Faculty & Staff
Professor and Chair
R.E. Bob Smith Chair for Cancer Research
Director, Metastasis Research Center
CPRIT Established Investigator
- Cancer biology and metastasis
- Tumor microenvironment
- Tissue injury and regeneration
- Biology of exosomes in health and disease
Faculty
Director, Cancer Biology Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Co-Director, Metastasis Research Center
Professor and Harry Graves Burkhart III Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Biology
Past President, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Tumor biology and immunity
- Telomeres in cancer and aging
- Genetically engineered mouse models of cancer and age-related disorders
- Target discovery for cancer and aging therapy
Natividad Robert Fuentes, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile | Fuentes Laboratory
Assistant Professor
- Membrane spatial dynamics and cellular signaling
- Cellular architecture of the tumor microenvironment
- Role of environmental factors (diet/exposure) in tumorigenesis
- Hypoxia and immunosuppression
Assistant Professor
- Functional genomics and the skin epithelia
- The non-coding regulatory landscape of stem cell plasticity
- Mechanistic understanding of squamous cell carcinomas and wound repair
- Molecular insights of aging
Eyal Gottlieb, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile | Gottlieb Laboratory
Professor
Vice President, Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Cancer metabolism, oxidative stress and DNA damage response
- Metabolic adaptions in cancer progression
- Metabolic control of fatty liver disease
- Metabolic vulnerabilities as novel cancer therapeutic targets
Associate Professor
- Stem cells and glial biology in the central nervous system (CNS)
- Glioma and neurodegenerative diseases
- Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis
- Chemotherapy-induced neurological defects
Randy Johnson, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Emeritus Professor
Rita Allen Foundation Fellow
Associate Professor
- Molecular mechanisms of DNA replication fork stability
- Genome instability gene functions in mitochondria
- Fanconi anemia and hereditary hematological malignancies
- BRCA/p53 collaborations at the DNA replication fork
Shabnam Shalapour, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Assistant Professor
- Chronic inflammation-induced immunosuppression
- B cells and humoral immunity
- Intrinsic MHC-1 antigen processing and presentation in cancer cells
- Regulation of adaptive immunity by obesity, alcohol, microbiome and aging
Joint Appointments
Chair, Immunology
Chair, Experimental Radiation Oncology
Professor, Surgical Oncology
Chair, Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Associate Professor, Head and Neck Surgery
Professor, Pathology
Chair, Cancer Systems Imaging
John A. Tainer, Ph.D.
Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Assistant Professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology