Department of Pharmacology
and Chemical Biology
Renee D. Read
Dr. Renee Read completed her B.A. in Biology at Carleton College, with a research focus on developmental biology. She then trained in tyrosine kinase signal transduction as a research technician for two years following her undergraduate degree. Based on her education and research experiences, she decided to pursue a career at the intersection of developmental biology and cancer genetics, focusing on neural tumors. She completed her Ph.D. at Washington University at the School of Medicine in Developmental Biology. For her thesis, she studied neural development and developed new genetic models for Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN2) that were later used in pre-clinical drug testing of new therapies that have since been FDA-approved for MEN2, demonstrating the power of genetic model systems to advance cancer research.
Infiltrative Neoplastic Glial cells in the Drosophila Brain
Dr. Read completed her postdoctoral training in developmental neurobiology and brain tumor biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies jointly with the University of California – San Diego. During her postdoctoral studies, Dr. Read developed new models for glioblastoma (GBM) in Drosophila, demonstrating that the same genetic pathways that cause GBMs in humans cause these tumors in fruit flies, and she then translated her discoveries from fly models into mouse and human GBM model systems. Dr. Read also trained with collaborating labs and additional expert cancer biologists at the Salk, UCSD, and UCLA on human and mouse experimental model systems and techniques, including patient-derived tumor stem cell cultures and mouse models of GBM.
As faculty at Emory, Dr. Read forged new collaborations with other neuro-oncology researchers and developed a multi-disciplinary research program to explore the genetics and cell biology of GBM and other high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Her lab has recently expanded their research program to include other glial tumors and neural tumor syndromes, including neurofibromatosis. Her lab currently focuses on translational research designed to develop new model systems for these tumor types, identify key drivers of tumorigenesis, and test new therapeutics for these tumor types in early phase clinical trials. To facilitate expansion of her translational research program, Dr. Read is now working on a Masters degree in applied epidemiology to learn biostatistics and bioinformatics.
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In her spare time, Dr. Read enjoys live music, gardening, visiting friends and family, and spending cozy time with her pets, including Spotty the cat (sooo cute!) and Sandi the dog.
