BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Specht is a Breast Medical Oncologist, clinical trialist and translational researcher. Her research interests include molecular imaging with FDG PET and DCE-MRI to understand in vivo biology of locally-advanced breast cancer and use of FDG PET to assess response to therapy in bone-dominant metastatic breast cancer. She is PI/Study Chair of ECOG-ACRIN EA1183/FEATURE trial which is evaluating performance of serial FDG PET/CT to predict progression free survival in patients with breast cancer bone metastasis. She also conducts research into immunotherapeutic approaches for treatment of breast cancer with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies. In the context of a phase I trial of ROR1 CAR T cells for solid tumors (TNBC and NSCLC, NCT02706392 ), we’ve shown that while CAR T cells can be transferred safely and expand in vivo, anti-CAR immune responses are frequent and transferred CAR T cells show an exhausted phenotype which may limit efficacy. She is primary investigator for a first-in-human, phase I trial of CAR T cells targeting a cleaved form of MUC1 in patients with breast cancer (NCT04020575). In collaboration with scientists in the Fred Hutch Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center, correlative studies are evaluating CAR T cell trafficking to tumor sites, phenotype and persistence of CAR T cells, and changes in TME in clinical biopsies with goal of overcoming barriers to efficacy of CAR T cell therapy for solid tumors.
