Erin Eun-Young Ahn, Ph.D., associate professor in the division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology and scientist in the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, is the latest winner of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine's Featured Discovery for the study, "SON drives oncogenic RNA splicing in glioblastoma by regulating PTBP1/PTBP2 switching and RBFOX2 activity." This Heersink initiative celebrates important research from faculty members. 

Ahn says that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal brain tumor. Only less than 5% of patients survive more than five years after diagnosis. “However, scientists’ current knowledge of GBM biology is largely limited to several genetic mutations, so we need to achieve a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of this deadly tumor to find new therapeutic targets,” she explains.