Vibha Shivakumar
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Yang Zhang, Professor
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, Michigan Medicine
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 6 (4pm-4:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 17
Presenter: 3
Abstract
One of the most elusive diseases known to man in terms of treatments, cures, and diversity is cancer. Despite how far the medical field has come, there are still no cures for any type of cancer and treatment options vary drastically in terms of success depending on the type and stage the disease is caught at. When looking to find better treatments or even possible cures for cancer, the most important factor to consider is how proteins produced by cancer cells differ from normally produced proteins and how these proteins interact with one another. In addition knowing things like a cancer protein’s binding sites and what could interfere with and inhibit the function of cancer proteins is critical when coming up with possible treatments and cures. By analyzing these protein-protein interactions and performing a de novo protein design, it is possible and feasible to find proteins that can target cancer-related proteins and slow or stop the spread of the disease in the body.
Authors: Vibha Shivakumar, Xiaoqiang Huang, Yang Zhang
Research Method: Laboratory Research
