LabCompass

Melissa L. Fishel

Medicine · Indiana University

OpenAlex ORCID
Mid career · publishing since 2002Rising activity
Neurofibromatosis and Schwannoma CasesNeuroblastoma Research and TreatmentsDNA Repair MechanismsNerve injury and regenerationCancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism

Publications

377

Citations

6,066

Est. group size

~3

Recurring co-author estimate

Active years

25

Publishing since 2002

Research summary
AI-generated

Melissa L. Fishel studies cancer biology with a strong focus on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), investigating how tumors interact with their surrounding tissue (the tumor microenvironment) and how DNA repair and metabolic pathways can be targeted for treatment. Her work spans drug development, including inhibitors of a DNA repair protein called APE1/Ref-1, and the use of engineered lab-based tumor models such as hydrogels and microfluidic 'organ-on-chip' systems. She also works on gene therapy for neurofibromatosis (NF1)-related tumors.

Pancreatic cancer biology and therapyDNA repair targeting (APE1/Ref-1)Tumor microenvironment and engineered tumor modelsCancer metabolismGene and drug delivery approaches

Publication activity grew sharply, peaking around 2023 and remaining high through recent years, indicating an active and productive period.

Generated by claude-opus-4-8 from public bibliographic data · Jul 9, 2026

Funding
Public award records

Current awards run through July 2028 — about 2 years of funding on record from today. Awards are often renewed, so this is what is currently public, not a forecast.

  • ActiveNIH R01CA282478through Jul 2028 · $479k awarded

    Metabolic flux analysis and PDX models to understand therapeutic vulnerabilities following inhibition of Ref-1 redox signaling in pancreatic cancer

  • ActiveNIH R01CA254110through May 2027 · $433k awarded

    Investigation of novel signaling protein in 3D and in vivo PDAC models using second generation Ref-1 inhibitors

2 earlier awards
  • NIH R01CA167291Jan 2013 – Feb 2025 · $484k awarded

    Exploiting the Ref-1 node in pancreatic cancer: tailoring new pancreatic cancer therapy using multi-targeted combinations

  • NIH R21CA122298May 2007 – Apr 2010 · $182k awarded

    Chemosensitization of Pancreatic Tumors via Inhibition of a DNA BER Enzyme, Ape1

Matched to public NIH RePORTER and NSF records by name and institution. Awards from other agencies are not shown, and a match is not always found — this list may be incomplete.

In context
Among 4,618 mid career Medicine PIs within our index
Citations: 6,066cohort median 616
h-index: 40cohort median 11
Publications / year (recent): 50.0cohort median 3.4

Typically publishes in teams of ~12 · 2% small-team papers (≤3 authors) · across 45 venues

Publication cadence
Publications per year over the last 10 years — averaging 50.0/year recently
2017: 14 publications172018: 10 publications182019: 5 publications192020: 14 publications202021: 13 publications212022: 24 publications222023: 96 publications96232024: 56 publications242025: 47 publications252026: 27 publications26
Collaborators per year
Distinct co-authors at Indiana University each year — a rough indication of whether the group around this researcher has been growing or contracting. An estimate from co-authorship, not a roster: collaborators are not necessarily lab members, and recent years can be under-counted while indexing catches up.
2017: 0 collaborators at the same institution2018: 2 collaborators at the same institution2019: 0 collaborators at the same institution2020: 0 collaborators at the same institution2021: 0 collaborators at the same institution2022: 1 collaborator at the same institution2023: 4 collaborators at the same institution2024: 0 collaborators at the same institution2025: 4 collaborators at the same institution1719212325
Recent publications
Publishes in
  • Cancer Research×27
  • Figshare×27
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)×8
  • Molecular Cancer Therapeutics×6
  • Oncotarget×4
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By research-topic overlap

This profile was generated automatically from public scholarly data (OpenAlex). Group size and activity levels are estimates derived from co-authorship patterns.

Last updated Sep 1, 2026.

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