Madeline Hayes
PhD
The Hayes Lab seeks to understand underlying mechanisms of pediatric cancers. We utilize zebrafish genetic models and xenograft transplantation approaches to assess genetic links and novel drug combinations in vivo, in an effort to inform future therapeutic opportunities for patients.
We are focused on defining high-risk phenotypes like metastases and relapse in neuroblastoma (one of the most common pediatric malignancies derived from cells of the peripheral nervous system) and rhabdomyosarcoma (a malignancy of the muscle). In collaboration with Dr Bret Pearson, we have also developed a glioblastoma-like brain tumor model to rapidly assess genes associated with cancer stem cells in vivo.
With the Terry Fox Foundation-supported PRecision Oncology for Young PeopLE (PROFYLE) consortium, we are transplanting human tumor cells into immune-deficient adult zebrafish to study tumor cell dynamics and screen for drugs that are likely to translate directly to patients.