Fuad Iraqi, PhD

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A Partnership between ICRF and Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF)

About the Investigators:

Dr. Iraqi received his PhD from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is currently a Full Professor in, and the former Chairman of, the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at Tel Aviv University. His laboratory is focused on understanding the genetic basis of host response to infections and chronic diseases, which are important for human health.

Dr. Brenner obtained his PhD from Stanford University and is currently the Alfred E. Mann Family Foundation Chair, Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism, Beckman Research Institute, at City of Hope National Medical Center. His laboratory specializes in disturbances in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), the central catalyst of metabolism, in diseases and conditions of metabolic stress.

About the Research:

Aging depresses the activity and efficacy of host defense systems, which increases opportunities for cancer development. Further, chronic inflammation caused by obesity is associated with the development of a variety of malignancies. In mice, as in people, the association between aging, obesity, and the severity of cancer development depends on genetics. While there are strong disease genes, like adenomatous polyposis coli (or Apc), whose mutation predisposes to intestinal cancer, there are a wide variety of additional genes—termed modifiers—that increase or decrease the likelihood of intestinal cancer in the context of Apc mutations. The most widely studied mouse mutation, termed ApcMin, predisposes to intestinal neoplasias, that are typically manifested by polyps in the small intestine. In brief, this US-Israeli collaboration will identify and characterize candidate genes that become important in age and diet-induced intestinal carcinogenesis and will uniquely investigate the liver as a potential mediator of the effect of age and diet on intestinal carcinogenesis.