Kathleen M. Woods Ignatoski, Ph.D. is a Research Investigator in the Section of General Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, MI. Dr. Ignatoski received her B.S. in Biology from The Pennsylvania State University in 1987, her M.S. in Biology from Villanova University in 1990, and her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center in 1995. Dr. Ignatoski did postdoctoral training at Villanova University for 6 months after completing her Ph.D. under Dr. Janice Knepper, then trained as a Research Fellow in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan from 1995 until 1996 with Dr. Randal J. Kaufman. In 1996, Dr. Ignatoski became a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan under Dr. Stephen P. Ethier. In 2004, Dr. Ignatoski moved to the department of Urology as a Research Investigator. Dr. Ignatoski joined General Surgery in July of 2008.

Dr. Ignatoski is interested in the roles of erbB family receptor tyrosine kinases in both breast and prostate cancer bone metastases. Bone metastasis occurs frequently in breast and prostate cancer patients, with 70% of breast cancer and 80% of prostate cancer patients having bone metastases upon autopsy. Bone metastases weaken the bone and cause fractures and nerve entrapment, significantly decreasing the cancer patients' quality of life. Dr. Ignatoski has shown that HER-2 negative primary breast tumors convert to HER-2 positive metastases in bone in the laboratory. With human studies, these data could translate into increased indications for the efficacious anti-HER-2 therapeutics. In prostate cancer, Dr. Ignatoski's research has shown that the species of EGFR ligand that is present at the site of bone metastasis increases the cancer's ability to survive and remodel bone. Dr. Ignatoski is collaborating with Dr. Hammer in Internal Medicine to study the affects of small molecule IGFR inhibitors in combination with small molecule mTOR inhibitors on adrenal cortical carcinoma.

Dr. Ignatoski also has an interest in parathyroid gland development. Dr. Ignatoski is investigating the molecular nature of parathyroid development utilizing a technique called "Oncomine Concepts Mapping". Analysis of the activation sequence of molecular events during parathyroid development in mice will provide a road map for in vitro differentiation of hES cells into parathyroid. Our laboratory's goal is to take parathyroid stem cells from patients, differentiate them in culture, and use the differentiated cells to replace parathyroid function.