
Sawakuchi and Shaitelman Laboratory
Gabriel O. Sawakuchi, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Simona F. Shaitelman, MD, EdM
Principal Investigator
Areas of Research
- DNA Repair Research
- Proton Therapy Research
- DNA Damage Response
- Radiation Therapy Research
Welcome to the Sawakuchi and Shaitelman Lab! We are a radiation oncology translational laboratory composed of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, clinical and research physicists, radiation biologists and biologists. We work at the interface of radiation biology and clinical radiation oncology with the goal of translating biophysics discoveries into clinical practice.
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Research Focus
Our goal is to harness DNA repair defects to improve radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy is used in the treatment of various types of cancers. There are various types of therapeutic radiation sources including x-ray, proton and C-ion beams. These radiation sources have different physical properties, resulting in different patterns of energy deposition at the nanoscopic level. Consequently, different types of radiation produce different types of DNA lesions.
Our laboratory currently focuses on the study of DNA damage response induced by x-ray, proton and C-ion therapeutic radiations. Our goal is to find weak links in the chain of events of radiation-induced DNA damage response that could be leveraged to radiosensitize tumors as well as stimulate the immune system to combat tumors while minimizing toxicity to healthy tissue. We work at the interface of radiation biology and translational radiation oncology. Particularly, we have been studying how therapeutic proton and C-ion beams damage DNA and how cells repair those damages.
We develop and utilize time-lapse fluorescence microscopy to image biochemical processes in live cells. Additionally, we develop novel experimental techniques to measure radiation at the sub-structure cell level. We utilize Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport to understand the response of biological systems.
Publications
Join Our Lab
We often have openings in our lab. If interested in joining us, please contact Gabriel.
Contact Information
Gabriel O. Sawakuchi, Ph.D. Simona F. Shaitelman, M.D.
Associate Professor Associate Professor
Department of Radiation Physics Department of Radiation Oncology
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
6565 MD Anderson Blvd, unit 1420 1400 Pressler, unit 1420
Houston, TX 77030 Houston, TX 77030
Email: gsawakuchi@mdanderson.org Email: SFShaitelman@mdanderson.org