Lab Members
Yonathan Lissanu, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Genomic Medicine
M.D., Gondar College of Medical Sciences in Ethiopia (University of Gondar).
M.S., International Molecular Cell Biology Program (MCB) of the University of Heidelberg/German Cancer Research Center/EMBL in Germany. Mentors Heike Peterziel and Klaus Unsicker.
Ph.D. (summa cum laude), Johan Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany. Mentor Ivan Dikic.
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Mentors Lynda Chin and Andy Futreal
Primary Long Term Interests: Discovery of therapeutically relevant vulnerabilities of genetically defined subtypes of cancer; discovery of cancer therapeutics.
Nicholas Blazanin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nicholas Blazanin obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Toxicology from The Pennsylvania State University
His current research interests involve characterizing effective and durable cancer therapies using chemical probes called proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) targeting the glucocorticoid receptor and implementing drug based CRISPR screens to identify novel gene targets that can be harnessed therapeutically.
Sasi Kotagiri Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Sasi Kumar earned his Masters of Science in genetics from Osmania University, India. He received his Ph.D. from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and he completed his thesis entitled “Studies on regulation of C3G and its role in signaling to actin cytoskeleton dependent cellular functions.”
The ultimate goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that cause cancer and seek more effective therapeutic interventions.
Hira Mazhar
Research Associate II
Hira Mazhar obtained her B.S. in Pre-medicine and Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts. During her M.S., she investigated various lipid metabolites during dietary consumption of linoleic acid utilizing various techniques.
Hira’s current research interests include characterizing novel chemical probes called proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs).