Vanessa S. Rodrik-Outmezguine
Traces how tumors reactivate AKT after mTOR-kinase inhibitors hit them and helps build the drug that finally overcomes it
PhD · Senior Scientist, Rosen Lab, MSKCC · Precision For Medicine · now Associate VP, Clinical Biomarker Development, Loxo Oncology at Lilly
Led ROD2011 (Cancer Discovery): mTOR-kinase inhibitors trigger a biphasic AKT rebound via feedback release of upstream RTK signaling. Led follow-up ROD2016 (Nature, with Shokat's chemistry group): RapaLink-1, a bivalent third-gen inhibitor bridging mTOR's two drug pockets, overcomes resistance mutations.
Moved from academic pharmacology into translational/clinical biomarker science, now at Loxo Oncology/Lilly designing biomarker strategy for precision-oncology trials.
Milestones in the Atlas
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | M | mTOR kinase inhibition causes feedback-dependent biphasic regulation of AKT signaling ROD2011 mTOR-kinase inhibitors trigger feedback-dependent biphasic AKT rebound. |
| 2016 | M | Overcoming mTOR resistance mutations with a new-generation mTOR inhibitor ROD2016 RapaLink-1 overcomes resistance mutations that defeat first/second-gen mTOR inhibitors. |