Damon Runyon Researchers

Dr. Lin [Walter Isaacson Fellow] is studying how hepatitis C virus (HCV) rewires cell biology and causes liver cancer. Modern HCV antiviral therapies are effective in curing hepatitis, but puzzlingly, recovered patients sometimes still develop cancer. This suggests that infection and subsequent inflammation permanently alter liver cells, but how this leads to cancer remains unclear. Dr. Lin is developing a CRISPR-based molecular "recorder" to determine whether cells that become more cancer-like have a history of infection and inflammation. This technology could identify genes that predispose healthy liver cells to infection, chronic immune stimulation, and transformation to cancer cells, which could point to potential therapeutic targets to interrupt the development of liver and other cancers.