WELCOME to the DISKIN LAB

Sharon J. Diskin, Ph.D.

Our mission is to understand the genetic basis of pediatric malignancies and to identify optimal targets for new therapies.  Our laboratory is interdisciplinary; we apply quantitative computational methods to genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics data to make new discoveries that subsequently undergo rigorous experimental validation. Our lab has identified multiple genetic risk factors for neuroblastoma. We have also shown that several of these variants target key genes involved in both tumor initiation and maintenance. Recently, we have developed a multi-omic approach to define the surfaceome of cancers and are using this to identify novel targets for immunotherapy. In parallel, we are interrogating structural variants, the non-coding genome, and 3D chromatin architecture in childhood cancers to identify their role in tumorigenesis. Our goal is to utilize our findings to improve patient outcomes and ultimately eradicate cancer in children.