Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of cancer treatment, but it often causes unintended damage to healthy tissue, impacting patients’ quality of life. Lara Barazzuol’s lab investigates how radiotherapy and other cancer treatments affect healthy tissue in brain and head and neck tumors, with a focus on childhood brain cancers. Her team aims to uncover the biological mechanisms behind treatment-induced toxicity and develop strategies to reduce these side effects, bridging basic science with clinical applications. In parallel, her lab is also exploring innovative combination therapies to expand the therapeutic window of advanced radiotherapy modalities, including proton therapy.

Lara Barazzuol’s lab, by using a combination of model systems and methodologies, aims:

  • To understand the molecular and biological mechanisms underlying cancer treatment-induced adverse effects, with a primary focus on radiotherapy.
  • To evaluate candidate therapeutic interventions in preclinical models to mitigate these adverse effects.
  • To develop novel cancer therapies that combine (particle-based) radiotherapy with pharmacological agents, including immunotherapy.
  • To investigate how defects in the DNA damage response contribute to brain aging and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
Relevance

Ameliorating cancer treatment-induced adverse effects

Lara Barazzuol’s lab investigates how radiotherapy and other cancer treatments affect the brain and head and neck regions. By uncovering the biological mechanisms behind treatment-related side effects, the lab aims to develop strategies that improve long-term outcomes and quality of life for tumour survivors. This is especially important for paediatric brain tumour patients, who often live long but face lasting effects from early treatment.

Research Interests

  • By using brain organoids, in vivo models, and post‑mortem human brain tissues, we investigate cellular and molecular responses to both the tumour and its treatment. These studies combine transcriptomic, molecular, and tissue‑level analyses to uncover mechanisms that influence treatment outcomes and neurotoxicity in paediatric and adult brain tumour patients.

  • Within this line of research, we investigate how radiation‑induced DNA damage activates inflammatory and immune pathways, with a focus on normal tissue responses in the brain and head‑and‑neck regions. This work aims to understand tissue‑specific toxicity while exploring how these responses can be harnessed to enhance systemic anti‑tumour immunity.

  • We study how proton therapy affects cells compared with conventional photon irradiation, addressing the limited understanding of proton‑specific biological responses. This work is particularly relevant for paediatric brain tumour patients, who often receive proton therapy.
    In parallel, we explore combination strategies using novel agents and immunotherapy to enhance proton therapy treatment efficacy in brain, CNS, and head and neck tumours.

  • Genome instability represents a primary hallmark of brain ageing. We aim to define how (radiation‑induced) DNA damage disrupts neuronal integrity and contributes to the development of neurodegenerative changes.

Group leader

  • Lara Barazzuol

Part of

Contact

Greetje Noppert Secretary - Section Molecular Cellbiology

University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) 
Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems
Lara Barazzuol - Molecular radiation biology
Internal Zip code FB31
Antonius Deusinglaan 1
9700 AD Groningen
The Netherlands

Visiting Address

University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems
Antonius Deusinglaan 1
Building 3215, 5th floor, room 569
9713 AV Groningen
The Netherlands