Sheri L. Holmen, Ph.D.
Associate Member, Drug Development
sholmen@nvcancer.org
Dr. Sheri Holmen earned her B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Science with cum laude honors from Western Michigan University in 1994 and 1995, respectively and a Ph.D. with an emphasis in tumor biology from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in 2000. She was a postdoctoral fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation at the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) from 2000 to 2003 and established her own lab at VARI in 2003. Dr. Holmen joined the Nevada Cancer Institute's Division of Drug Development in 2007.
Dr. Holmen's research focus is on the use of pre-clinical models to define the genes required for tumor initiation, progression, and maintenance with the ultimate goal of identifying novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Her laboratory uses a somatic cell gene transfer technique, in combination with traditional transgenic and knock-out systems, to model metastatic melanoma and glioblastoma, tumors that are generally refractory to conventional therapies and are associated with a high mortality rate. These models are useful for pre-clinical testing of pharmacological agents and serve to translate the findings in the lab to more effective treatments for cancer patients.
Holmen Lab
Publications
Recent Publications
VanBrocklin, M.W., M. Verhaegen, M.S. Soengas, and S.L. Holmen. Mitogen activated protein kinase inhibition induces translocation of Bmf to promote apoptosis in melanoma. Cancer Research. 69: 1985-1994, 2009.
VanBrocklin, M.W., J.P. Robinson, T. Whitwam, A.R. Guilbeault, J. Koeman, P. J. Swiatek, G.F. Vande Woude, J.D. Khoury, and S.L. Holmen. Met amplification and tumor progression in Cdkn2a-deficient melanocytes. Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research. 22: 454-460, 2009.
Robinson, J.P., M.W. VanBrocklin, A.R. Guilbeault, S. Brandner and S.L. Holmen. Activated BRAF induces gliomas in mice when combined with Ink4a/Arf loss or Akt activation. Oncogene. 29: 335-344, 2010.
VanBrocklin, M.W., J.P. Robinson, K.J. Lastwika, J.D. Khoury, and S.L. Holmen. Targeted delivery of NRASQ61R and Cre-recombinase to postnatal melanocytes induces melanoma in Ink4a/Arf lox/lox mice. Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research, In Press 2010.
