Washington University in St Louis · Biomedical EngineeringThe Estrogen Insight Lab
Sana D Karam · Saint Louis, Missouri
Research Focus
Dr. Sana D Karam's lab at Washington University focuses on understanding how estrogen influences cancer treatment, particularly in head and neck cancer (HNSCC), which affects more men than women. The lab investigates the roles of specific immune cells and hormonal signaling in response to therapies, aiming to enhance treatment outcomes for women, especially those who are premenopausal. Research explores how estrogen can alter immune responses and tumor environments to better tailor cancer therapies based on sex and hormonal status.
head and neck cancerimmunotherapyestrogen signalingregulatory T cellsdendritic cellstumor microenvironmenthigh endothelial venulessex dimorphismpreclinical models
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate how estrogen affects dendritic cell biology through receptor signaling and molecular pathways.
AIM 02Examine the role of estrogen in regulating Treg function and its implications for immunotherapy response.
AIM 03Analyze the impact of estrogen on high endothelial venule formation and T cell trafficking from lymph nodes to tumors.
Skills the Lab Values
flow cytometryin vitro cell culturegenetically engineered mouse modelsimmunofluorescenceproteomic analysisco-culture techniquesmolecular biology techniquesdata analysis using R/Pythonantigen presentation studies
Output against the department
Publications427top 21% of dept.124th of 595
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations6.1kbottom 46% of dept.319th of 595
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.