Principal Research Scientist/Precision Medicine
Bio
Dr. Vassilopoulos received his Ph.D. in physiology at the University of Athens in Greece. He completed his postdoctoral training in Cancer, Aging, and Metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
One of the main observations in oncology is that increasing age is the strongest statistical variable that predicts carcinogenesis. Aging is a complex process that appears to be regulated, at least in part, by sirtuins, a relatively new gene family. Dr. Vassilopoulos’ research focuses on the study of the molecular and biochemical connection between sirtuin genes and carcinogenesis as well as tumor cell resistance.
As a Lynn Sage Scholar, Dr. Vassilopoulos explored two particular members of the sirtuin family, SIRT2 and SIRT3, in both normal mammary stem cells and breast cancer stem cells. His results provide solid evidence to support a novel role of sirtuins in breast tumor initiation and potential therapeutic applications. His laboratory continues to study and identify new compounds targeted at a subgroup of breast tumors characterized by low expression of sirtuins.
Athanassios Vassilopoulos, PhD
Oncology at AbbVie
Newly funded researchers pursuing high-risk, high-reward breast cancer studies in their first or second academic positions.
Past
Early Investigator
Abde Abukhdeir, PhD
The molecular variants that lead or contribute to drug resistance in breast cancer
Past
Early Investigator
Nan Chen, MD
Discovering novel biomarkers of therapy response and resistance in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients
Past
Early Investigator
Peiwen Chen, PhD
Targeting macrophage reprogramming in brain metastatic breast cancer
Why your gift matters
Your gift helps researchers test bold ideas, generate critical data, and take the first steps toward the next major advancement in breast cancer treatment and care.Together, we can accelerate discoveries that save lives.
