Faculty
Experimental Radiation Oncology Faculty
Junjie Chen, Ph.D. (Chair)
Research Interests:
- Molecular mechanisms of DNA damage response and repair pathways in genome maintenance and tumor suppression
- Proteomic analysis of oncogenic and tumor suppressive pathways
- Investigation of gene-gene and gene-drug interactions involved in cancer development and therapy
Kim Do, Administrative Coordinator
Research Interests: Our lab studies metabolic stress-induced cell death, particularly ferroptosis, in cancer. Our currents efforts aim to study
- The role and mechanisms of ferroptosis (a form of cell death induced by lipid peroxidation) in tumor suppression and how to target ferroptosis in cancer therapy
- The role of cystine transporter SLC7A11 in the regulation of nutrient dependency and targeting its associated metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer therapy
Hilla A. Janjua, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Inhibition of LMW forms of cyclin E as a therapeutic target in combination therapy for triple negative breast cancer
- Delineation of how the alteration of cyclin E, a G1 cyclin, could lead to the tumorigenic phenotype and determination of the oncogenic potential of the altered forms of cyclin E in breast cancer
- Determination of the mechanism of action of intracellular elastase and its inhibitor elafin in tumorigenesis and subsequent metastasis
- Examination of mechanisms of action and resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in ER positive breast cancer patients
- Identification of novel treatment strategies, targeting the cell cycle, for soft-tissue sarcomas
Hilla A. Janjua, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Discovery and rigorous characterization of non-coding RNA functions in normal physiology, cancer, and metastasis
- Identification of deubiquitinating enzymes as antitumor and anti-metastatic targets
- Decoding the roles of developmental regulators in the development, metastasis, and response to therapy of cancer and other diseases
Hilla A. Janjua, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Pancreatic and Lung Cancer - the leading causes of cancer death
- Adoptive immunotherapy - CAR T cell-based therapy development
- Biochemistry - novel and "orphan" enzymes substrates discovery
- Genetics - CRISPR/Cas9 animal models for cancer pharmacogenomic
Hilla A. Janjua, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- The effects of radiation and chemotherapy on male germ cells
- Fertility preservation for boys and young men undergoing cancer therapy
Tyler B. Clark, Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Studying Wnt pathways in cancer cells, embryonic stem cells, frog embryogenesis, mouse intestine and skin
- Regulation of telomerase in regeneration and disease
Tyler B. Clark, Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Identifying and targeting drivers of breast cancer metastasis
- Identifying and targeting vulnerabilities in treatment-refractory primary TNBC
- Defining features that enable indolent breast cancer to advance to aggressive disease
- Elucidating how fasting and different diets protect small intestinal stem cells from lethal doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy
Hilla A. Janjua, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Normal tissue complications of cancer treatments
- The genetic basis of radiation induced pulmonary fibrosis
- Mechanisms of radiation-induced alveolitis
- Protection and mitigation of radiation injury in normal tissues
Research Interests:
- Understand how oncogenic signaling pathways and tumor microenvironment regulate cancer development and metastasis
- Search for biomarkers and context-specific therapeutic targets for personalized cancer medicine
Tyler B. Clark, Administrative Assistant
Radiation Oncology Physician Scientists
Experimental Radiation Oncology supports research laboratories from the Division of Radiation Oncology
Albert C. Koong, M.D., Ph.D., FACR, FASTRO (Division Head, Radiation Oncology Department Chair)
San Juanita Coronado, Executive Assistant
Susan St. John, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Interests:
- Computational approaches to biomarker discovery and validation
- Microbiome and immune interplay in radiation response and toxicity
- Investigation of longitudinal changes in tumor and tumor microenvironment during radiation
Elizabeth A. Murphy, Administrative Manager
David R. Grosshans, M.D., Ph.D.
Marilyn E. Bozeman, Administrative Assistant
Simona F. Shaitelman, M.D., EdM
Sawakuchi & Shaitelman Laboratory
Desmond C. Garner, Assist. Clinical Research Coordinator
Michael Spiotto, M.D. Ph. D.
Christina Setareh Sharafi, Asst. Clinical Research Coordinator
Cullen M. Taniguchi, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Interests:
- Molecular analysis of hypoxia and how it alters the response of normal tissues and the tumor microenvironment to chemotherapy and radiation
- The role of mitochondrial dynamics in pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis
- Translation of radioprotection by EGLN inhibition to improve clinical outcomes in gastrointestinal cancer and unresectable pancreatic cancer
- Investigation of the direct and indirect effects of the microbiome on treatment response in anal cancer
Mathew C. Cagley, Assist. Clinical Research Coordinator
Wendy A. Woodward, M.D., Ph.D.
- Translational epidemiology in inflammatory breast cancer
- Cholesterol and radiation resistance in breast cancer
- Radiation resistance mechanisms
Denise Aranda Rector, Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Faculty Appointments
Zhen Chen, Ph.D.
Chen (Junjie) Laboratory
Maria Angelica Cortez, MSc, Ph.D.
Welsh Laboratory
Dadi Jiang, Ph.D.
Koong Laboratory
Moon Jong Kim
Park Laboratory
Nan Li, Ph.D.
Lin (Steven) Laboratory
Nahum Puebla-Osorio, Ph.D.
Welsh Laboratory
Amrish Sharma, Ph.D.
Lin (Steven) Laboratory
Gunapala Shetty, Ph.D.
Meistrich Laboratory
Vidya Sinha, Ph.D.
H Piwnica-Worms Laboratory
Xianzhou Song, Ph.D.
Koong Laboratory
Frank (Steven) Laboratory
Staff
Gracie Cantu
Administrative Coordinator
Tyler B. Clark
Administrative Assistant
Kim Do
Operations Manager
Tonya E. Foreman
Department Administrator
Cynthia M. Montemayor
Grant Program Coordinator
Carolina Rangel
Assoc. Dir. Laboratory Operations
Rodolfo J. Velazquez
Manager, Animal Resources
Abigail E. Zachary
Financial Analyst