Principal Investigators
Hubert L. and Olive Stringer Professor in Medical Oncology
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Director, CPRIT Multidisciplinary Training
Program
Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology
Email: kkeyomar@mdanderson.org
Dr. Keyomarsi is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson.She made the seminal observation that cyclins are deregulated in breast cancer and that they can provide novel targets for therapy. Dr. Keyomarsi joined the MD Anderson faculty as an Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology in 2000. She has established that one of the key cell cycle regulators in the G1 to S phase transition of the cell cycle, cyclin E, is a powerful prognostic indicator for breast cancer patients. She has also elucidated the mechanism of cyclin E deregulation in breast cancer and how this mechanism can be exploited therapeutically. Most recently, her laboratory has discovered how to increase the effectiveness of CDK4/6 inhibitors by targeting the autophagy pathway, which has recently been translated into a clinical trial. Other work ongoing in her lab is focused on novel therapeutic strategies to protect normal cells against the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents using animal model systems. She has published 130 peer reviewed papers in high impact journals such as J Natl Cancer Inst, Nat Commun, Nat Med, N Engl Med, and Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Together, Dr. Keyomarsi and Dr. Hunt have built a very productive translational team of scientists and have merged their laboratory efforts. The Keyomarsi/Hunt laboratory is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01), the Department of Defense, Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Cancer Prevention Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and is composed of 1 graduate student, 6 post-doctoral fellows, 4 research investigators, 1 research scientist, 3 biostatisticians and 2 technicians. Dr. Keyomarsi initiated the TRIUMPH training program at MD Anderson which provides postdoctoral trainees with a certificate from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) for training in translational and clinical research. She is also the PI of a multidisciplinary training grant awarded by CPRIT ($4M) that funds the TRIUMPH fellows as well as graduate and undergraduate students.
Hamill Foundation Distinguished Professor of Surgery in
Honor of Dr. Richard G. Martin, Sr. Chair, Department of
Breast Surgical Oncology
Leader, CCSG - Breast Cancer
Program
Program Director, American College of
Surgeons Clinical Research Program (Alliance)
Email: khunt@mdanderson.org
Dr. Hunt is Chair of the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson. She is an internationally recognized expert in the surgical management of breast disease, particularly sentinel lymph node biopsy. She is the Member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. She also serves as the Program Director for the American College of Surgeons Clinical Research Program in the Alliance and is the MD Anderson institutional PI for the Alliance. She serves as a Co-PI for the MD Anderson Lead Academic Participating Site (LAPS) grant funded by the NCI and has led several investigator-initiated and industry sponsored trials. She also leads the CPRIT Multi-Investigator research grant titled "Rational Combination Treatment Options to Reverse Resistance in Hormone Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Refractory to Standard Therapy" with Dr. Keyomarsi as the Co-PI. She has been in active practice for 23 years and performs several hundred breast surgeries each year. She has an active laboratory with a focus on cell cycle deregulation in cancer. Her research has been funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute (U10 CA076001, U10 CA180858 and R44 CA211013 (subward)), the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BC113114), American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG),Endomagnetics and Introgen Therapeutics and Susan G. Komen Foundation. She also serves as a Co-PI on a training grant funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation (GTDR17498270), which focuses on reducing breast cancer disparities in Black and Hispanic women. She collaborates with Dr. Keyomarsi in exploring the role of cyclin E as a prognostic and predictive factor in breast cancer and evaluating the interaction between other important cell cycle regulators. She has published 56 book chapters, 6 books, several editorials and commentaries, and over 590 peer-reviewed papers including articles in high impact journals such as Science, Nature, Nat Commun, J Clin Oncol, Lancet Oncol and JAMA.
KeyHunt Lab Members
Tuyen N. Bui, B.S.
Research Investigator (2003 - present)
Tuyen N. Bui received his B.S. degree in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama. He joined the KeyHunt lab as a Research Assistant in 2003 and was promoted to Research Investigator, a role in which he has served since December 2017. Tuyen is experienced in a vast array of lab techniques and protocols in molecular and cell biology. His numerous areas of expertise integrates him in all projects within the laboratory. Tuyen also serves as the lab manager, overseeing the lab operations, compliance, and organization.
Kwang Huei Low, Ph.D.
Research Investigator (2012 - present)
Kwang earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from Mississippi State University and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Rutgers University. He joined the KeyHunt lab in 2012 and works to identify new combination therapy targeting cell cycle regulators in sarcomas using in vitro and in vivo (including patient derived xenografts (PDX)) models, guided by comprehensive genomic and proteomic profiling of the established PDXs and identification of new therapeutic targets. He has also established an inducible cell culture system and developed a CRISPR-based knock-out mouse model system to study the role of an oncogenic isoform of Cyclin E in breast tumor formation. When he's not in the lab, he enjoys reading.
Yanlai Lai, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Investigator (2019 - present)
Dr. Lai received her M.D. in Clinical Medicine from Fudan University School of Medicine in China. She later earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the Academy of Medical Sciences in China and joined the KeyHunt lab in 2019. Her current research focuses on screening for anti-cancer drugs and generating murine PDX models. Outside of her lab work, Dr. Lai enjoys shopping and traveling.
Yan (Esther) Wang, Ph.D.
Research Scientist (2019 - present)
Dr. Wang earned her Ph.D. from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (China) and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the KeyHunt lab in 2019 and works on identifying biomarkers in breast cancer and provides her expertise in clinical studies. Specifically, she studies changes in cyclin E expression during tumor progression to identify new biomarkers for early diagnosis and new prognostic factors to predict recurrence or drug resistance.
Nicole Kettner, Ph.D.
TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellow (2019 - present)
Dr. Kettner received her B.S. in Biology from Winona State University and her Ph.D. in Molecular & Cellular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. She joined the KeyHunt lab in 2017. Her research focuses on identifying the biological mechanism(s) of resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors, identifying independent biomarkers to predict response and/or resistance, and to provide novel therapeutic strategies. When she's not in the lab, Dr. Kettner enjoys gardening, cooking/baking, photography, and completing home renovation projects.
Amriti R. Lulla, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow - (2018 - present), ORCID: 0000-0002-7085-5755
Dr. Lulla received her Bachelors in Biotechnology from the University of Pune in India. She then moved to the US for her Masters in Biotechnology from SUNY, followed by her Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from Penn State. Her work in the lab broadly includes understanding the mechanisms by which immune cells, such as neutrophils and MDSCs, prime the primary tumor to metastasis in breast cancer using different in vivo model systems. Specifically, she investigates the mechanistic link between neutrophil elastase and cancer stem-like cells and other such pathways that enrich metastatic cells from the primary tumor. In addition, her work will also provide the pre-clinical rationale to use neutrophil elastase inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. For fun, Amriti enjoys Bollywood dancing and performing at Indian cultural events. She loves watching movies and cricket. Her goal is to visit all US National Parks.
Juliana Navarro-Yepes, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow - (2018 - present)
Dr. Navarro-Yepes earned her B.Sc., in Biology from the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Columbia. She later earned her M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Toxicology from Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Avanzados del Insitituto Politecnico National (CNVESTAV) in Mexico City, Mexico. Juliana joined the KeyHunt lab in late 2018, where she evaluates new therapeutic target pathways in breast cancer CDK4/6i acquired resistance models. Juliana also works on models derived from ER+ breast cancer patients that progress on standard of care and in TNBC patients. She also studies the role of ALK as a mediator of low molecular weight cyclin E-mediated mammary tumorogenesis and as a therapeutic target in TNBC. During her free time, Juliana enjoys CrossFit and running or walking with her dog.
Sofia Mastoraki, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow - (2018 - present)
Dr. Mastoraki received her Ph.D. in 2018 from the University of Athens in Greece. Her Ph.D. thesis work focused on the development and clinical evaluation of blood-based biomarkers in liquid biopsy samples of cancer patients. As a Postdoctoral Fellow in the KeyHunt Lab, Dr. Mastoraki's research involves unraveling biomarkers of resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors and identifying novel therapeutic strategies for palbociclib-resistant advanced breast cancer patients using single-cell sequencing methods. Outside of lab, she enjoys CrossFit and spending time with her friends.
Mi Li, B.S.
Graduate Research Assistant - (2018 - present)
Mi Li is a Ph.D. candidate in the KeyHunt Lab. He received his B.S. in Biology from Sichuan University in China after starting his research career as a technician at West-China Hospital of Sichuan University. Before starting his graduate studies at GSBS, he received training at MD Anderson Cancer Center as a Research Assistant. In the KeyHunt lab, Mi is interested in the oncologic functions of low molecular weight cyclin E (LMW-E), particularly the association between LMW-E and genomic instability in breast cancer development, the different effects of LMW-E and full-length cyclin E on DNA replication and DNA damage responses, and how LMW-E facilitates DNA replication stress tolerance and cell proliferation with damaged DNA. Since childhood, Mi is a fan of model ships and planes. He enjoys upgrading toys for his two kids with 3-D printing.
Min Yi, MD, Ph.D.
Data Integration Developer
Dr. Min Yi earned her Ph.D. in Biostatistics and a master degree of Health Informatics. She has many years of experience working with clinical researchers and basic scientists and is responsible for the application of standard statistical methods in many projects within the KeyHunt Lab.
Marc Pina, B.S.
Research Assistant (2018 - present)
Marc earned his B.S. in Biology from the Honors College at Houston
Baptist University in 2019. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. and eventually
become a teacher to inspire the next generations of scientists. His
work in the KeyHunt lab involves finding optimal cell growth
conditions for specific cell lines that can be used to screen with
different experimental drug concentrations to find one that may have
the biggest impact at the lowest possible concentrations.
Nghi Lam, Undergraduate Student (Carleton
College)
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Researcher Program (2019)
Nghi is a rising sophomore at Carleton College, pursuing a major in Biology with double minors in Biochemistry and Mathematics. She joined the KeyHunt lab for Summer 2019, where she works with Dr. Kettner to investigate the role of IL6 knockdown in delaying developmental of acquired resistance to palbociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor drug used in the treatment of advanced hormone receptor positive breast cancers. She uses MCF7 and T47D cell lines to in her investigations and seeks to restore sensitivity to the drug in palbociclib resistant cells. Nghi hopes to attend medical school and become an anesthesiologist one day. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching tv/movies, and photography.
Xian Chen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2018), Bioinformatic Analyst
(2019 - present)
Dr. Chen earned her Ph.D. in Medical Science from Institute of
Biosciences and Technology at Texas A&M Health Science Center in
2010. Her thesis work aimed to understand fundamental mechanisms of
embryonic development. These projects trained her to manage the
research studies independently, and built her wide repertoire of
skills in molecular biology, genetic biology and biochemistry. Having
considerable interest in translational research, Dr. Chen joined the
KeyHunt Laboratory in 2013. Her main research focus was to use
targeted therapy combinations to help breast cancer patients. She
developed patient-derived xenograft mouse models (PDX) to use as tool
for these studies. One of her findings translated to a clinical trial
(NCT03253679) and other
findings are being further investigated toward the development of new
trials for breast cancer patients. Following the completion of her
postdoctoral studies, Dr. Chen took a short sabbatical to gain
expertise in the field of bioinformatics and joined the lab as a
bioinformatic analyst.
Min Jin Ha, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor (2016 - present)
Dr. Ha received her Ph.D. from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. She serves as Assistant Professor in the
Department of Biostatistics and has worked with the KeyHunt lab since 2016.
Xiayu Rao, M.S.
Research Statistical
Analyst (2019 - present)
Xiayu earned her B.S. in Biotechnology and M.S. in Biology from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong, China. She relocated to the United States and completed her M.S. in Food & Nutrition with a specialization in cancer nutrition from Purdue University, followed by M.S. in Biostatistics from the University of Texas at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. Xiayu began working with the KeyHunt lab in 2019 and works on bioinformatics/biostatistics related data analysis for the lab. She enjoys cooking, exercising, watching movies, and traveling in her free time.
KeyHunt Staff & Administrative Support
Komal Rasaputra, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist, Department of Breast Surgery - Research
Email: KSRasaputra@mdanderson.org
Dr. Rasaputra received her B.S. in Biochemistry (2003) and M.S. in Biotechnology (2005) from Madras University (India). She completed her Ph.D. degree in the field of Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Arkansas and the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) in 2010 with research focused on identification and characterization of proteins and peptides associated with avian metabolic skeletal diseases. Her postdoctoral research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York), focused on studying the proteins associated with Type-IV secretion system, involved in bacterial pathogenicity. At the University of Houston, Dr. Rasaputra studied the molecular dynamics, immune response and virulence mechanisms involved in host-pathogen interactions during infections. She joined MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2016, as a Clinical Research Scientist, to facilitate development of programmatic and multi-investigator grants, and provide administrative oversight for the basic science researchers in the Breast Surgical Oncology Department.
In her current role as a Staff Scientist, her expanded duties include providing administrative oversight to the CPRIT Multi-Investigator award and serve as a key member in the scientific advances to the ongoing and future projects in the KeyHunt lab. She devotes time to develop philanthropic initiatives and works on projects that focus on dissemination and implementation of clinical trials. She works with the Breast Surgical Oncology fellows and onboarding faculty to identify appropriate funding opportunities to help develop their research program. She also organizes the Breast Cancer Program scientific and operational activities under the leadership of Drs. Hunt, Keyomarsi, and Tripathy to promote collaborations among translational and clinical research faculty. She loves reading scientific fiction and enjoys running half-marathons.
Hilla Janjua
Administrative
Assistant to Dr. Keyomarsi, Dept. of Experimental Radiation Oncology
Email: HAJanjua@mdanderson.org
Hilla earned her B.S. in Health from the University of Houston and joined the KeyHunt Lab in 2018. She provides administrative and coordinating support to the laboratory and to Dr. Keyomarsi. When not working, Hilla enjoys spending time with her family, especially dancing and having fun with her young daughter. She is passionate about interior design and is an amateur photographer.
KeyHunt Collaborators
Bisrat
G. Debeb, DVM, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Breast Medical
Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center
The major goal of the Debeb lab is to identify and target the molecular determinants of brain metastasis, and to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the unique pathobiology of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a very aggressive and clinically distinct form of breast cancer. The lab conducts both basic laboratory investigation and translational breast cancer research with an overarching goal of developing novel and effective therapeutic strategies to improve survival of patients with aggressive breast cancer. Current efforts in the lab include developing mouse models of brain metastasis, identification and targeting of novel drivers of IBC tumorigenesis and brain metastasis, and evaluation of patient serum to identify biomarkers of aggressiveness, brain metastasis and therapy resistance.
Jason P. Carey, Ph.D.
Clinical Research Scientist
Investigative Cancer Therapeutics
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Aysegul
A. Sahin, M.D.
Professor, Department of Pathology
Section
Chief of the Breast Pathology Section
Director,
Educational Operations, Department of Pathology
MD Anderson
Cancer Center
David J.
Tweardy, M.D.
Professor, Department of Infectious
Diseases, Infection Control, and Employee Health
MD Anderson
Cancer Center
Debasish
(Debu) Tripathy, M.D.
Professor and Chairman,
Breast Medical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jolie Graf Schafer, Ph.D.
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Student, Houston Baptist University
Summer 2012
Current Position: Medical Science Liaison, Teva Pharmaceuticals
Jolie earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from the MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2017.
Onur Sahin
Graduate Student (non-UTHSC), Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology
Email: OSahin1@mdanderson.org
Robert Lusi
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Student, Brown University
Summer 2013
Current Position: Ph.D. Program at University of California at Berkeley
Rebecca Chen
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Student, Rice University
Summer 2016 & 2017
Current Position: Undergraduate student at Rice University
Leila Salehi
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Student, University of California at Berkeley
Summer 2011
Shayda Alaghemand, MSN
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate Student, San Francisco State University
Summer 2012
Current Position: Nurse
KeyHunt Lab Alumni
Postdoctoral & Clinical Research Fellows
Angela Alexander, Ph.D.
TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2017) Current Postition: Coordinator of Clinical Studies
Breast Medical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center (since 2017)
Molliane (McGahren) Murray, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2007)
Current Position: Research Scientist
Cancer Systems Imaging
MD Anderson Cancer Center (since 2017)
Merih Guray Durak, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2018)
Current Position: Pathologist
Ege University (Turkey, since 2018)
Benjamin Mull, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2003-2010)
Current Position: Associate Director
University of Houston (since 2015)
MyLinh Dong, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2012)
Current Position: Research Scientist
Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (since 2015)
Natalie Jabbour, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2015)
Current Position: Clinical Research Associate
DJO Global (since 2008)
Amanda Hanks, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2016)
Current Position: Clinical Research Coordinator
University of California, San Francisco (since 2015)
Iman Doostan, M.D., Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2012-2017)
Current Position: Resident Physician
New York Medical College (since 2016)
Smruthi Vijayaraghavan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2017)
Current Position: Scientist
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (since 2018)
Shelly Herbrich, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Bioinformatician & Cancer Biologist
MD Anderson Cancer Center (since 2014)
Ekem Efuet, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2005)
Current Position: Clinical Laboratory Scientist
Christus Santa Rose Hospital (since 2017)
Baohua Sun, M.D., Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2004-2006)
Current Position: Research Scientist
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Graduate and Undergraduate Trainees
Hannah Wingate, Ph.D.
Graduate Research Assistant (2002-2007)
Current Position: Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Houston Baptist University (since 2008)
Richard A. Meena, M.D.
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate (2013)
Current Position: Surgery Resident
Emory University School of Medicine (since 2018)
Selena (Hernandez) Carmona, M.S.
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate (2014)
Current Position: Physician Assistant Program
Baylor College of Medicine (since 2017)
Donald (Chris) Ellis, B.S.
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate (2013)
Current Position: Account Manager
Agilent Technologies (since 2019)
Chloe Friedman, MPH
CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate (2015)
Current Position: Database Coordinator
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (since 2017)
Research Staff
Cansu Karakas, MD
Visiting Scientist, Instructor (2011-2017)
Current Position: Associate Research Scientist
Department of Pathology
New York University Medical Center (since 2017)
Mehrnoosh Kohansal, B.S.
Research Assistant (2018-2019), CPRIT CURE Summer Undergraduate (2015)
Current Position: M.S. Program, MD Anderson UTHealth GSBS (since 2019)