Robert Debs, Ph.D.
Investigator
Novel research by Dr. Debs showed that PECAM-1 (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1) regulates levels of cancer-promoting proteins, and that an anti-PECAM-1 monoclonal antibody targets advanced metastases of common fatal cancers. The Debs lab is developing gene delivery technologies for cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s. As part of a new CPMC collaborative effort, Dr. Debs is helping create a novel paradigm for treating metastatic tumors with combination therapies. Several targets implicated in tumor proliferation or invasion have already been identified at the institute, and studies are underway to assess activation of these targets and their signaling pathways.