Aleksandar Obradovic, M.D., Ph.D.
Grand Prize Essay: Precision Immuno-Therapy: A Mechanistic Approach to Overcoming Treatment Resistance
Abstract:
Cancer immunotherapy harnesses the anti-tumor immune response broadly and to great effect across many tumor types—nevertheless, many patients remain non-responsive, with limited predictors of treatment resistance.
Efforts are underway to identify combination therapies that may improve outcomes. Dr. Obradovic describes a mechanistic systems biology approach for prioritizing combination therapy drug candidates.
This approach leverages protein activity inference and drug sensitivity prediction algorithms as well as single-cell-resolution RNA-sequencing data to identify cell populations associated with treatment resistance in different tumor types as well as key regulatory proteins and drug vulnerabilities of those populations.
This research has enabled discovery of resistance mechanisms and candidate therapeutic targets across numerous tumor types and represents an opportunity to tailor precise combinations of complementary drugs in patients non-responsive to current treatments.
About Aleksandar Obradovic :
Aleksandar Obradovic received undergraduate degrees in Biology and Computer Science from Columbia University, where he continued as an M.D./Ph.D., receiving his Ph.D. in the Department of Systems Biology in 2021.
While working to complete his M.D. training, Aleksandar started his lab with an appointment as Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Medicine at Columbia in 2022.
His research focuses on the development of novel approaches for analysis of single-cell transcriptional, TCR-Seq, and spatial data, applied toward an improved understanding of immunologic checkpoint inhibitor resistance mechanisms and discovery of synergistic combination-therapies.