Lauren Averett Byers

She has a bachelor's in molecular biology from Princeton University and a master's in cancer biology, with a specialization in patient-based research, from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She also serves on the faculty of MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School.

Dr. Byers earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. Following her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, she returned to her home state of Texas for oncology fellowship training at MD Anderson. In 2010, Dr. Byers joined the faculty at MD Anderson. Using proteomic, gene expression, and genomic profiling assays, she has identified several promising molecular targets for treating lung cancer. These include the identification of poly ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1) and other genes involved in repairing DNA damage as novel therapeutic targets for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).