News
July 28, 2023
MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students in the department discussed student leaders’ transition and prepared for the Aug. 30, 2023 welcome new students event. Yiming Cai will be the departmental student representative to give a short talk.
From left to right: Alyssa Shulman (Yu), Shao-Ping Yang (Yu), Pengju Gong (Lin/Yang), Lisa Angela Huang (Lin/Yang), Yiming Cai (Ying), Dr. Dihua Yu, Phuoc Thi My Nguyen (Ying), Yueh-Ming Shyu (Yu), Runze Shen (Tainer), Ahmed Emam (Tainer) and Hao-Nien Chen (Yu)
2023 Fellowship
Left: Shao-Ping Emily Yang, CPRIT Graduate Scholar Award, The MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program, September 1, 2023–August 31, 2024
Right: Hao-Nien Chen, Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship, September 1, 2023–August 31, 2024
Both are MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students under Dr. Yu's mentorship.
April 27, 2023 Pizza Party
Left to right: Drs. Song, Lin, Ying, Lee, Yang, Lo, Tainer, Draetta, Gottlieb, Naora, Chiao and Yu
Dr. Min Sup Song (with mask) and admin team
Dr. Chunru Lin and team members
Left to right: Drs. Giulio Draetta, Haoqiang Ying, Liuqing Yang and Yuan-Hung Lo
Drs. Zamal Ahmed and Min Gyu Lee
Dr. Dihua Yu's members in the front
September 9, 2022
Chunru Lin and Haoqiang Ying met with the department's MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students, along with first-year graduate students at Hu's Cooking.
Front table (clockwise): Dr. Haoqiang Ying, Shao-Ping Yang (Yu), Hao-Nien Chen (Yu), Malelaine Theardy (first-year student), Ahmed Emam (Tainer), Runze Shen (Tainer), Lisa Huang (Yang)
Back table (clockwise): Pengju Gong (Lin), Zhouyihan Li (first-year student), Dr. Chunru Lin, Yiming Cai (Ying), Yue Zeng (first-year student), Phuoc Nguyen (Ying) and Yueh-Ming Shyu (first-year student)
August 3, 2022: Buca di Beppo graduate student luncheon
Dr. Dihau Yu initiated a Molecular and Cellular Oncology MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences student community monthly social to promote communications and enhance training experience among the department's graduate students. Dr. Yu hosted the first luncheon on August 3, 2022, at Buca di Beppo.
Left to right: Naga Babu Chinnam (Tainer), Runze Shen (Tainer), Ahmed Emam (Tainer), Shao-Ping Yang (Yu), Hao-Nien Chen(Yu), Dr. Dihua Yu, Yiming Cai (Ying), Phuoc Nguyen (Ying), Pengju Gong (Lin) and Lisa Huang (Yang)
Dr. Dihua Yu's interview on Youtube, May 28, 2022
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Dr. Yu is the recipient of a Metavivor grant from Be Bold and Behold. Her ground-breaking research into brain metastasis is bringing us closer to making metastatic breast cancer a more treatable disease. The link is her interview by Be Bold and Behold on Youtube.
2022 AACR Scholar in Training Award
Dr. Mei-Kuang Kathy Chen (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu), postdoctoral fellow, (standing, third from the left) attended the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Scholar-in-Training Awards Receptionin New Orleans.
2022 Endowed Fellowship Research Award Recipient
Dr. Zhou Joe Jiang (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu) is one of six recipients of the 2022 Harold C and Mary L Dailey Endowed Fellowship.
2022 AACR Abstract Presenters
Members were encouraged to participate in the 2021 AACR meeting. Dihua Yu, M.D., Ph.D., established the 2021 AACR Annual Meeting Virtual Travel Award to cover a portion of the registration fee for students, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists and instructors whose first-authored abstract was accepted by AACR.
Presenter: Hironari Akasaka, Postdoc Fellow
Title: Impact of peritoneal lavage on omentum immune cell dynamics and metastasis
Summary: Peritoneal lavage ‘primes’ the omentum to be conducive for colonization by occult cancer cells that circulate in the peritoneal fluid.
Authors: Hironari Akasaka, Honami Naora
Presenter: Mei-Kuang Chen, Postdoc Fellow
Title: FGFR3 Mediated PARP1 Tyrosine 158 Phosphorylation Promotes PARP Inhibitor Resistance
Summary: We observed a high prevalence of activated fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) kinase in the PARPi-resistant triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Biochemistry studies suggested that FGFR3-mediated PARP1 tyrosine 158 phosphorylation contributes to PARPi resistance. We further demonstrated that the combination of FGFR inhibitor and PARPi delayed DNA repair with prolonged PARP trapping. These findings reveal that the tyrosine 158 phosphorylated PARP1 may be an effective biomarker to indicate FGFR3 mediated PARPi resistance.
Authors: Mei-Kuang Chen, Yuan Gao, Weiya Xia, Yu-Han Wang, Jennifer K. Litton, Yu-Yi Chu, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Helen Piwnica-Worms, Banu Arun, Jordi Roden Ahnert, Yongkun Wei, Wei-Chao Chan, Hung-Ling Wang, Coya Tapia, Costance T. Albarracin, Shao-Chun Wang, Ying-Nai Wang, Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, Chunru Lin, Liuqing Yang, Dihua Yu, and Mien-Chie Hung
Presenter: Yimin Duan, Postdoc Fellow
Title: Assessing the effect of blocking CCL2-CCR2 axis on breast cancer brain metastasis
Summary: Targeting CCR2 or CCL2 results in differential response in multiple preclinical brain metasis models, which direct us to explore the function of CCR2 low myeloid cells in regulating brain metastasis progression.
Authors: Yimin Duan, Yutao Qi, Lin Zhang, Xiangliang Yuan, Dihua Yu
Presenter: Chunxiao Liu, Instructor
Title: RNase7-guided anti-ROS1 targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma
Summary: This study explored an oncogenic role of RNase7 in HCC and
provided a rationale to choose RNase7 as a potential plasma biomarker
to stratify HCC patients for
anti-ROS1 targeted therapy.
Authors: Chunxiao Liu, Zhengyu Zha, Chenhao Zhou,
Dihua Yu, Ning Ren and
Mien-Chie Hung
Presenter: Emily Shao-Ping Yang, Graduate Research Assistant
Title: HDAC inhibitor Panobinostat enhances efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor via upregulating antigen presentation in breast cancer brain metastasis
Summary: Histone deacetylase inhibition (HDACi) reverses and augments expression of antigen presentation gene, major histocompatibility class I (MHC-I), in breast-to-brain metastasis, enhancing tumor recognition by cytotoxic CD8 T cells (CTLs) in combination of anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitor.
Authors: Shao-Ping Yang, Yimin Duan, Xiangliang Yuan, Lin Zhang, Patrick Zhang, Jason Huse, Dihua Yu
Presenter: Arseniy Yuzhalin, Odyssey Fellow
Title: Interplay between CDK5 and IRF2BP1 enhances breast cancer brain metastasis
Summary: The observed interplay between CDK5 and IRF2BP1 reveals a previously unknown mechanism of MHC-I regulation in cancer cells, that might improve our knowledge about cancer cell immune evasion through MHC-I loss.
Authors: Arseniy Yuzhalin, Frank Lowery, Yohei Saito, Patrick Zhang, Dihua Yu
Presenter: Lin Zhang, Instructor
Title: EZH2 engages TGFb signaling to promote breast cancer bone metastasis via Integrin b1-FAK activation
Summary: We discovered integrin b1-FAK as a new downstream effector of EZH2 in breast cancer cells, and EZH2-integrin b1-FAK axis cooperates with TGFb signaling pathway to promote bone metastasis of breast cancer.
Authors: Lin Zhang, Jingkun Qu, Yutao Qi, Yimin Duan, Yu-Wen Huang, Zhifen Zhou, Ping Li, Jun Yao, Beibei Huang, Shuxing Zhang, Dihua Yu
October 2021: Chunru Lin, Ph.D., Awarded Faculty Scholar
Dr. Chunru Lin received one of the awards of FY2021 Faculty Scholar. This award was established to recognize faculty who exhibit outstanding abilities and excellence early on in their career path. The Faculty Scholar Award awards a salary supplementation and allotment for research, clinical, or academic activity support during the three-year duration of the award.
September 2021: MCO Welcomes First-year GSBS Students
The Department of Molecular & Cellular Oncology (MCO) welcomed new Ph.D. and M.S. students to a research information session. MCO faculty and students shared the the wide range of exciting research in MCO labs.
May 2021: Virtual Employee Appreciation Celebration
MCO Chair ad interim, Dr. Yu, Faculty, and DA ad interim, Pat Lopez shared their accomplishments and appreciation for MCO employees. Employees played games and sang along.
MCO trainees obtained endowed fellowship, FY21
Chunxiao Liu, Ph.D.
First author in J Hepatology, published in April 2021
(Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu)
2021 Harold C. and Mary L. Dailey Endowment Fellowship ($2000)
Arseniy Yuzhalin, Ph.D.
Odyssey Postdoc Fellow
(Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu)
2021 Harold C. and Mary L. Dailey Endowment Fellowship ($2,000)
Drs. Yi Xiao and Yuan Zhang interviewed by Oncology Learning Network
Yuan Zhang, Ph.D., and Yi Xiao, Ph.D., discussed using low-dose PI3K inhibitors to boost immune surveillance and facilitate early intervention in patients with breast cancer. Dr. Zhang is a postdoctoral fellow and mentee to Dihua Yu, M.D., Ph.D., and Dr. Xiao is an instructor in Dr. Yu’s lab.
They were interviewed by Alexis Hyams of Oncology Learning Network, and the interview was posted in MD Anderson Cancer Center News on April 29, 2021.
Yutao Qi's M.S. Thesis Defense
Yutao Qi's M.S Thesis Defense was held 4/23/21
Dr. Dihua Yu, mentor of Yutao Qi, introduced his committee members and other participants
Thesis Defense attendees
Yutao Qi received a floral arrangement
Virtual Holiday Celebration 2020
MCO first-ever Ph.D. defense via Webex
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Ms. Mei-Kuang Kathy Chen held MCO first-ever Ph.D. defense via Webex. There were more than 70 participants joining in.
Dr. Dihua Yu, chair of Kathy’s advisory committee, introduced Kathy to participants
Dr. Mien-Chie Hung, Kathy’s thesis co-advisor, joined from Taiwan and praised great qualifications as a Ph.D. student and as a team player
Valentine's Social
Origami Heart
Vonta (Winner #1) and Dr. Yu
Pat, Arseniy (Winner #2) and Dr. Yu
Winners Yuan, Yun and Jianhua with Dr. Yu
Valentine's cake, cookies and cupcakes
Arseniy, Akosua, Yi, Yohei, Xiangliang, Yutao
Andrea, Gerardo, & Marisela
Dr. Yu & Gerardo
Eric, Qian, & Ke
Valentine's goodies
Jason, Mei Si, Chunxiao, Zenbo, Eric, Jian, & Lanie
Jaw-Ching
Jessica Aubrey Suety Rosamaria Jingjing& Tiffany
Lanie, Yuan, Connie, Kathy, Lacey
Lin, Ping, Irene, Yuan, Xuedong, Yimin
Nie, Dr. Chiao, Zenbo
Pat & Dr. Yu
Ping & Yimin
Dr. Song & Dr. Lee
Gerardo & Andrea
Vonta, Jaw-Ching, Marisela, Jeng, & Gerardo
Jaw-Ching
Origami DNA
Jie, Lisa, Chengcao, Jianhua, Yajuan, Manish, & Shilpa
Nie, Dr. Chiao, Pat, Jian, & Zenbo
Liang, Xiaofei, Yanqing, & Shuai
Be Mine - Happy Valentine's Day
