Our Science – Zenklusen Website

Jean-Claude Zenklusen, M.S., Ph.D.

Neuro Oncology Branch Staff Scientist 37 Convent Drive, MSC4254 Room 1142B Bethesda, MD 20892-4254 Phone:   301.451.2144 Fax:   301.480.4743 E-Mail:   ZENKLUSJ@MAIL.NIH.GOV

Biography

Jean Claude Zenklusen was born on December 31, 1964 in Visp, Switzerland. He earned a Master in Sciences (Biochemistry) from the University of Buenos Aires in 1990. He received his PhD in Cancer Biology & Genetics from The University of Texas, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, in 1995. In 1996, he took a post-doctoral position at the National Genome Research Institute where, while participating in the Human Genome Project, he cloned two novel Tumor Suppressor Genes. At the present, he is the Senior Staff Scientist at the Neuro-Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute, and he teaches Chemistry at The George Washington University in Washington DC.

Research

We are persuaded that the bleak prognostic for Glioma patients can only be improved by the generation and use of new, targeted therapies, based in the biological knowledge of the tumors at a molecular level.
To identify these glioma-specific targets, consistent molecular characterization of a large number of tumors is required. To date, all the studies published are lacking either in the sample numbers being analyzed or the narrow scope of targets being investigated. Thus, we have put together a national, publicly funded effort that we call the Glioma Molecular Diagnostic Initiative (GMDI), which coupled with its bioinformatics counterpart, REMBRANDT, is designed to breach the gap of biological information related to primary brain tumors in order to help patients receive a better, biologically oriented therapy, tailored to their specific needs.
Our objectives are:
1. Produce a biologically significant pathological classification of brain tumors, with strong correlation to clinical outcome.
2. Collect a variety of molecular data to find new molecular targets for therapy through cross-platform, multi-dimensional analysis.
3. Produce a publicly accessible database containing all the aforementioned data, containing the analysis tools necessary for all ends of the research spectrum to profit from the wealth of information stored.

This page was last updated on 8/21/2008.