Luis Parada

Luis Parada identified the neural stem cell origin of glioblastoma and demonstrated that a quiescent cancer stem cell population residing in the perivascular niche survives temozolomide chemotherapy through Hedgehog and Notch pathway-mediated quiescence, driving inevitable tumor recurrence. His genetic lineage tracing experiments proved that glioblastoma cancer stem cells regenerate tumor heterogeneity after treatment, establishing the cancer stem cell model for brain tumors. His work on NF1 loss and Hedgehog pathway activation in glioma stem cells has informed combination strategies targeting multiple developmental pathways simultaneously.