##  [Tobias Schmelzle, PhD](/careers/career-programs/postdoc-program/postdoc-research-themes/cancer-biology-postdoc-mentors/tobias-schmelzle-phd "Tobias Schmelzle, PhD") 

  ![Tobias Schmelzle, PhD](/sites/novartis_com/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2021-10/tobias-schmelzle-postdoc.jpg.webp?itok=vOovf3QX "Tobias Schmelzle, PhD")

 

### Co-Mentor: Giorgio Galli, PhD

*Oncology*

*Basel, Switzerland*

Our laboratory is interested in characterizing the role of the Hippo signaling pathway in cancer. While this pathway is a key regulator of organ size and embryonic development, the past decade has highlighted its function in driving tumorigenesis and drug resistance mediated by the aberrant activation of YAP/TAZ-TEAD transcriptional complexes. With significant research reported thus far in the dissection of upstream regulators and downstream targets of the pathway, we are still lacking a detailed mechanistic understanding of the pathway in different disease-relevant settings.

An extensive combination of large-scale functional genomics screens, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, epi-/genomic profiling and mass spectrometry-based proteomics will enable the dissection of novel vulnerabilities in cancer indications driven by aberrant Hippo pathway activity and provide unprecedented resolution of YAP-TAZ/TEAD contributions in disease.

We are working in close collaboration with different departments within NIBR [Giorgio Galli’s lab](/careers/career-programs/postdoc-program/postdoc-research-themes/cancer-biology-postdoc-mentors/giorgio-g-galli-phd "Giorgio G. Galli, PhD"), (Postdoc Co-Mentor), and offer the opportunity for interactions with academic labs, locally and globally.

## Selected Publications

[Project DRIVE: A compendium of cancer dependencies and synthetic lethal relationships uncovered by large-scale, deep RNAi screening](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28753431/)  
McDonald ER 3rd, de Weck A, Schlabach MR, Billy E, Mavrakis KJ, Hoffman GR,..., Kauffmann A\*, Stegmeier F\*, Hofmann F\*, Schmelzle T\* (lead contact), Sellers WR\*  
\*equal senior author contributions  
*Cell 2017 Jul 27; 170(3):577-592*

[Disordered methionine metabolism in MTAP/CDKN2A-deleted cancers leads to dependence on PRMT5](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26912361/)  
Mavrakis KJ, McDonald ER 3rd, Schlabach MR, Billy E, Hofmann GR,..., Schmelzle T\*, Hofmann F\*, Stegmeier F\*, Sellers WR\*  
\*equal senior author contributions  
*Science 2016 Mar 11; 351(6278):1208-13*

[The tyrosine phosphatase PTPN14 is a negative regulator of YAP activity](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23613971/)  
Michaloglou C, Lehmann W, Martin T, Delaunay C, Hueber A,..., Christofori G, Sellers WR, Hofmann F, Schmelzle T  
*PLoS One 2013 Apr 16; 8(4):e61916.*

[Click here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=30058229%2C30024886%2C28960584%2C28753431%2C28430104%2C27260157%2C26912361%2C26295846%2C26173433%2C24504694%2C23780915%2C23613971%2C23436402%2C22952903%2C22394561%2C17767164%2C17360431%2C17276340%2C14673167%2C12540831%2C12207708%2C11839800%2C11741537%2C11726514%2C11057898%2C10848587%2C10567559%5Buid%5D) for additional publications.