Dr. Leopold is Research Professor of Radiology and Co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at Rogel Cancer Center. She is an internationally recognized expert in cancer drug discovery. Dr. Leopold’s research interests are focused on the discovery and development of rationally designed kinase inhibitors to target adaptive resistance mechanisms in cancer cells. Before joining Michigan Medicine in 2009, she had a distinguished career at Parke-Davis/Pfizer R & D, where she led multiple research teams focused on discovery of first-in-class drug candidates. She pioneered the MEK inhibitor field, advancing the field’s first MEK inhibitor into the clinic. Her laboratory at Michigan Medicine continues to focus on first-in-class drug opportunities designed to offer combination therapy to a broad range of cancer patients treated in multiple settings, including radiotherapy.

I have a long-standing interest in the design of novel combination strategies to treat solid tumors driven by oncogenic signaling. My laboratory has generated a number of transgenic and heterogeneous patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models directed toward testing experimental therapies for pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Currently I am focusing on the design of molecular targeted treatment regimens tailored to the compensatory signaling mechanisms operative in KRAS and BRAF mutant tumors.

Topics being investigated in my laboratory include:
• Optimization of MEK inhibitor-based therapies
• Design of novel kinase inhibitors that selectively target dual signaling nodes • Resistance mechanisms in BRAF and KRAS mutant colorectal cancers