Russell Spencer-Smith, Ph.D.
To uncover new functional regions and novel drug targets in the RAS-MAPK pathway through the study of rare disease-associated mutations
Research Interest
Mutational activation of the RAS-MAPK pathway is present in around 30% of human cancers, however there remains a lack of effective therapeutics that target this pathway. Our research focusses on the characterization of rare disease-associated mutations in this pathway as an approach to uncovering new functional regions in frequent oncogenes and identifying novel druggable targets therein. As a new faculty member in the MUSC Department of Pharmacology, I am currently examining novel approaches to target CRAF in KRAS-driven non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which was recently shown to be dependent on CRAF, but ARAF or BRAF expression. These studies will provide key mechanistic insights into the role of CRAF in KRAS-mutated lung cancer and will inform new therapeutic approaches that target these functions.