Lab Members
Joseph McCarty, Ph.D.
Principal investigator
Joseph McCarty, Ph.D., came to MD Anderson in 2005 as an assistant professor in Cancer Biology. In 2013 he took a position as associate professor in Neurosurgery to expound upon his interest in brain tumor research and was promoted to professor in 2018. He currently serves as the Principal Investigator for a NIH/NINDS funded project Deciphering Mechanisms of Tumor Cell Invasion in Glioblastoma and was one of the 2014 Developmental Research Project recipients for the Brain Cancer SPORE, through which he is researching the effects of Targeting Spinophillin in Glioblastoma.
In 2006 Dr. McCarty was awarded the New Scholar Award in Aging from the Ellison Medical Foundation and in 2008 the Career Development Award from MD Anderson Cancer Center Brain Cancer SPORE under the guidance of Principal Investigator W.K. Alfred Yung, M.D. Dr. McCarty is also a member of the Brain Tumor Research Program at MD Anderson, the Center for Stem Cell and Development Biology and the Cancer Metastasis Research Center.
Zhihua (Jenny) Chen, M.S., M.D.
Research Investigator
Zhihua Chen received her master's degree in immunology from the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology and M.D. from the Third Military Medical University in China. From 2003-2009, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Her research focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of extracellular matrix molecules related to tumor invasion and metastasis. Prior to joining the McCarty Laboratory in 2014, she was as a research associate at the Institute of Molecular Medicine - UTHealth Science Center at Houston (2009-2014), where she was involved in projects related to neurodegenerative disorders. In particular, she used genetic and molecular approaches in Drosophila and cell culture systems to discover the disease-causative genes in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
John Morales, B.S.
Laboratory Coordinator
John Morales received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to MD Anderson in 2013 as a Senior Research Assistant in the McCarty Lab, John worked as a research assistant for 11 years at The University of Texas in the Rick Wetsel, Ph.D., Immunology Lab.
Ashok Subedhi, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ashok Subedhi earned his Ph.D. in biology from University of North Texas. His graduate research focused on cilia associated signaling pathways, which play the crucial role in oligodendrocyte development and myelination. He joined the McCarty lab in November 2018. Before moving to the US to complete his graduate studies, Ashok also worked as a veterinarian in Nepal.
Former McCarty Lab Members
Former Graduate Students:
- Youngsin Jung, M.D., Ph.D.
Current Position: Neurology Resident, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota - Aaron Mobley, Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Support Specialist, Children’s Hospital, Denver, Colorado - Steve Reyes, Ph.D.
Clinical Project Manager, XBiotech, Austin, Texas - Jeremy Tchaicha, Ph.D.
Current Position: Scientist, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Former Post-doctoral Researchers:
- Hye Shin Lee, Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Scientist, Seoul National University - Mujeeburahiman Cheerathodi, Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Associate, Florida State University - Paola Guerrero, Ph.D.
Current Position: Scientific Manager, MD Anderson Cancer Center - John Lattier, Ph.D.
Current Position: Clinical Genomic Scientist, Baylor School of Medicine - Sam Kwiatkowski, Ph.D.
Current Position: Forensic Scientist, Harris County Crime Laboratory - Shweta Tiwary, Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Investigator, National Institute of Health - Naze Avaci, Ph.D.
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Houston - Jordan Toutounchian, Ph.D.
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Former Research Technician:
- Mohammad Hossain
Current Position: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX