Dr. Bob Coffey is the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research in the Departments of Medicine (Gastroenterology) and Cell and Developmental Biology. He is a physician-scientist whose work extends from basic cell biology to clinical investigation. A major focus of his research is the role of the EGF receptor (EGFR) and its ligands in GI neoplasia with a special emphasis on colorectal cancer (CRC). The Coffey lab discovered the EGFR negative regulator, Lrig1, marks colonic stem cells and is a tumor suppressor in vivo. His lab has extensive experience in creating innovative mouse models, including a robust stem cell-driven model of colonic neoplasia and targeting a bright green reporter to the C-terminus of the mouse Egfr. The lab also has a major interest in extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles. Dr. Coffey described a new mode of EGFR ligand signaling via exosomes and the lab has gone on to optimize isolation of exosomes in a highly cited Cell manuscript, as well as discover a new amembranous nanoparticle, termed a supermere. Dr. Coffey co-directs the Vanderbilt Epithelial Biology Center and is PI of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center GI Special Programs of Research Excellence, which focuses on CRC and has been funded since 2002. He is contact PI of Vanderbilt’s Pre-Cancer Atlas Research Center that recently reported in Cell that sessile serrated lesions arise from gastric metaplasia. Dr. Coffey is the John B. Wallace Professor of Medicine and an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, American Association of Physicians, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a recipient of an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award.
Website: medicine.vumc.org/person/robert-j-coffey-jr-md
Twitter: @Coffey_EGFR
Email: robert.coffey@vumc.org
