Barbara Karakyriakou, a PhD candidate in Cancer Biology at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, attended AACR Early-Career Hill Day in Washington, DC this year. The event, hosted annually by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), invites a select group of early-career scientists to convene with members of Congress and their staff to advocate for sustained federal investment in cancer research through the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
During the events, she had the opportunity to meet with members of Congress and connect with U.S Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of NH, highlighting how her research on cell-type-specific DNA methylation alterations in the tumor microenvironment aims to uncover mechanisms of tumor progression and identify new therapeutic opportunities.
Recently published in Communications Biology, findings from Barbara's research alongside other members of the department, reveals that endothelial cells—the cells that line blood vessels—undergo distinct epigenetic alterations in breast cancer tissue. These findings suggest that changes within the tumor microenvironment may provide valuable biomarkers for disease detection, prognosis, and potentially future therapeutic strategies.
The study underscores the growing importance of integrating epigenetics with cell-specific approaches to uncover biological mechanisms that may otherwise remain hidden in analyses of whole tissue samples.
Read the full publication Endothelial cell-specific DNA methylation alterations associated with breast cancer below:
Study Citation
Karakyriakou, B., Lu, H., Salas, L. A., & Christensen, B. C. Endothelial cell-specific DNA methylation alterations associated with breast cancer. Communications Biology (2026).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10393-8
Research Team
- Barbara Karakyriakou
- Hanxu Lu
- Lucas A. Salas
- Brock C. Christensen
Department of Epidemiology
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA