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
His lab studies metabolic stress-induced cell death, particularly ferroptosis, in cancer. 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
Research Interests:
- Developing and applying cutting-edge mass spectrometry approaches to identify hitherto unknown signaling proteins and ligands and resolve the cascades of localized phosphorylation events in checkpoint signaling
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
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
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
Research Interests:
- The effects of radiation and chemotherapy on male germ cells
- Fertility preservation for boys and young men undergoing cancer therapy
The overarching goal of his research program is to understand the mechanisms of tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis by employing genetically engineered mice and organoids and to specifically answer two critical questions:
- Is tumor cell plasticity a therapeutic vulnerability of cancer?
- Can manipulating cell plasticity promote tissue regeneration, or even prevent tissue damage?
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
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
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
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
Wendy A. Woodward, M.D., Ph.D.
- Translational epidemiology in inflammatory breast cancer
- Cholesterol and radiation resistance in breast cancer
- Radiation resistance mechanisms
Research Faculty Appointments
Scott Bright, Ph.D.
Sawakuchi Laboratory
Maria Angelica Cortez, Ph.D.
Welsh Laboratory
Litong Nie, Ph.D.
Chen (Junjie) Laboratory
Barsoumian Hampartsoum, Ph.D.
Welsh Laboratory
Simone Hausmann, Ph.D.
Mazur Laboratory
Dadi Jiang, Ph.D.
Koong Laboratory
Nan Li, Ph.D.
Lin (Steven) Laboratory
Huimin Zhang, Ph.D.
Chen (Junjie) Laboratory
Rezvan Esmaeili, Ph.D.
Keyomarsi and Hunt Laboratory
Yalan Deng, Ph.D.
Ma Laboratory
Nahum Puebla-Osorio, Ph.D.
Welsh Laboratory
Xianzhou Song, Ph.D.
Koong Laboratory
Frank (Steven) Laboratory
Dandan Zhu, Ph.D.
Chen (Junjie) Laboratory
Hyemin Lee, Ph.D.
Gan Laboratory
Nancy Azizian, Ph.D.
Keyomarsi and Hunt Laboratory
Yan Jiang, Ph.D.
Piwnica Worms (Helen) Laboratory
Amanda Rinkenbaugh, Ph.D.
Piwnica Worms (Helen) Laboratory
Administrative Support Team
Tonya E. Foreman
Department Administrator
Kim Do
Operations Manager
Carolina Rangel
Associate Director Labortary Operations
Abigail E. Zachary
Financial Analyst
Cathy V. Ramirez
Grant Program Manager
Jessica N. Fields
Grant Program Coordinator
Tyler B. Clark
Grant Program Coordinator
Danielle N. Rudolph
Sr. Administrative Assistant
Kara Lewis
Administrative Director
Valoree Solis
Program Manager
Monica Galaz-Montoya
Program Manager
Emily Cavazos
Training Program Coordinator