Kurt W. Fisher, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Associate Director, UNMC Tissue Procurement Shared Resource Bank, Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center & Department of Pathology
Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Full Member
Kurt Fisher, MD, PhD, completed his MD/PhD training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2013. He completed his training in anatomic pathology at the University of Indiana in 2016 and a fellowship in gastrointestinal and liver pathology in 2017 at UNMC. His clinical service duties include gastrointestinal, liver, transplant and frozen section pathology.
Dr. Fisher has been funded by the NIH/NCI since 2018 to study how transcriptional coactivators can be targeted as a novel therapeutic strategy for colorectal cancer. As a member of the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, director of the Tissue Procurement Shared Resource and an assistant professor, he works to develop patient-derived tumor and normal organoid cell lines to study colorectal and other cancers.
- Board certification: Anatomic pathology, 2016.
- Fellowship: Gastrointestinal and transplant pathology, UNMC, 2016-17.
- Residency: Anatomic pathology residency, Indiana University, Indianapolis, 2013-16
- MD, PhD: UNMC, 2005-13.
- BS: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, summa cum laude, 2005.
Through my clinical and research training, I have come to appreciate that oncogenic K-Ras mutations worsen prognosis and limited therapeutic options for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. My research is focused on identifying new targets for therapy to fulfill the unmet need for effective treatments for metastatic colorectal cancer. Our group is focused on elucidating a deep mechanistic understanding of the components of oncogenic K-Ras signaling. In the setting of metastatic colorectal cancer, we have shown that K-Ras mutations increase the expression of the transcriptional coactivator Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1 β (PGC-1β) to increase the transcription of metabolic genes to promote tumor growth and survival. We are currently focused on assessing mechanisms to inhibit PGC-1β signaling, as we feel that PGC-1β is a critical downstream effector of mutant K-Ras signaling.
As Director of the Pathology Tissue Procurement Shared Resource and as a pathologist for the Organoid Core for the Nebraska Center for Molecular Target Discovery and Development, I actively focus on procuring fresh tissue from patient samples for the development of patient derived organoids for use in basic and translational research. From these efforts, we are developing mouse models to assess the primary tumor growth and metastatic dissemination of colorectal cancer using genetically characterized patient-derived tumor organoids using orthotopic rectal submucosal injections.
- Resident Award for Excellence in Research - Indiana University Pathology Department, 2016.
- Jerald R. Schenken, M.D., Outstanding Achievement in Pathology & Microbiology Award, UNMC College of Medicine, 2013.
- Harris Award for Graduate Students in Cancer Research, Eppley Cancer Center, UNMC College of Medicine, 2011.
- United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology.
- College of American Pathologists.
- Gastrointestinal Pathology Society (GIPS)
- American Gastroenterological Association
- Pancreatobiliary Pathology Society.