Michelle Hildebrandt
Professor
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma
The primary research focus of my program is identifying genetic and phenotypic factors that are associated with outcomes following cancer diagnosis, with a focus on treatment-related endpoints such as response, toxicities, and late-effects. The goal is to develop these predictors into strategies for risk-stratified treatment and follow-up recommendations to reduce adverse events, improve quality of life, and ultimately reduce mortality. I lead Project DANCES (Discovery of Aya caNCEr Survivors) retrospective cohort of over 12,000 adolescent and young adult (AYA; aged 15-39 at diagnosis) cancer patients with ongoing prospective recruitment at three sites in Texas (Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, Mays Cancer Center in San Antonio, and Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston) that is supported by R01 and foundation funding. Project DANCES is designed to investigate long-term events in survivors of AYA cancer through incorporation of sociodemographics, clinical features, genetic factors, biological aging, and non-medical drivers of health measures. I am also a co-leader of the MD Anderson AYA Cancer Survivorship Study (AYACSS) leading the biospecimen collection and banking efforts. This survivorship cohort recruits long-term survivors of AYA cancer focusing on extensive patient-reported measures of health and well-being linked to clinical information. Together with Dr. Michael Roth, we received a Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) MIRA Program Project grant to establish AYA Long-term Assessment of SurvivorShip Outcomes (LASSO) that will bring together the resources and efforts of Project DANCES and AYACSS to 1) identify long-term health outcomes among survivors of AYA cancer; and 2) to develop tailored and targeted interventions to improve overall well-being among this survivorship population. The three research projects will focus on physical resiliency, sleep dysfunction, and immune checkpoint inhibitor late-effects.
In addition to survivorship research, I also have a multi-faceted, collaborative research program in myeloma that encompasses research into population differences in susceptibility, quality of life, clinical features, treatment response, and outcomes. I lead the GEM (Genetica y Epidemiologia de Mieloma) Study, a collaboration with the GELAMM consortia in Latin America that is recruiting Hispanic myeloma patients in three countries to investigate the role of genetic ancestry in myeloma susceptibility and outcomes. With the immergence of T-cell redirection therapies (CAR T-cell and bispecific antibodies) in myeloma, there is a need to guide treatment decisions among an often aged population with high levels of comorbidities and limitations. Supported by a CPRIT grant (together with Dr. Krina Patel), we have developed FAMtasTic (Frailty, biological Aging, and Myeloma T-cell engagers) to investigate physical function, frailty, and biological aging as measures that can serve as a treatment-specific multi-dimensional fitness phenotype to enable risk-guided treatment decisions, while also identifying those who may benefit from interventions to improve fitness prior to treatment initiation. Finally, I am an investigator on the ORIGIN (Observational prospective Research study In monoclonal Gammopathies leadINg to myeloma) Study, a prospective cohort of patients with myeloma precursors (MGUS and SMM) with longitudinal collection of quality of life, clinical data, and imaging to understand drivers of progression to multiple myeloma.
Education & Training
Ph.D. - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine - 2007