Faculty
Although the majority of our faculty members and our administrative center are located on the Virginia Harris Cockrell Cancer Research Center at Science Park, our department is uniquely structured with faculty and research support cores present on both the MD Anderson Smithville (Science Park) and Houston (Texas Medical Center) campuses, thus connecting these campuses to facilitate collaboration and growth. Our exceptional organizational structure also helps unite two distinct, but related graduate programs, the graduate programs in Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, based at Science Park, and Genes and Development, based in Houston. Faculty membership and participation in the Center for Cancer Epigenetics (CCE), an MD Anderson Center of Excellence that includes members from both Smithville and Houston, further unites these campuses.
Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis Faculty
Smithville Faculty Members
Professor C. Marcelo Aldaz, M.D., Ph.D. - Breast Cancer Genomics
• Role of WWOX the FRA16D chromosomal fragile site gene in cancer and human disease
• Identification and characterization of drivers of breast cancer initiation and progression
• Biomarkers of translational relevance in breast cancer
• Comparative breast cancer genomics and preclinical model development
Professor Blaine Bartholomew, Ph.D. - ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodelers in Cancer
• Role of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers in development and cancer
• Approaches to examine gene expression, chromatin structure, and genomic long-range interactions
• Structure and function of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers
• Dynamics of chromatin, replication independent chromatin assembly and reorganization
Professor Mark Bedford, Ph.D. - Epigenetics and Cancer, Director PAAC
• Arginine methylation, an epigenetic modification
• Mouse models of altered arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) expression
• Transcriptome studies (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq) in altered PRMT expression environments
• Protein Array and Analysis Core (PAAC): state-of-the-art microarrays to screen for proteins that recognize post-translational modifications
Professor Fernando Benavides, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACLAM - Director Laboratory Animal Genetic Services
• Positional cloning (forward genetics) and phenotyping of spontaneous mouse mutations
• Spontaneous mutations influencing skin and hair follicle biology
• New animal models of cancer
• Genetic quality control of laboratory rodents (background characterization, speed congenics)
Associate Professor Shawn Bratton, Ph.D. - Apoptosis and Autophagy
• Regulation of caspases, inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins, and IAP antagonists
• Mechanisms of TRAIL resistance in prostate cancer
• Novel roles of BCL2 family members in heat shock-induced apoptosis
• Biochemistry of autophagy and its role in prostate cancer
Associate Professor Taiping Chen, Ph.D. - Epigenetics and Development
• Crosstalk between DNA methylation and histone modifications
• DNA methylation and histone modifications in embryogenesis, gametogenesis, and stem cell functions
• Epigenetic dysregulation in developmental disorders and cancer
Professor Lezlee Coghlan, D.V.M., M.S. - Director, Animal Resources
• Animal models of early epithelial cancers
• Novel imaging technologies to identify early epithelial cancers
• Infectious and parasitic diseases of rodents
• Managing animal resources
Assistant Professor Francesca Cole, Ph.D. - DNA Repair by Homologous Recombination
• Regulation of homologous recombination in vivo
• Mechanisms underlying germ line mutagenesis
• Relationships between alternate repair pathways during meiosis
• Therapeutic strategies to perturb alternate repair pathways in cancer
Professor and Chair Sharon Y. R. Dent, Ph.D. - Cancer Epigenetics
• Chromatin modifying enzymes - histone acetyltransferases, histone deacetylases and ubiquitn specific proteases in normal cells and in disease
• Cross-talk between methylation, acetylation and phosphorylation on histones and non-histone proteins
• Epigenetic changes regulating stem cell identity, cell differentiation and tumorigenesis
• Changes in post-translational modifications in histones and other proteins involved in neurodegeneration
Assistant Professor Collene Jeter, Ph.D. - Co-Director Flow Cytometry and Cellular Imaging Core, Confocal Manager
• High resolution multispectral confocal imaging
• Volume imaging and three-dimensional image reconstruction
• Spatiotemporal relationships at the cellular and molecular level (time-lapse, FRET, FRAP)
• UVA-laser microirradiation induced DNA damage and dynamics of DNA repair processes
Professor David Johnson, Ph.D. - Epigenetics, DNA Repair and Cancer
• Mouse models of E2F transcription factors in cancer development
• Regulation of E2F1 function by post-translational modifications
• Transcription-independent functions of E2F1 in DNA repair
• The RB Tumor suppressor-E2F1 pathway in liver carcinogenesis
Assistant Professor Yue Lu, Ph.D. - Bioinformatics
• Bioinformatics approaches for answering biological questions using next-generation sequencing
• Genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic changes in cancer
• New computational algorithms and statistical models for analyzing high-throughput sequencing data
Assistant Professor Kevin McBride, Ph.D. - Programmed DNA Damage and Immune System Diversity
• Regulation and role of the mutator enzyme Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase (AID) in antibody diversification and B cell oncogenesis
• Programmed DNA damage, DNA methylation and epigenetic reprogramming during development
• Gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis and impact on B cell development
• Recombinant antibody cloning and production
Professor Ellen Richie, Ph.D. - Thymus Development and Homeostasis
• Role of thymic epithelial cells in regulating T cell development and T cell receptor repertoire selection
• Molecular pathways that commit embryonic endodermal progenitors to a thymic epithelial fate
• Regulation of thymus organogenesis, homeostasis and involution
• Therapeutic strategies for regenerating a functional thymus after age- or stress-induced involution
Associate Professor Manu Sebastian, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACVP, DABT, DACLAM- Director, Research Histology Pathology and Imaging Core
• Phenotypic evaluation of genetically engineered mice for cancer and other diseases
• In vivo evaluation of cancer therapeutics for efficacy
• In vivo evaluation of cancer therapeutics for safety and regulatory approval
• Tissue biomarkers for monitoring efficacy and safety of cancer therapeutics
Professor Jianjun Shen, Ph.D. - Director Molecular Biology Resource Center and Next-Generation Sequencing Facility
• Manager of a CPRIT funded next-generation sequencing (NGS) facility
• Molecular, proteomic and genomic approaches to study cancer and other diseases
• Biomarkers for early cancer detection
• Obesity associated pancreatic cancer risk
Associate Professor Xuetong "Snow" Shen, Ph.D. - Chromatin Remodelers and Eukaryotic Chromatin
• ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers and histone modification, DNA damge response and cancer epigenetics
• Role of nuclear actin – from basic mechanisms to human diseases
Professor Richard Wood, Ph.D. - DNA Polymerases and DNA Repair
• Role and mechanism of DNA polymerase theta (POLQ) in DNA repair
• DNA interstrand cross-link repair
• Importance of DNA polymerase zeta in UV damage response and cell proliferation
Assistant Professor Han Xu, Ph.D. - Computational and Systems Biology
• CRISPR-based genetic and epigenetic perturbation screens
• Machine-learning and statistical algorithms for the design and analysis of high-throughput biological experiments
• Transcriptional and epigenetic regulatory networks
Additional Smithville Faculty Members
- Donghang Cheng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Bedford Laboratory
- Jeesun Kim, Ph.D., Instructor, Chen Laboratory
- Evangelia Koutelou, Ph.D., Instructor, Dent Laboratory
- Yunfu Lin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cole Laboratory
- Kei-ichi Takata, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Wood Laboratory
- Junya Tomida, Ph.D., Instructor, Wood Laboratory
- Renier Velez-Cruz, Ph.D., Instructor, Johnson Laboratory
- Maciej Zelazowski, Ph.D., Instructor, Cole Laboratory
Houston Faculty Members
Professor Michelle Barton, Ph.D. - Chromatin, Epigenetics and Cancer
• Chromatin structure and function
• The p53 tumor suppressor protein
• The E3 ubiquitin ligase and histone reader TRIM24
• Embryonic stem cells, liver regeneration and breast cancer
Associate Professor Joya Chandra, Ph.D. (Joint Appointment) - Oxidative Environment of Cancer Cells
• Reactive oxygen species (ROS) in normal and cancer cells
• Therapeutic strategies exploiting ROS to eliminate cancer cells
• ROS in pediatric blood and brain cancers
• Modulation of ROS by diet and exercise to improve cancer therapy and survivorship
Assistant Professor Marcos Estécio, Ph.D. - Cancer Epigenetics, Director DNA Methylation Analysis Core
• Origin and function of DNA methylation in cancer
• Cross-talk between genetic and epigenetic events in colorectal carcinomas
• Function of the nuclear lamina in gene regulation
• DNA Methylation Analysis Core: Gene specific and genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation
Assistant Professor Margarida Almeida Santos, Ph.D. - DNA Damage and Epigenetics in Cancer Stem Cells
• DNA damage response and chromatin modifications in cancer stem cells
• Mouse models of MLL-fusion leukemias with perturbations in DNA damage response and epigenetic regulation
• DNA damage and epigenetic targeted therapies for MLL-rearranged leukemias
Associate Professor Xiaobing Shi, Ph.D. - Cancer Epigenetics and Histone Modifications
• Histone modifcations in transcriptional regulation and chromatin dynamics
• Epigenetic readers of histone methylation and acetylation
• Development of small molecule inhibitors of epigenetic readers
• Cancer epigenetics
Additional Houston Faculty Members
- Abhinav Jain, Ph.D., Instructor, Barton Laboratory
- Hong Wen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Shi Laboratory
Adjunct Faculty Members
- Karen Vasquez, Ph.D. Division of Pharmacology and Toxicolgy, University of Texas at Austin