Christine A. Pratilas, MD

Dr. Christine Pratilas is a pediatric oncologist at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Oncology, Pediatrics & Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She joined the Hopkins pediatric sarcoma team in 2014.Dr. Pratilas received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Drew University in New Jersey and her medical degree from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (now Rutgers University), where she also completed her internship and residency from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2005 she was a fellow in hematology and oncology in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Department of Pediatrics, and in the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at New York Weill Cornel Medical Center. She worked for several years as a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Neal Rosen’s Molecular Oncogenesis Laboratory at MSKCC. From 2006 to 2014 she was attending in Pediatric Oncology at MSKCC, initially as a member of the Developmental Therapeutics team, and beginning in 2011, as a member of the Pediatric Sarcoma team.Beginning with her fellowship research, Dr. Pratilas’ laboratory discoveries have focused on dysregulated RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signal transduction in cancers, and the application of molecularly targeted therapies to target this pathway.

Dr. Pratilas continues her research on RAS signaling pathways, concentrating on pediatric sarcomas with loss of NF1 and mutations in RAS, in order to develop novel therapeutics for children with these tumors. Current research in the lab emphasizes interrogation of biochemical and adaptive signaling responses to small molecule inhibition of the ERK signaling pathway, to identify factors that predict and condition response to targeted therapeutics, to suggest rational combination strategies, and to identify mechanisms of acquired resistance. Dr. Pratilas’ clinical expertise is in the management of children, adolescents and young adults with sarcomas, with particular research interests in rhabdomyosarcoma and MPNST. In addition, she sees children with melanocytic neoplasms and melanoma; children with NF1-associated non-CNS neoplasms; and other rare pediatric cancers. She has a strong interest in pediatric cancergenetics, and together with the Clinical Genetics service and the Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Center at JH, provides care for children with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), RASopathies, and other cancer predisposition syndromes.