Researchers at the Washington University NF Center were recently awarded a large collaborative grant from the National Cancer Institute to identify factors that potentially predict which child with NF1 is most likely to develop an optic glioma and experience vision problems from their tumor.
Spearheaded by David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor, this initiative uses novel genetically-engineered mouse models of NF1-associated optic glioma as well as NF1-patient derived stem cells to discover the factors most responsible for NF1-optic glioma formation, vision loss, and response to therapy.
Together with investigators at Washington University (Drs. Andrew Yoo and David Wozniak) as well as at Harvey-Mudd College (Drs. Jo Hardin and Ami Radunskaya), this investigative team aims to evaluate exciting new risk factors in mice as an initial step towards developing more accurate methods to predict outcomes and improve therapeutic responses in children with NF1.