dr. Sam Kint (PhD)
Postdoctoral researcher - Lab of Translational Onco-genomics and Bio-informatics, Center for Medical Biotechnology (VIB-UGent)
Principal investigator: prof. Katleen De Preter (PhD)
Research focus
Drug resistance and subsequent cancer relapse continues to be one of the major hurdles to overcome in cancer treatment. Previous research did identify several genomic drivers of drug resistance and therapy failure (e.g. mutations, copy number variations). However, more recent research also showed the involvement of non-genetic mechanisms such as epigenetic heterogeneity/plasticity that are linked to cell state switches and escaping therapeutic pressure. Longitudinal monitoring these epigenetic alterations is a challenge that needs to be tackled in order to allow in time detection of therapy resistance. Therefore, in the EpiGuide project, we aim to develop a minimal-invasive assay to monitor epi-genetic switches that drive drug resistance in patients.
The envisioned EpiGuide assay measures different epigenetic data layers from circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) shedded by tumor cells into the blood plasma and translates this signal into the fractional presence of epigenetic cell states in the tumor through computational deconvolution. Next to studying the temporal and spatial dynamics of epigenetic cell state switches in relation to drug resistance and patient outcome, the long-term goal is to bring the EpiGuide assay into clinical practice and guide personalized and disease state-adapted therapy selection.
Biography
- 2015 - 2020, PhD fellow (Ghent University)
PhD in Bioscience engineering: Development of DNA methylation profiling assays in the context of HIV-1 - 2020 - 2023, Postdoctoral researcher (KU Leuven)
Postdoctoral researcher, focusing on implementation, optimization and development of sc- and spatial (epi)transcriptomic and (epi)genomic methods - 2023 - 2024, Postdoctoral fellow (UCalgary)
Postdoctoral researcher, focusing on implementation and optimization of spatial epigenomic methods in GBM - 2024 - current (VIB, Translational Oncogenomics & Bioinformatics lab)
Postdoctoral scientist
Key publications
- Integration of Multiple Spatial Omics Modalities Reveals Unique Insights into Molecular Heterogeneity of Prostate Cancer. BioRxiv, 2023
- A TCF4-dependent gene regulatory network confers resistance to immunotherapy in melanoma. Cell, 2024. (PMID: 38181739)
- CD4+ T cell activation distinguishes response to anti-PD-L1+anti-CTLA4 therapy from anti-PD-L1 monotherapy. Immunity, 2024. (PMID: 38442708)
- Cancer stem cell hypothesis 2.0 in glioblastoma: Where are we now and where are we going? Neuro-Oncology, 2024. (PMID: 38394444)