Kara Ruicci
Kara Ruicci completed her BMSc with an Honours Specialization in Physiology at Western University in 2015. Kara is enrolled in the MD/PhD program at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and is currently working towards her PhD in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Nichols in the Translational Head & Neck Cancer Research Group. Her project is focused on identifying predictors of response to PI3K targeted drugs in head and neck cancer patients. Specifically, Kara is working to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which, over time, patient models develop resistance to these therapies. To do so, she is using a multi-platform approach to characterize drug-resistant cell lines and patient-derived xenografts. This knowledge will inform the development of focused combination therapies that may be able to prevent or delay resistance for head and neck cancer patients.
