Oliphant Lab
Integrating single-cell genomics, patient-derived organoids and high-throughput drug screening to understand how breast cancers begin and how they rewire their metabolism to become resistant to therapy.
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Dr. Mike Oliphant investigates how early genomic alterations and metabolic reprogramming shape breast cancer development and treatment response. His research revealed that specific chromosome arm-level copy number alterations (CNAs) in normal breast epithelium mirror those found in breast cancers, indicating that tumor-like genomic changes can arise long before malignancy and may predispose certain cell populations to transformation. This insight has important implications for early detection and prevention strategies, particularly in high-risk individuals.
Dr. Oliphant has also shown that the amino acid transporter SLC7A5 drives metabolic shifts that enable ER+ breast cancer cells to resist CDK4/6 inhibitors, linking nutrient metabolism to cell cycle regulation and drug resistance. His independent program integrates single-cell genomics, patient-derived organoid models, and high-throughput drug screening to uncover the mechanisms by which tumors adapt to stress, with the goal of developing novel approaches to prevent cancer initiation and overcome therapy resistance.
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