Dipali Sharma, Ph.D., M.S.

Dr. Sharma’s laboratory focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying breast cancer initiation and progression and developing various preventive and treatment strategies using mouse models and human samples. Areas of specific interest include understanding the molecular connections between breast cancer and obesity, racial disparities, and microbial dysbiosis. Obesity is an important risk factor for breast cancer—a 5-unit increase in BMI is associated with a 12 percent increase in breast cancer risk. In the United States, about 36 percent of adults are obese, and the prevalence is increasing globally. We are uncovering new pathways as well as developing strategies to abrogate obesity-breast cancer axis and improving therapeutic response in obese women. Racial disparity in breast cancer is clearly evident in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) with younger African American women exhibiting a disproportionately higher burden of TNBC, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer. The Sharma lab is working to understand the molecular wiring and examining novel drug combinations for African American women with TNBC. Microbial eubiosis and dysbiosis are of growing interest as we now appreciate that the number of microbial cells living within and on human body is roughly equal to the total number of human cells. While eubiosis is associated with normal functioning of the body, dysbiosis can impact disease progression as well as response to therapy. The Sharma lab has uncovered that a pro-oncogenic colon microbe potentiates breast cancer initiation and progression. Current projects aim to understand the mechanistic links between microbiota and breast cancer and develop strategies to harness bugs to modulate the response to drugs.