Scholars

David Lombard, MD, PhD

University of Michigan

Disease Area

Oncology

Focus

Development of New Treatments for Metastatic Melanoma

Scholar Profile

2017 Harrington Scholar-Innovator

The Lombard lab proposes development of new therapies that inhibit the mechanism that prevents cell death in melanoma. The team is focusing on an anti-cell-death gene that is present in more than half of melanoma patients as a therapeutic target.

Now, they hope to advance one of three new compounds that have been shown to have activity against that gene in the laboratory.

Through the assistance of Harrington Discovery Institute and its Innovation Support Center, Dr. Lombard and his co-Principal Investigator Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology, aim to conduct preclinical trials of their lead compound to test its effectiveness and safety when given alone and in combination with other anti-melanoma drugs.

“There has been tremendous progress in treating metastatic melanoma, but many patients still succumb to this disease because they are resistant to treatment. We are taking a different approach by targeting the cell death pathway.”

Source: Article from 2017-18 Annual Publication.