Dr. David Kirsch is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University Medical Center. His clinical interests include the multi-modality care of patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas and developing new sarcoma therapies. The goal of Dr. Kirsch’s laboratory is to utilize the recent advances in the understanding of the genetic basis of human cancer to study its initiation, progression, and metastasis through the use of mouse models. Applying state-of-the-art tools in genetics, imaging, and cell biology, his lab is examining the role of oncogenic pathways and the mechanisms of tumor suppressor gene function in cancer. In addition, Dr. Kirsch’s lab is using mouse models to study mechanisms of current cancer therapies, such as radiation therapy, and to develop next-generation therapeutics. Because the usefulness of cancer therapy depends on the ability to deliver treatment with an acceptable level of toxicity, Dr. Kirsch’s lab also utilizes mouse genetics to study normal tissue injury from cancer therapy. These studies focus on the mechanisms of the acute radiation syndrome and late effects following radiation therapy.