Jamie Nicole Anastas

Jamie Nicole Anastas, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, where her research focuses on chromatin dysregulation in pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGG) including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. from University of Washington (2013)
• Postdoctoral Training at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (2020)

Dr. Anastas investigates how histone mutations (H3G34R and H3K27M) drive tumorigenesis through chromatin dysregulation, leading to stem-like cell populations and therapeutic resistance. Her lab aims to mechanistically dissect these pathways to develop novel epigenetic therapies. Key research areas include:

• Cancer Epigenetics
• Pediatric Brain Tumors
• Chromatin Regulation
• Drug Resistance Mechanisms
• Tumor Heterogeneity
• Glioma Biology

Her publication record demonstrates consistent focus on epigenetic drivers across multiple cancer types, with recent work emphasizing therapeutic differentiation strategies for DIPG and resistance mechanisms in melanoma. This reflects a translational approach bridging basic chromatin biology with clinical oncology challenges.

Dr. Anastas leads the Anastas Lab under Baylor's VIICTR (Virtual Institute for Integrative Cancer Training and Research), directing research on pediatric brain tumor molecular pathways. Her lab's mission statement explicitly targets developing improved therapies through mechanistic understanding of tumor progression.