeh'
  middle_initial: ''
  organization: 'Auburn University'
  organization_address:
    address: ''
    address_2: ''
    city: Auburn
    country: ''
    postal_code: ''
    state_province: ''
  summary: |-
    My research is built on a simple premise: to understand a tumor, you have to study more than its cancer cells. As a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at Auburn University, working under Dr. Elizabeth Lipke, I build 3D tissue-engineered models of the tumor microenvironment. My focus is on non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer, and how stromal cells, particularly cancer-associated fibroblasts, shape tumor mechanics, structure, and drug response.

    My core technology is a poly(ethylene glycol)–fibrinogen (PEG-Fb) hydrogel platform. It lets me build 3D co-culture tissues with precisely tunable cancer-to-stromal cell ratios, from fibroblast-poor to fibroblast-rich. I apply this platform across established cell lines, patient-derived xenografts, and patient-derived organoids, adapting each protocol to the model at hand. Around this platform, I have built a characterization toolkit: live/dead viability assays with image-based quantification; phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy; mechanical testing by parallel-plate compression to quantify tissue stiffness; flow cytometry and microfluidic fabrication of uniform tumor microspheres for high throughput drug screening.

    What distinguishes my work is its collaborative core. Our computational collaborators at the University of Minnesota use single-cell and spatially resolved transcriptomic data to predict fibroblast-associated drug response, then test these predictions in 2D coculture. My role is to validate these predictions in 3D, which better recapitulates the mechanical and structural features of real tumors than flat culture. 
  title: 'Graduate student'
  ttile: 'A Tunable 3D Hydrogel Platform for Modeling Stromal-Driven Tumor Behavior'