Emily Keung
Assistant Professor - Vice Chair of Research
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Surgical Oncology
Soft tissue sarcomas are a diverse group of rare cancers affecting both adults and children and generally associated with poor prognosis. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment and only potentially curative treatment for patients with localized soft tissue sarcoma. Unfortunately, many patients develop sarcoma recurrence after surgery and/or present with metastatic disease, and we currently lack effective systemic therapies for many patients with sarcoma.
The Keung lab is focused on understanding the molecular pathogenesis and tumor immune microenvironment of 3 of the most common types of soft tissue sarcoma in adults: undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, liposarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. Using experimental (wet lab) and computational (dry lab) approaches and learning from biospecimens contributed by patients receiving care at MD Anderson, our goals are to expand our understanding of fundamental soft tissue sarcoma biology, to identify novel therapeutic vulnerabilities and targets, to develop innovative treatment strategies, to translate these to patients through clinical trials and to improve outcomes for our patients these challenging cancers.
We are seeking motivated and talented individuals to join our lab to help us uncover novel sarcoma tumor biology, develop patient-derived models to advance sarcoma research, and innovate new treatment strategies for patients with these challenging cancers!
Education & Training
M.D., Harvard Medical School, 2008