SUMMARY
The research of Victoria E. Clark, M.D., Ph.D., focuses on how driver mutations in common brain tumors, including meningiomas and vestibular schwannomas, alter gene function and downstream biology. By defining how these genetic changes create therapeutic vulnerabilities, Dr. Clark's team seeks to identify opportunities for drug repurposing and guide the development of novel targeted inhibitors. Dr. Clark's ultimate goal is to identify new therapeutic approaches for these traditionally under-researched tumor types.
Dr. Clark leads the Brain Tumor Functional Genomics Laboratory, which is part of the Department of Neurologic Surgery.
Focus areas
- Functional genomics of meningiomas and schwannomas. Dr. Clark's lab studies how common driver mutations change the downstream biology of meningiomas and schwannomas. By revealing how these mutations work, the lab's goal is to identify novel therapeutic vulnerabilities in these tumors.
- Drug repurposing. Dr. Clark studies how gene changes in meningiomas and schwannomas create cellular weaknesses that existing drugs might target. Her goal is to repurpose safe, already-approved medicines to offer patients new treatment options more quickly.
- Biobanking. As part of Mayo Clinic's Neurosurgery Biospecimens Repository of Intraoperative Patient Donations to Foster Collaborations Across the Globe and Enterprise (BRIDGE), Dr. Clark and her team collect patient tumor and blood samples from the operating room. They carefully preserve these samples and use them in the lab to guide research. This helps the team study real tumor biology and develop more-personalized treatment strategies.
- Liquid biopsies. Unlike several other brain tumors, meningiomas lay outside the blood-brain barrier and are amenable to a blood-based liquid biopsy strategy. Dr. Clark's team is interested in using a combination of targeted sequencing, methylation profiling and copy number variation analyses to predict disease progression and response to treatment.
- Malignant meningiomas. Dr. Clark studies malignant meningiomas, which are rare and under-researched and have extremely poor outcomes. By investigating the genes and biology that drive these aggressive tumors, her team aims to uncover new treatment targets for patients who have no effective options.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Clark is a neurosurgeon and scientist. She studies brain tumors called meningiomas and schwannomas. Dr. Clark uses tumor tissues from patients to learn more about the genes that drive these tumors. These genes include several tumor drivers that she helped discover.
By learning how these genes change cell behavior, her team can find weak points in a tumor that medicines could target. There are no approved medicines for meningiomas or schwannomas. But her work is helping to design better treatments and improve care for future patients.