Biography
Dr. Wahl completed his MD, PhD and radiation oncology training at the University of Michigan, which included a research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Theodore Lawrence. Dr. Wahl is now an Assistant Professor and a physician scientist in the Department of Radiation Oncology where he cares for patients with brain tumors in the clinic. His laboratory studies the relationship between abnormal metabolism and therapy resistance in glioblastoma and other brain tumors. Dr. Wahl has received numerous honors for this work including an American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award, career development grants from the NIH and the American Cancer Society and has been named a Senior Scholar by the Forbes Institute and an Emerging Scholar by the Taubman Institute. He is delighted to be leading a team of talented researchers, all of whom are dedicated to improving treatments for patients with aggressive brain tumors.
Research Interests
We use cell line and patient-derived models of brain tumors cultured in vitro or grown in mice to study therapy resistance. We use steady-state and stable-isotope tracing metabolomics to interrogate metabolic abnormalities in these models, which we then perturb genetically and pharmacologically to determine the relationships that link abnormal metabolism to therapy resistance as well as the mechanisms behind these relationships. We have a particular focus on purine metabolism and are working to measure the activity of this pathway and inhibit it in patients with brain tumors.
Research Opportunities for Rotating Students
We are accepting rotating students for rotation projects involving de novo purine synthesis, IDH1 or nucleotide salvage.
Current Students
