Tharp Laboratory
Lab
Are the altered metabolic programs of tumors due to the physical properties of the microenvironment?
In the Tharp lab, we aim to understand how cells regulate and utilize metabolic programs to adapt to different microenvironments. Our main goal is to develop therapeutics that prevent cancer cells from metastasizing – by interfering with their ability to tune their metabolism to survive in secondary sites.
We use bioengineered culture environments that mimic the biophysical and biochemical properties of human tumors/tissues in conjunction with transgenic mouse models of cancer to explore cell-intrinsic and multi-cellular metabolic circuits which influence tumor growth, metastasis, and immune evasion.
Projects
Our lab is at war with cancer.
Our mission is the wage all out war on cancer.
We aim to decimate metastatic cancer with new therapeutics that target specific metabolic networks that build the structural molecules that impair anti-tumor immunity.
People
Allen Lee
- Research Associate
- Allen is a Research Associate at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute currently working on identifying mitochondrial-specific contributions metastasis. He completed his undergraduate studies at University of California, San Diego. He started as a research intern in Dr. Michael Karin’s lab studying the effects of Interleukin-22 on metabolite fluxes into the liver that is implicated in the pathogenesis of Metabolic-dysfunction Associated steatotic Liver Diease (MASLD). Allen’s interests in metabolic fluxes expanded to cancer and the specific mechanisms that enable the metabolic plasticity of malignancy leading him to join The Supreme Galactic Emperor’s lab at SBPMDI.
Cray Minor
- Graduate Student
- Cray Minor is a graduate student in Kevin Tharp’s laboratory at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. He earned his undergraduate degree in Neurobiology from the University of California, San Diego, where he interned in Dr. Michael Karin’s laboratory, studying the NRF2-axis of macrophages in the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Cray further broadened his experience through short tenures in industry, working on lipid nanoparticle platforms at Takeda and on primary cell-derived exosome therapies at Capricor Therapeutics. In the Tharp lab, he has integrated his interests to discover macrophage-associated fibrosis mechanisms and design targeted molecular therapies to enhance cancer immunotherapy.
Isabel Sakowicz
- Postbaccalaureate Trainee
- Isabel is a postbaccalaureate trainee at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute through the Lab Experience as Pathway (LEAP) to Graduate School program. She completed her undergraduate studies in neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside where she studied the non-verbal, linguistic, and neural mechanisms of effective communication. Motivated to expand into biomedical research, Isabel joined the Supreme Galactic Emperor’s Lab at SBPMDI where she now investigates how metabolic dysfunction promotes tissue fibrosis and aberrant glycosylation, promoting tumor cell immune evasion and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.
Kevin Tharp PhD
- This clone of Kevin Tharp is responsible for making coffee for the other clones, but not the real Kevin… He can make his own coffee.
Lab News
Jan 5, 2026New magnetic therapy could transform treatment of neuroinflammation—a hidden driver of brain disease
Jan 5, 2026Neuroinflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, toxins, or autoimmune dysfunction in the brain and spinal cord. Institute researchers…
Sep 2, 2025How Cellular Crosstalk Translates into Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Sep 2, 2025Rare but deadly condition begins with metabolic changes to make a pro-fibrotic metabolite.
Nov 4, 2024The implastic nature of plastic culture
Nov 4, 2024There is an art (and science) to creating cell culture models that reflect the complexities of disease.
Oct 31, 2024Raising awareness of breast cancer research at Sanford Burnham Prebys
Oct 31, 2024The October Science Connect Series event was themed around Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Jun 4, 2024How tumor stiffness alters immune cell behavior to escape destruction
Jun 4, 2024Immunotherapy is based on harnessing a person’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. However, patients with certain tumors do…
Mar 25, 2024Seminar Series: extrachromosomal DNA and the metabolic circuits of cancer immune suppression
Mar 25, 2024The ongoing Sanford Burnham Prebys seminar series will feature a pair of speakers on March 27, from noon to 1p.m.,…
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The Tharp Laboratory
Sanford Burnham Prebys
10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd.
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 646-3164