TWIPO #34 ~Interview With Dr. Nancy Ratner

November
14, 2013
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology
(TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced
that Nancy Ratner, PhD, is a featured guest on its most recent episode, In this
episode, Dr. Ratner speaks with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's
Hospital) and co-host Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital).
Dr. Ratner is interested in understanding
mechanisms of peripheral nerve tumor (neurofibroma) formation in
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common inherited disorder in which children
are predisposed to cancer of the nervous system, to learning problems, bone
disorders, and other cancers. She identified EGFR as a potential therapeutic
target in NF1 peripheral nerve tumorigenesis, and has developed cell culture
and mouse models of NF1 nerve tumorigenesis. Her laboratory has also used
analysis of gene expression to identify critical genes in neurofibroma and
their malignant derivatives, MPNST.

Dr. Ratner is currently a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital, University of Cincinnati, and the program leader for
Cancer Biology and Neural Tumors Program in the Cancer and Blood Disorders
Institute where she holds the Beatrice C. Lampkin Endowed Chair in Cancer
Biology and serves as PI of the NINDS P50 “Cincinnati Center in NF Research.”