The Verhaak Lab

Connect with me:

Brain tumors, sequencing, computational biology.

Our research

We are a computational cancer biology lab with a research focus on the analysis of cancer genomics data to improve our understanding of cancer biology. We have a specialized research interest in understanding disease progression of brain tumors, particularly glioblastoma and glioma. We mostly use high throughput sequencing and computational analysis in our research.

Open Positions

Job

Job Title

Location

Description

Lab Staff

Samir B Amin, MBBS, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Working in the comparative oncology field to study spontaneous development of glioma in Canis familiaris or dogs with emphasis on characterizing and comparing cancer genome and transcriptome to that in human glioma.

Kevin J. Anderson, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Integrates biomechanical and genomic approaches towards the analysis of brain tumor heterogeneity and disease evolution.

Floris Barthel, M.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Deploys next-generation sequencing techniques to understand brain tumor biology and telomere mechanics.

Amit Gujar, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Investigates the role of extrachromosomal DNA in brain tumor evolution and heterogeneity.

Kevin C. Johnson, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Leverages genomic technologies to investigate brain tumor biology and disease evolution.

Hoon Kim, Ph.D., M.Sc.

Senior Research Scientist

Computational analysis of high throughput sequencing data to improve our understanding of tumor biology and evolution.

Eileen King, BS

Research Administrative Assistant

Research Administrative Assistant at JAX Genomic Medicine in Farmington, CT

Jihe Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Apply genetic and genomic approaches to understand brain cancer and tumor evolution.

Roel Verhaak, Ph.D.

Professor and Associate Director of Computational Biology

Brain tumors, sequencing, computational biology

Eunhee Yi, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Development of the molecular cytogenetic tool for tracing the extrachromosomal DNA to understand brain tumor heterogeneity and evolution.

Highlighted Abstract

The Cancer Genome Atlas Network recently cataloged recurrent genomic abnormalities in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We describe a robust gene expression-based molecular classification of GBM into Proneural, Neural, Classical, and Mesenchymal subtypes and integrate multidimensional genomic data to establish patterns of somatic mutations and DNA copy number. Aberrations and gene expression of EGFR, NF1, and PDGFRA/IDH1 each define the Classical, Mesenchymal, and Proneural subtypes, respectively. Gene signatures of normal brain cell types show a strong relationship between subtypes and different neural lineages. Additionally, response to aggressive therapy differs by subtype, with the greatest benefit in the Classical subtype and no benefit in the Proneural subtype. We provide a framework that unifies transcriptomic and genomic dimensions for GBM molecular stratification with important implications for future studies.

The Verhaak Lab

Principal Investigator: Roel Verhaak, Ph.D.

Our research

Open Positions

Selected Publications

Highlighted Abstract