Sandra Gollnick

Dr. Gollnick joined the faculty at Roswell Park in 1990 after postdoctoral training at DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto, CA and serving as a staff scientist at ImmunLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. Dr. Gollnick is currently the PI as well as a Project Leader of a National Cancer Institute funded Program Project Grant continuously funded for the past 21 years. Dr. Gollnick’s research focuses on the yin and yang of inflammation in the progression and treatment of cancer. Chronic inflammation contributes to the development and progression of many cancers, including prostate cancer.

Dr. Gollnick’s laboratory explores how tumor cells co-opt the host immune system to promote chronic inflammation that leads to increased vascularization, suppression of anti-tumor immunity and increased tumor cell proliferation and migration. The goal of this work is to develop novel therapeutic targets based on increased understanding of the interaction of tumor cells and immune cells. Unlike chronic inflammation, acute inflammation promotes the development of anti-tumor immunity. Many anti-cancer modalities, including radiation, chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT), result in acute inflammation. Dr. Gollnick’s laboratory has shown that PDT stimulates anti-tumor immunity that is capable of combating distant disease.

Her current focus is on developing clinical protocols for the treatment of head and neck and lung cancers with a goal of providing enhanced tumor control, including control of metastases, with minimal effect of quality of life. Dr. Gollnick is an Associate Editor of Photochemistry and Photobiology and has served as a reviewer for numerous journals including Cancer Research, Journal of Immunology and Oncogene. Dr. Gollnick is also a member of the NCI Radiation Therapeutics and Biology Study Section and has reviewed grants for the US Army Research Program as well as the Canadian and Dutch Cancer Societies. Dr. Gollnick served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Tumor Immunology Program for many years and is currently a member of the Graduate Studies Steering Committee. She was honored with the Excellence in Graduate Education Award in 2010.