Eti Cukierman | |
---|---|
Born | Edna Cukierman |
Alma mater | Technion – Israel Institute of Technology |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Tumor microenvironment Cancer associated fibroblasts Extracellular matrix Pancreatic cancer Desmoplasia[1] |
Institutions | National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Fox Chase Cancer Center |
Thesis | Molecular characterization of an ARF directed GTPase activating protein (1997) |
Doctoral students | Jaye Gardiner |
Website | www |
Edna "Eti" Cukierman is a Mexican biochemist who is a professor at the Fox Chase Cancer Center.[1][2] She serves as co-director of the Marvin & Concetta Greenberg Pancreatic Cancer Institute. Her research investigates pancreatic cancer and the tumor microenvironment.
Cukierman was born in Mexico City.[3] She emigrated to Israel in 1986.[3] She joined Technion – Israel Institute of Technology for her doctoral research, where she studied ARF directed GTPase.[4][5]
After her PhD, Cukierman was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in 1997, and joined the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.[3] She developed a multilayered fibroblastic cell-derived extracellular matrix, which became widely used in biomaterials research.[6][7]
Cukierman joined the Fox Chase Cancer Center in 2002.[3] She studies pancreatic cancer, with a specific focus on the tumor microenvironment and the identification of strategies that can change the tumor microenvironment.[8] Desmoplasia, which is the growth of connective tissue, shows similarities to wound healing pathologies (e.g. chronic inflammation).[9][10] She believes it will be possible to stall the growth of tumors by transforming the microenvironment into one which harnesses anti-tumor functions.[11]
In 2005, Cukierman demonstrated that desmoplastic extracellular matrices could induce a myofibroblastic phenotype on naïve fibroblastic cells.[12] This work involved the realization of a human mimetic three-dimensional stroma system, which allowed Cukierman to understand the extracellular factors that determine the function of fibroblasts.[12] Through multi-cellular culturing, Cukierman has shown how cancer-associated fibroblasts impart immunosuppressive influences, communicate and provide nutrition to cancer cells.[12] She identified that cancer communication involved the TGF beta signaling pathway, extracellular matrix and integrin signalling pathway and the reorganization of cytoskeletal elements.[13] She demonstrated that the glutamatergic presynaptic protein Netrin G1 promoted tumorgenesis by providing nutritional support and immunity to cancer-associated fibroblasts.[14] She has shown that anti-Netrin G1 antibodies can halt tumorgenesis.[9]
Cukierman joined the American Gastroenterological Association in 2010.[8] At the time, this was considered novel because the association is mainly a medical association, and Cukierman is not a physician.[8] In 2017, she established the Marvin and Concetta Greenberg Pancreatic Cancer Institute.[15]
Cukierman has supported the development of early career researchers, and has developed a philosophy around teaching and mentoring. She is a member of the American Cancer Society, and on the editorial board of Matrix Biology.[19]