Chris Halbrook, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Christopher Halbrook, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry with memberships in the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCI Cancer Research Institute, and UCI Institute for Immunology. His dedication to pancreatic cancer research began in his graduate training with Dr. Howard Crawford at Stony Brook University and The Mayo Clinic and was strengthened during his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan with Drs. Costas Lyssiotis and Marina Pasca di Magliano.
The research in the Halbrook lab focuses on identifying and targeting interactions among cell populations found in pancreatic tumors. These techniques have led to seminal findings describing mechanisms of metabolic crosstalk with functional consequences on tumor growth, chemoresistance, and immune suppression. Through the support of Sky Foundation, the Halbrook lab is using patient-derived organoid models to identify and target metabolic mechanisms of chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. Through this work, they expect to make significant inroads toward improving the patient response to standard-of-care therapies.