Dr. Amrita Cheema
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
Amrita Cheema, PhD, is a professor of Oncology and Biochemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center. She also co-directs the Waters Center of Innovation in Metabolomics at GUMC. Her extramurally funded research program is focused on delineating small molecule biomarkers that are predictive of exposure to ionizing radiation as well for adverse outcomes of radiotherapy. Her laboratory has also developed several tools and workflows for furthering metabolomics based molecular phenotyping for clinical and translational research. Amrita’s work has been documented in more than 45 peer reviewed publications and 5 biomarker patents.
Session 2: -OMIC TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPLEX DISEASES
Day 2: September 12, 2019 | Session 2 | 1:50 PM - 2:20 PM
METABOLOMIC BIOMARKERS PREDICTIVE OF RADIATION LATE EFFECTS
Amrita Cheema, PhD. Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
Incidental or accidental exposure to ionizing radiation is known to trigger a complex cascade of molecular and cellular responses. Conventional dosimetry, monitoring of prodromal symptoms, and peripheral lymphocyte counts are of limited value in gaining insights into organ- and tissue-specific response to radiation exposure. Molecular phenotyping technologies such as metabolomics are powerful tools for developing anticipatory biomarkers of radiation induced tissue injury. We have used this approach not only for identification of robust biomarkers that predict radiation toxicity of organs and tissues resulting from exposures to therapeutic or non-therapeutic IR, but also to understand biochemical perturbations that could be early indicators of tissue injury manifesting as radiation late effects. In summary, radiation metabolomics as a standalone technology, as well as its integration in systems biology, has facilitated a better understanding of the molecular basis of radiation response.