Marina Sharifi

The Sharifi lab is focused on identifying molecular mechanisms of targeted therapy resistance in advanced breast and prostate cancer to develop new and more effective therapies. Our research utilizes liquid and tissue biopsy multiomics approaches and patient derived models to evaluate dynamic changes in endocrine and oncogene signaling that occur in response to hormonal and PI3K pathway targeted therapies in patients with hormone dependent cancers. We co-developed the first targeted ctDNA sequencing platform for simultaneous ctDNA mutation detection and fragmentomics-based prediction of tumor gene expression (Annals of Oncology, 2023), including accurate prediction of estrogen receptor gene expression in advanced breast cancer (Nature Communications, 2025). We also developed an innovative high purity CTC RNA sequencing approach that led to the first identification of CTC lineage phenotypes associated with clinical outcomes and treatment response in metastatic prostate cancer (Cancer Discovery, 2025). The overarching goal of our work is to develop new strategies to overcome targeted therapy resistance through a better understanding of the molecular changes that drive resistance in patients. Pre- and post-doctoral trainees participate through leading analysis of our liquid and tissue biopsy datasets and the development and implementation of pre-clinical modeling to test new therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance mechanisms Identified through our translational work.

Publications