TRaCES, or Translational Research and Core Expert Support, is a new programmatic initiative in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology that supports translational and research-driven partnerships between scientists and clinicians. Founded and led by Dr. Olimpia Meucci (department chair and TRaCES Senior Executive Director) and colleagues, TRaCES aims to elevate ongoing research in the department by providing clinical tissue samples to faculty, offering experimental and technical support, and connecting researchers and clinicians interested in scientific collaborations.
TRaCES investigators currently focus on neuroHIV, cancer metastasis, and inflammation in the brain, which are major areas of interest in the department. These projects capitalize on Dr. Meucci’s collaboration with Dr. Atom Sarkar, a practicing neurosurgeon in the region. TRaCES also hosts a core facility co-directed by Dr. Joshua Jackson and Dr. Rachel Van Duyne, which processes tissue samples and helps move TRaCES projects forward. The core expects to expand its research focus and technical capacity with additional clinical and academic collaborators as well as to provide training opportunities to graduate and medical students.
TRaCES News
June 2025
TRaCES Core Team Secures Second Grant Focused on Brain-Metastatic Melanoma Research
A multidisciplinary team led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jackson has been awarded a prestigious Department of Defense (DoD) grant to advance research on brain-metastatic melanoma. The study, titled “Human Organotypic Brain Slice Cultures to Study Brain-Metastatic Melanoma and Immune Infiltration,” will utilize innovative human brain slice cultures to model the tumor microenvironment and evaluate therapeutic responses.
Key contributors to the project include several other DUCOM faculty (Drs. Hartsough, Klase, VanDuyne, Fatatis, Sarkar and Meucci), whose collective expertise spans oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and pharmacology. These investigators represent the core team of the Translational Research and Core Expert Support (TRaCES) initiative, spearheaded a few years ago by the department chair, Dr. Meucci, to elevate departmental research through collaborations with COM clinicians. This marks the second funded grant for the TRaCES Core team, building upon their previous success in neuroHIV research.
June 2024
First TRaCES Project Published
The TRaCES initiative’s first major project has been published in the open-access journal Cells. The paper reports a novel human brain slice culture system to study neuroHIV, which may help overcome the limitations of animal and cellular models of HIV. This human model system was developed through a joint effort of TRaCES investigators and collaborators.
Read the paper here.
TRaCES ongoing projects:
- Brain metastases microenvironment
- Melanoma brain metastasis and glial metabolism
- Cancer cell stemness and brain invasion
- NeuroHIV
- Immune mediators and synaptic deficits
TRaCES offers the following services to departmental faculty:
- Tissue freezing/embedding
- Cryostat sectioning and microtome sectioning
- H&E staining
- Immunohistochemistry
- Image digitalization & analysis
- Laser capture microdissection
- Virus reactivation assays
- Human brain slice cultures
- Virus prep/validation
- Small animal models development
Senior Leadership
*This clinical practice is independent of Drexel University (GNI’s research coordinator: Jennifer Ross, PhD; [email protected]).
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