Kadir C. Akdemir

Dr. Kadir C. Akdemir is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focuses on integrating computational analyses and multi-omics data to understand chromatin organization and genomic alterations in brain tumors. He leads the Akdemir Lab, which collaborates with global initiatives like the NIH’s 4Dnucleome project and the Break Through Cancer Foundation’s GBM program.

Education: Ph.D. in Genetics and Epigenetics from the UTHealth Houston Graduate School (2013), postdoctoral training at MD Anderson’s Genomic Medicine Department. His work combines computer science and genetics to develop tools for analyzing cancer genomes.

Research interests include chromatin folding dynamics, somatic rearrangements, and computational methods for genomic data integration. His lab studies glioblastoma and chordoma, focusing on tumor evolution and microenvironment interactions.

Notable achievements include identifying ERBB2 alterations in esophageal adenocarcinoma brain metastases and elucidating the role of KDM5D in colon cancer sex differences. He holds grants from NCI, Break Through Cancer, and the UT Rising Stars Award.

Lab membership includes PhD/Master’s students and postdocs working on projects like spatial transcriptomics and ecDNA dynamics. Collaborations span institutions like the Brain Cancer SPORE team and the GBM Moonshot initiative.