Pediatric Brain Cancer Research Team/Yadav Lab

About the Lab

Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are the most aggressive pediatric high-grade gliomas and are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. At present, there are no effective therapies for DMGs tumors, and over 90% of patients die within 1.5 years of diagnosis. In his lab, Dr. Yadav is leading efforts to understand genetic and epigenetic dependencies and signaling pathways that arise as a consequence of the H3K27M mutation in DMG. His lab performs pre-clinical studies using a novel in utero electroporation (IUE)-derived genetically engineered mouse model to identify promising candidates that can be targeted as therapy for the treatment of DMG.

Our Lab mission... 

is to develop more effective treatment options for kids with brain tumors. We are particularly interested in: 

• Identifying genomic and epigenomic drivers of pediatric brain tumors with specific genetic alterations (H3K27M or H3G34R/V) using next-generation sequencing and a novel in utero electroporation (IUE) genetically engineered mouse model.
• Developing more effective treatments by dissecting the resistance mechanisms of pediatric brain tumors using genome-wide CRISPR-based genetic screens.

Leader

Dr. Vivekanand Yadav is a Research Faculty at Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) and the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital (CM). He also holds the position of Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine. He is a member of the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

Dr. Yadav came to Children’s Mercy at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, where he held the position of Research Investigator in the Department of Pediatrics. Prior to that, he performed his postdoctoral research in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology from National Center for Cell Sciences, Pune, India. Dr. Yadav has extensive experience working with adult and pediatric high-grade gliomas, including glioblastoma (GBM) and Diffuse midline glioma (DMG).