2008 Mentored Investigator Grant Recipient — Lejla Delic, MD

Project Summary

PARP-Inhibitors represent an exciting new class of drugs that are proving to be highly effective for women with hereditary ovarian cancer. Women with inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (roughly 5 percent to 10 percent of all patients) seem to be particularly sensitive to these oral drugs, which have few side-effects. Dr. Delic is focused on trying to understand how PARP-Inhibitors cause cancer cell death. Using tissue culture and animal models, she hopes to test whether a lack of oxygen in ovarian cancer cells makes them susceptible to PARP-inhibitors. Her findings may lead to extending the use of these drugs in women with ovarian cancer who do not have an inherited gene mutation.

Bio

Lejla attended medical school at the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine followed by residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern McGaw Medical Center in Chicago. She is presently a 2nd year fellow in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She has been the recipient of the Berlex Outstanding Resident Teaching Award, CREOG academic achievement award, and the “Gissur Brynjolfsson, M.D. Endowed Scholarship” from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine for pursuit of academic excellence and perseverance toward her medical degree in spite of unusually difficult challenges. She has presented at national meetings of the Western Association of Gynecologic Oncologists and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.