Dr. Heather Lehman

EDUCATION:

B.S. in Biology, Health Sciences, Shippensburg University
Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Cell and Organ Systems Physiology, University of Delaware 

COURSES TAUGHT: 

BIOL 254 – Human Anatomy and Physiology, Lecture and Lab
BIOL 352 – Nutritional Science 

arEA OF SPECIALIZATION: 

Human Anatomy and Physiology, Cell Biology, Cancer Biology 

Research Interest(s):

Patient prognosis worsens as cancer becomes invasive, spreading beyond the tissue where it has developed and moving into surrounding, healthy tissues. My research focuses on understanding the biological features and molecular mechanisms of cancers that make them invasive. Specifically, I am interested in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), a very deadly type of esophageal cancer that often invades into nearby organs such as the lungs and respiratory tract. Dysregulated tumor suppressors and oncogenes have been shown to play a role in ESCC. My research involves using molecular biology and innovative cell biology techniques to understand how tumor suppressors and oncogenes cooperate to drive ESCC cells to become more aggressive and invasive.    

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Lehman HL, Kidacki M, Warrick JI, Stairs DB. NFkB hyperactivation causes invasion of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with EGFR overexpression and p120-catenin down-regulation. Oncotarget, 9: 11180-11196, 2018. 

Kidacki M, Lehman HL, Warrick JI, Stairs DB. p120-Catenin Downregulation and PIK3CA Mutations Cooperate to Induce Invasion through MMP1 in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Mol Cancer Res, 15(10): 1398-1409, 2017.  

Karamchandani DM, Lehman HL, Ohanessian SE, Massé J, Welsh PA, Odze RD, Goldblum JR, Berg AS, Stairs DB. Increasing diagnostic accuracy to grade dysplasia in Barrett’s esophagus using an immunohistochemical panel for CDX2, p120ctn, c-Myc and Jagged1. Diagn Pathol, 11:23, 2016. 

Karagoz K, Lehman HL, Stairs DB, Sinha R, Yalcin Arga K. Proteomic and Metabolic Signatures of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Curr Cancer Drug Targets, 2016. 

Lehman HL, Yang X, Welsh PA, Stairs DB. p120-Catenin Down-Regulation and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Overexpression Results in a Transformed Epithelium That Mimics Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Am J Pathol, 185(1): 240-51, 2015. 

Lehman HL and D Stairs, Single and Multiple Gene Manipulations in Mouse Models of Human Cancer. Cancer Growth and Metastasis, Suppl. 1: 1-15, 2015. 

Kidacki M, Lehman HL, Warrick JI, Stairs DB. Signaling Pathways Supporting Tumor Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. J Clin Exp Pathol, 5(3), 2015. 

Joglekar M, Elbazanti WO, Weitzman MD, Lehman HL, van Golen KL. Caveolin-1 Mediates Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cell Invasion via the Akt1 Pathway and RhoC GTPase. J Cell Biochem, 116(6): 923-33, 2015.

Lehman HL, Dashner EJ, Lucey M, Vermeulen P, Dirix L, Van Laere S, van Golen KL. Development of a novel lymphomimetic system to accurately grow and study inflammatory breast cancer in vitro. Intl J Cancer, 132(10): 2283-94, 2013. 

Lehman HL, Van Laere SJ, van Golen CM, Vermeulen PB, Dirix LY, van Golen KL. Regulation of inflammatory breast cancer cell invasion through Akt1/PKBα phosphorylation of RhoC GTPase. Mol Cancer Res, 10(10): 1306-18, 2012. 

Lucey M, Lehman HL, Dashner E, van Golen KL. RhoC GTPase Activation Assay. JoVE, http://www.jove.com/index/details.stp?iid=2083, doi: 10.3791/2083, 2010. 

Lehman HL and KL van Golen, “Akt Signaling in Oncology.” Belgian J. Med. Oncology, 3(4): 141-144, 2009.

Lehman HL and KL van Golen, “Regulation of Rho GTPase activity through phosphorylation events: a brief overview.” The Rho GTPases and Cancer, KL van Golen ed., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Doordrecht, Netherlands, 2009.