Kian Kani is the Director, Education and Outreach at the Ellison Institute and an Assistant Professor of Research Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. His dissertation thesis focused on understanding regulatory elements governing activity of a family of receptors (HER-kinase) in breast cancer. Through bioinformatics he identified a region within this receptor family that promotes self-association, which is typically correlated with cancer cell growth. He also demonstrated that under the right circumstances, receptor self-association can also play a role in preventing aberrant cancer signaling.
Dr. Kani then joined the Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics (SFCAP) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center under the direction of Dr. David Agus. SFCAP’s research was focused on identifying factors that influence cancer development, progression and response to therapy. He identified protein biomarkers (biological indicators) that predicted which patients would respond to specific HER-kinase targeted therapies and helped monitor patient responses while undergoing therapy. Dr. Kani was also able to develop tools that empowered physicians to predict therapy response.
Dr. Kani then joined the Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics (SFCAP) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center under the direction of Dr. David Agus. SFCAP’s research was focused on identifying factors that influence cancer development, progression and response to therapy. He identified protein biomarkers (biological indicators) that predicted which patients would respond to specific HER-kinase targeted therapies and helped monitor patient responses while undergoing therapy. Dr. Kani was also able to develop tools that empowered physicians to predict therapy response.
When the Center relocated to USC in 2009, Dr. Kani joined the team in their new home. With the divergent group at the Ellison Institute, he has integrated new tools to study cancer and gain a better understanding of its ecosystem. Dr. Kani has expanded the institute’s clinical trials group, which improved access to patient specimens to validate biomarker discovery efforts. He also initiated the CAMM Jr. Fellows program to foster the training of future rock stars of science. Dr. Kani passionately shares the Ellison Institute’s goal of developing new ways to diagnose and treat cancer patients who are in urgent need of breakthroughs today.
