Background
Amber Gonda is an assistant professor in the department of Cell Biology and Physiology. She received a BA in history from Brigham Young University in 2004. At Loma Linda University in California, she earned her MS and PhD in Anatomy. She then did her postdoctoral work at Rutgers University in New Jersey in the department of Biomedical Engineering. Before transferring to BYU, she was an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine in the department of Surgery.
Cancer Research
The focus of the Gonda lab is to improve the ability to “see” tumors. Our work aims to facilitate diagnoses at earlier and more manageable stages of disease, as well as to enable regular monitoring of cancer progression and therapy response for more timely and accurate interventions. Current tools such as tissue biopsies and imaging modalities (CT, PET, and MRI) are limited by cost, tumor size, procedural risks and tumor location. An alternative to these common diagnostic tools is the novel liquid biopsy. Our lab seeks to use those factors secreted by the tumor into systemic circulation to provide an accurate, clinically actionable molecular and cellular profile of the tumor. We will focus primarily on exosomes, nanosized bilayer membrane-bound vesicles that contain proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids from the cell of origin. Exosomes have been shown to be integral to cancer progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance and are ideal targets for tracking the tumor.
Publications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PqLy6lX-bu5y/bibliography/public/