Memorial Hospital Research Laboratories

The Britta Weigelt Lab

Britta Weigelt, PhD

Director, Gynecology DMT Research Laboratory

Gynecology DMT Research Laboratory

Our laboratory focuses on the use of high-throughput genomics and functional genomics to identify drivers of rare gynecologic cancer types, and to define the clinical and biological significance of intra-tumor phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity in these tumors. Dr. Weigelt’s laboratory is devising strategies to overcome the challenges posed by intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity, based on state-of-the-art sequencing analyses of circulating cell free (cf)DNA and of single cells. By bringing together traditional pathological techniques with genetic analyses and functional studies, the Weigelt lab seeks to refine the classification of gynecologic cancers and identify novel drivers and potential therapeutic targets of specific tumor types. In addition, Dr. Weigelt is investigating if cfDNA analysis (so-called “liquid biopsies”) can accurately monitor the disease course of women with endometrial or cervical cancer, and if resistance mechanisms to platinum salts or PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer patients can be identified in cfDNA.

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Featured News

Finding

Investigators Lea Moukarzel, Kimberly Dessources, Britta Weigelt, and Sarah Kim in the lab.

Unique Genetic Change Found in Rare Ovarian Tumor Could Spare Patients from Unnecessary Treatment

Monday, January 27, 2020

The research focused on sclerosing stromal tumor, a rare, benign ovarian tumor that is not cancer but can be misdiagnosed as cancer.

In the Lab

Black-and-white microscopic image of cell from human granular cell tumor

A Study of Rare Tumors Uncovers the Presence of Tumor-Suppressing Genes

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Studying the genes of granular cell tumors has revealed a previously unknown process through which cells can turn cancerous.

In the Clinic

Man and woman in white lab coats looking at test tubes

Single-Cell Analysis Enables Researchers to Understand the Differences within Tumors

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Scientists are decoding the genetic changes that drive individual cancer cells. This may help them develop more-effective targeted therapies.

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Publications

Identification of recurrent FHL2-GLI2 oncogenic fusion in sclerosing stromal tumors of the ovary. Kim SH, Da Cruz Paula A, Basili T, Dopeso H, Bi R, Pareja F, da Silva EM, Gularte-Mérida R, Sun Z, Fujisawa S, Smith CG, Ferrando L, Martins Sebastião AP, Bykov Y, Li A, Silveira C, Ashley CW, Stylianou A, Selenica P, Samore WR, Jungbluth AA, Zamarin D, Abu-Rustum NR, Helin K, Soslow RA, Reis-Filho JS, Oliva E, Weigelt B. Nat Commun 2020; 11:44. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13806-x.

High-Sensitivity Mutation Analysis of Cell-Free DNA for Disease Monitoring in Endometrial Cancer. Ashley CW, Selenica P, Patel J, Wu M, Nincevic J, Lakhman Y, Zhou Q, Shah RH, Berger MF, Da Cruz Paula A, Brown DN, Marra A, Iasonos A, Momeni-Boroujeni A, Alektiar KM, Long Roche K, Zivanovic O, Mueller JJ, Zamarin D, Broach VA, Sonoda Y, Leitao MM, Friedman CF, Jewell E, Reis-Filho JS, Ellenson LH, Aghajanian C, Abu-Rustum NR, Cadoo K, Weigelt B. Clin Cancer Res 2023;29(2):410-421. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1134.

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People

Britta Weigelt, PhD

Director, Gynecology DMT Research Laboratory

Molecular geneticist Britta Weigelt studies the genomics of gynecologic cancers and the use of circulating cell-free DNA for disease monitoring and the identification of therapy resistance mechanisms.

212-639-2332: Office Phone
View physician profile: Physician profile

Members

David Brown
Senior Computational Biologist

Olga T. Filippova — Olga T Filippova
GYN Oncology Fellow

Sarah Kim
Assistant Attending, Gynecology Service, Department of Surgery

William A. Zammarrelli III
GYN Oncology Fellow

Lab Alumni

Arnaud Da Cruz Paula, PhD — Arnaud Da Cruz Paula
Research Associate

Lea Moukarzel, MD — Lea Moukarzel
GYN Oncology Fellow

Anthe Stylianou , BSc — Anthe Stylianou
Research Technician

Lab Affiliations

Get in Touch

212-639-2332

Office Phone
212-639-3198

Lab Phone

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Britta Weigelt discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2022 through disclosure submission in spring 2023). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].

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