Dafna Bar-Sagi

Dafna Bar-Sagi
Born
Israel
Alma materState University of New York at Stony Brook, Bar-Ilan University
Scientific career
InstitutionsNew York University School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health.
Academic advisorsJames Feramisco[1]

Dafna Bar-Sagi is a cell biologist and cancer researcher at New York University School of Medicine.[1] She is the Saul J. Farber Professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology and the department of medicine and senior vice president and vice dean for science at NYU Langone Health.[2] Bar-Sagi has been a member of scientific advisory boards, including the National Cancer Institute,[3] Starr Cancer Consortium,[4] and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.[5]

Her research focuses on the nature of the Ras oncogene and how Ras signaling leads to tumor development, particularly in pancreatic cancer.[6][7]

Early life

Education

Dafna Bar-Sagi was born and raised in Israel.[1] She attended Bar-Ilan University where she earned her undergraduate and master's degrees in neurobiology. She received her PhD in neurobiology in the United States from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY).[8][1]

Career

Dafna Bar-Sagi conducted her postdoctoral research in the lab of James Feramisco in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she worked on the nature of the Ras proteins in 1986, and eventually served as senior staff investigator.[9]

In 1995, Bar-Sagi became faculty at the department of molecular genetics and microbiology at State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook and served as the department chair from 2003 to 2006.[10]

Bar-Sagi transitioned to NYU Langone Medical Center in 2006 as chair of the department of biochemistry.[6] She became vice dean for science and chief scientific officer at NYU Langone Health in 2011. She became executive vice president in 2019.[11]

Research

Dafna Bar-Sagi's research began in 1986, while completing her postdoctoral work with Dr. James Feramisco in Cold Spring Harbor.[1][12] Bar-Sagi and Feramisco were the first to observe how Ras protein facilitates cellular uptake of nutrients through macropinocytosis.[13][14][1]

Bar-Sagi continues to study the function of Ras oncogenes and mutant Ras proteins[15] in cell proliferation, survival, nutrient uptake, cell metabolism and tumorigenesis,[15] particularly in pancreatic cancer.[7] Recent studies in the Bar-Sagi lab have focused on the treatment of mutant KRAS cancer cells, and understanding how they withstand targeted therapies, as well as identification of novel therapeutic strategies for Ras-driven cancers.[16] Her research on interleukin-1β suggests that to fully understand the interactions between tumors, their environment, and immune system, researchers will have to find new methods of studying tumors in vivo.[9]

Selected publications

Recent Publications
Year Citation
2018 Cullis, Jane; Das, Shipra; Bar-Sagi, Dafna. Kras and Tumor Immunity: Friend or Foe? Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives In Medicine. 2018 Sep 04; 8(9):[2]
2018 Handler, Jesse; Cullis, Jane; Avanzi, Antonina; Vucic, Emily A; Bar-Sagi, Dafna. Pre-Neoplastic Pancreas Cells Enter a Partially Mesenchymal State Following Transient TGF-î² Exposure. Oncogene. 2018 Aug 02; 37(31):4334-4342[2]
2018 Aiello, Nicole M; Maddipati, Ravikanth; Norgard, Robert J; Balli, David; Li, Jinyang; Yuan, Salina; Yamazoe, Taiji; Black, Taylor; Sahmoud, Amine; Furth, Emma E; Bar-Sagi, Dafna; Stanger, Ben Z. EMT Subtype Influences Epithelial Plasticity and Mode of Cell Migration. Developmental Cell. 2018 Jun 18; 45(6):681-695.e4[2]
2017 Jang, Jung-Eun; Hajdu, Cristina H; Liot, Caroline; Miller, George; Dustin, Michael L; Bar-Sagi, Dafna. Crosstalk Between Regulatory T Cells and Tumor-Associated Dentritic Cells Negates Anti-Tumor Immunity in Pancreatic Cancer. Cell Reports. 2017 Jul 18; 20(3):558-571[2]
2017 Cohen, D J; Grabocka, E; Bar-Sagi, D; Godin, R; Leichman, L P. A Phase lb Studying Combining Irinotecan With AZD1775, A Selective WEE 1 Kinase Inhibitor, in RAS/RAF Mutated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Progressed on First Line Therapy [Meeting Abstract]. Journal Of Clinical Oncology. 2017 Jun 20; (2017):[2]
2017 Fehrenbacher, Nicole; Tojal da Silva, Israel; Ramirez, Craig; Zhou, Yong; Cho, Kwang-Jin; Kuchay, Shafi; Shi, Jie; Thomas, Susan; Pagano, Michele; Hancock, John F; Bar-Sagi, Dafna; Philips, Mark R. The G Proteined-Coupled Receptors GPR31 Promotes Membrane Association of KRAS. Journal Of Cell Biology. 2017 Jun 15; 216(8):2329-2338[2]
2017 Cullis, Jane E; Siolas, Despina; Avanzi, Antonina; Barui, Sugata; Maitra, Anirban; Bar-Sagi, Dafna. Macropinocytosis of Nab-Paclitaxel Drives Macrophage Activation in Pancreatic Cancer. Cancer Immunology Research. 2017 Jan 20; 5(3):182-190[2]
2017 Grabocka, Elda; Bar-Sagi, Dafna. Stress Granules in Pancreatic Cancer: Drug & Resistance Treatment. Oncology Times. 2017; 39(4):30-34[2]
2013 Commisso C, Davidson SM, Soydaner-Azeloglu RG, Parker SJ, Kamphorst JJ, Hackett S, Grabocka E, Nofal M, Drebin JA, Thompson CB, Rabinowitz JD, Metallo CM, Vander Heiden MG, Bar-Sagi D. Macropinocytosis of protein is an amino acid supply route in Ras-transformed cells. Nature. 2013 May 30;497(7451):633-7.[2]
2012 Pylayeva-Gupta Y, Lee KE, Hajdu CH, Miller G, Bar-Sagi D. Oncogenic Kras-induced GM-CSF production promotes the development of pancreatic neoplasia. Cancer Cell. 2012 Jun 12;21(6): 836–47.

Awards and honors

Membership on Scientific Advisory Boards and Boards of Directors

  • National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors, Chair 2021[3]
  • Starr Cancer Consortium Scientific Review Board[4]
  • Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Scientific and Medical Advisory Board[5]
  • AACR Board of Directors, 2016-2019[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "A Conversation with Dafna Bar-Sagi". National Cancer Institute. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Dafna Bar-Sagi". med.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  3. ^ a b "National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Board of Scientific Advisors" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  4. ^ a b "Scientific Review Board". www.starrcancer.org. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  5. ^ a b "Scientific and Medical Advisory Board - Pancreatic Cancer Action Network". Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  6. ^ a b "Dafna Bar-Sagi". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Three NYU Faculty Elected to National Academy of Sciences". New York University. May 4, 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  9. ^ a b Mast, Jason (9 January 2020). "How pancreatic RAS tumors protect themselves. Researchers point to a new protein — and maybe a new treatment". Pershing Square Foundation. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD". Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD". New York Genome Center. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  12. ^ Bar-Sagi, D.; Feramisco, J. R. (5 September 1986). "Induction of membrane ruffling and fluid-phase pinocytosis in quiescent fibroblasts by ras proteins". Science. 233 (4768): 1061–1068. Bibcode:1986Sci...233.1061B. doi:10.1126/science.3090687. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 3090687. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  13. ^ "the definition of pinocytosis". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  14. ^ Recouvreux, Maria Victoria; Commisso, Cosimo (29 September 2017). "Macropinocytosis: A Metabolic Adaptation to Nutrient Stress in Cancer". Frontiers in Endocrinology. 8: 261. doi:10.3389/fendo.2017.00261. ISSN 1664-2392. PMC 5649207. PMID 29085336.
  15. ^ a b c d "2014 Grant Recipient Daphna Bar-Sagi, PhD – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network/". Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  16. ^ Brooks, Megan (December 15, 2016). "Coping mechanism suggests new way to make cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapies". ScienceDaily / Reuters Health. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  17. ^ "National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members". National Academy of Sciences. April 27, 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  18. ^ "Fellows of the AACR Academy: Class Year 2019". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  19. ^ "AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Lectureship: Past Recipients". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  20. ^ "AACR to Honor Individuals With Scientific Achievement Awards, Lectures During Annual Meeting". Targeted Oncology. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  21. ^ "NCI Outstanding Investigator Award Recipients". National Cancer Institute. 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  22. ^ "Board of Directors | AACR About Us". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 2020-05-02.