Primary Brain Tumors in Adults: Advances in Mechanistic Understanding, Evaluation, and Management

The Tew laboratory maintains an interest in using redox pathways as a platform to develop therapeutic strategies through drug discovery/development and biomarker identification. We interrogate how reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) impact cancer cells and develop novel drugs that impact on glutathione based pathways. Our research efforts have been integral to studies that have identified glutathione S-transferases (GST) as important in drug resistance, catalytic detoxification and as arbiters of kinase-mediated cell signaling events. In addition, we have been instrumental in defining how GSTP contributes to the process by which cells respond to ROS by selective addition of glutathione to specific protein clusters, so called S-glutathionylation. Each of these research areas has had broad impact on a number of cancer disciplines. Moreover, we have also been seminally involved in the Phase I to III clinical testing of three oncology drugs, Telcyta, Telintra and NOV-002. Other ongoing translational efforts have produced two ongoing clinical trials to measure the effectiveness of serum S-glutathionylated serine proteinase inhibitors as possible biomarkers for exposure to hydrogen peroxide mouthwashes and radiation.

Dr. Mariza Daras is an Associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Chief of Neuro-oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia. She began her academic medical career at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she received her medical degree. After completing her Neurology residency at Duke University Medical Center and a Neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering, she served as faculty in the Department of Neurology at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She subsequently took on a faculty position in the Division of Neuro-oncology at the University of California San Francisco where she spearheaded a CNS metastasis multidisciplinary program. In 2019, she joined VCU to lead the Division of Neuro-oncology. Dr. Daras has focused her research efforts on clinical trials for patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors, and specifically in the development of novel immunotherapeutic and combinatorial strategies. She has also dedicated her time to teaching and mentoring medical school students, residents, fellows, and advanced practice providers and is the Program Director of the VCU neuro-oncology fellowship. She is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties for neuro-oncology. Dr. Daras is a member of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO), and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). She is an appointed member of AAN’s Committee on Public Engagement, as well as the AAN, Committee on Brain Health. She also serves as appointed member of the SNO Diversity and Women Committee, as well as the SNO/ASCO CNS Metastases Annual Conference.