Elisa Woodhouse's Biography

Elisa Woodhouse, Program Director, Tumor Biology and Microenvironment Branch, NIH/NCI

Dr. Elisa Woodhouse joined the Division of Cancer Biology, NCI in 2008. She is a developmental and cancer biologist and serves as a Program Director in the Tumor Biology and Microenvironment Branch (TBMB) where she manages a grant portfolio related to the various facets of tumor-microenvironment ecosystem dynamics in co-organizing and regulating early lesion indolence or aggressiveness, tumor progression and response to therapy. Areas of particular programmatic interests include extracellular matrix reprograming and mechano-signaling, extracellular vesicle-mediated communication, and heterogeneous stromal cell types-tumor interplay at different stages of tumorigenesis. Dr. Woodhouse co-leads the early lesion risk stratification and precision prevention-focused Molecular and Cellular Characterization of Screen-Detected Lesions (MCL Consortium) and co-developed the emerging Translational and Basic Sciences Research in Early Lesions (TBEL) initiative that aims to understand the biological and pathophysiological mechanisms across the lesion and its microenvironment driving or restraining pre-cancers and early cancers, in an effort to facilitate/inform biology-backed precision prevention approaches.

Dr. Woodhouse received her Ph.D in Developmental Biology from the Johns Hopkins University. Her graduate training was in the laboratory of Dr. Allen Shearn with studies on Drosophila mutations that lead to imaginal disc and brain tumors. As a post-doctoral fellow and later a Staff Scientist in the laboratories of Dr. Lance Liotta and Dr. Kathleen Kelly at the NCI, she built upon and continued genetic studies using the Drosophila model while also expanding the scope of her work to human cancer studies related to migration, invasion, and metastasis.

NCI-Supported Extracellular Vesicle Research: Perspectives and Opportunities

Wednesday, 15 December 2021 at 10:30

Add to Calendar ▼2021-12-15 10:30:002021-12-15 11:30:00Europe/LondonNCI-Supported Extracellular Vesicle Research: Perspectives and OpportunitiesExtracellular Vesicles (EVs): Technologies and Biological Investigations in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged in the recent past as important mediators of communication between cells or with the micro- and macro-environments (TME). Nevertheless, NCI portfolio analysis of the past 5 years indicates that while exosome research remains stable it has not expanded in step with its biological significance. Numerous NCI funding mechanisms may be leveraged towards directly or indirectly achieving short- and long-term growth in this research field. Direct measures include a wide range of training programs or administrative supplement initiatives that can further support current funded EV projects and the next generation of researchers. Furthermore, EV-focused or technology-development NCI funding announcements and ongoing NCI/NIH Programs also provide opportunities for specific aspects of EV research. Indirectly, parallel development and implementation of new NCI initiatives are also being strategized, including a new series of cooperative networks that – broadly speaking – place greater emphasis on the micro-/macro-environments (and numerous TME components such as EVs) as modulators of disease progression. Several programs have been established to comprehensively study and differentiate various stages of disease progression as distinct entities governed by nuanced biological rules and dynamics across the tumor-TME continuum, including the role of the TME as a co-organizer – from early lesions to frank tumors and advanced disease/therapeutic resistance. This recent recalibration in TME emphasis – away from the classical tumor-centric/autonomous dogma will likely further stimulate EV research in different stages of disease progression and as an integral component of tumor-stromal dynamics. Central to this set of objectives are three NCI programs: Translational and Basic Research in Early Lesions (TBEL) focused on risk stratification and understanding the determinants of early lesion evolution; PDAC Stromal Reprogramming Consortium (PSRC) tackling the role of the stroma as a co-organizer of early lesion fate in a disease-specific manner; and Acquired Resistance to Therapy Network (ArtNet) examining the TME response in driving therapy resistance.

Add to Calendar ▼2021-12-13 00:00:002021-12-15 00:00:00Europe/LondonExtracellular Vesicles (EVs): Technologies and Biological InvestigationsExtracellular Vesicles (EVs): Technologies and Biological Investigations in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

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