Associate Professor
Brigham Young University
My name is Jared Barrott, PhD and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Brigham Young University. I am a cancer pharmacologist who uses molecular characterization methods to determine personalized approaches to treat rare bone and muscle cancers in adolescents and young adults. Personalized medicine in oncology relies on extracting molecular information from the tumor to understand the vulnerabilities that attacked with targeted therapies. Sarcomas are a rare classification of cancer that is understudied and has limited targeted therapy options. In the Barrott lab, we create models of bone and muscle cancers to test novel therapies. We use traditional cancer cell lines as well as innovative patient-derived 3D tumor organoid models to test anti-cancer therapies. Once therapies have shown promise in these models, we advance the most promising candidates to test in genetically engineered mouse models where we can assess safety and efficacy before going into people. One class of anti-cancer therapy that we are particularly interested in is antibody-drug conjugates. Using antibodies as a homing beacon, we can deliver precise therapies that target unique antigens expressed on the cancers.