Eyler Lab

Eyler Lab Overview

Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, the Butler Harris Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology, hopes her research will help find more effective ways to vanquish tumors. She examines how tumors change during radiation treatment, with the goal of identifying new targets for therapy. She is currently investigating rectal cancer.

Dr. Eyler subjects rectal cancer organoids – three-dimensional cultures of cells from patients’ tumors – to treatments including radiation and chemotherapy to investigate how tumor response changes over time, both genetically and epigenetically. 

In addition to studying irradiated rectal cancer, Dr. Eyler uses new technology to learn about how epigenetic changes promote cancer growth in the first place. A common type of epigenetic change is called methylation, in which the addition or subtraction of a molecule called methyl influences gene expression. Another epigenetic player involves the architecture of chromatin, the proteins that form the structural scaffolding for DNA. Changes in the architecture of chromatin can bring certain proteins and genes in a long DNA strand close to one another, influencing whether or not those genes are expressed. Dr. Eyler is using new technology to shine a light on that architecture. Understanding how gene dysregulation leads to cancer could yield important new information about how to stop it.

News

Drs. Lee and Eyler

Lee, Eyler Awarded R21 for Research on GI-ARS

Congratulations to Chang-Lung Lee, PhD, and Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, who were awarded a $317,000 MPI R21 grant by the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The grant runs from August 2025 to July 2027; it aims to investigate the epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms governing the regeneration of intestinal stem cells following radiation-induced damage, with a focus on multipotent revival stem cells.
Dr. Eyler in the lab

Eyler Featured by V Foundation

Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, was profiled by the V Foundation for Cancer Research as part of their Mothers in the Lab feature for Mother's Day. The story explores Dr. Eyler's dual roles as a physician-scientist and a devoted mom to her three kids. In 2024, Dr. Eyler was awarded a V Foundation "V Scholar Award" grant for her research on deciphering drivers of cell changes in response to rectal cancer radiation; the grant awards $600,000 over three years.
Dr. Eyler in the lab

Eyler Receives V Foundation "Scholar Award" Grant

Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, has been awarded a V Foundation for Cancer Research "V Scholar Award" grant for her research on deciphering drivers of cell changes in response to rectal cancer radiation.  The V Scholar Awards program is part of "A Grant of Her Own: The Women Scientists Innovation Award for Cancer Research" initiative. This year, 15 women scientists were awarded V Foundation grants. Dr. Eyler's specific grant is meant to invest in early career researchers with cutting-edge ideas; she will receive $600,000 over three years. 
Christine Eyler, MD, PhD

Eyler Awarded K08

Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, was recently awarded a K08 Mentored Clinical Science Research Career Development Award from the NIH/NCI. The title of the award is "Harnessing treatment-induced tumor evolution and collateral sensitivities using a human rectal cancer co-clinical platform"; the overall goal of the project is to identify and validate evolving rectal cancer collateral sensitivities during chemoradiotherapy.
Christine Eyler, MD, PhD

Eyler Awarded Strong Start Funding

Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, is one of six School of Medicine faculty members to win a 2021 Physician Scientist "Strong Start" Award. The Strong Start program funds early-career physician-scientists as they develop their research. Dr. Eyler will receive $75,000 annually for three years.