Jacob Edmondson, PhD

Affiliate Member

Research Program:

Cancer Biology

Faculty Rank:

Graduate Assistant

Campus:

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

College:

College of Medicine

Department:

Biochemistry

Cancer Research Interest

Disease Site Focus: Cutaneous/Melanoma
Research Focus Area: Treatment
Type of Research: Translational
Research Interest Statement: I am currently enrolled in the MD/PhD program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. My professional aspirations revolve around driving science forward in the laboratory and the clinic. The dual degree program will allow me to pursue investigating basic science concepts and ultimately improving the patient care of complex diseases and malignancies. My project focuses on investigating how the tumor milieu impacts the intrinsic immunogenicity of melanoma the bearing these changes have over the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The incidence of melanoma is rising globally and standard therapies, including chemotherapeutics and monoclonal antibodies, have displayed limited success. Though cellular therapies are emerging as the next generation of immunotherapy, their success against solid tumors is limited, in part, by the immuno-suppressive conditions of the tumor microenvironment. The long-term goal of this project is to implicate the unfolded protein response in the immunosuppression of melanoma, and to show that the signaling pathways therein correlate with patient responsiveness to anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 therapies.

Taylor EM, Byrum SD, Edmondson JL, [et al.]. Proteogenomic analysis of melanoma brain metastases from distinct anatomical sites identifies pathways of metastatic progression. Acta neuropathologica communications. 2020 8(1):157. PMID: 32891176. PMCID: PMC7487560.