Tao Tan

Background

About Tao Tan

My research interests are in medical biology, cancer models and drug development. My current research interest is mainly in the personalized translational research of cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Using clinically relevant preclinical cancer models such as patient-derived tumor organoids (PDTOs), we have developed an imaging-based high-throughput drug screening platform for colorectal cancer, its application to prediction of treatment responses for patients with metastatic disease and use as a validation platform for novel drug combinations. Currently, we are expanding our biobank of PDTOs, testing its clinical use in a large-scale clinical trial, developing the accompanying multi-omic tools, and coculturing PDTOs with stromal cells and immune cells to understand the interactions between cancer cells and the microenvironment. The colorectal cancer PDTO biobank established as a result of our work provides a fertile ground for future discovery and translational research, with great potential to benefit cancer patients.