Cancer Prevention Research Training Program Alumni
For 3 decades, the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program (CPRTP) has provided cutting-edge training in cancer prevention and control, early detection, and risk assessment to a cohort of research scientists and health professionals through this postdoctoral fellowship program. Our alumni play a pivotal role in the research and education missions of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Our network of more than 600 alumni include individuals working as prominent leaders at cancer centers, government agencies, universities, and other organizations all over the world. Many alumni go on to build careers in areas such as academia, cancer prevention, cancer research, consulting, patient care, health communications, and global health. We are proud of our long history of trainee research excellence and the notable achievements of our alumni. The CPRTP remains commited to training researchers and future leaders in cancer prevention.
Project: Couple-Based Mind-Body Program for Lung Cancer Patients and their Caregiving Partners
Primary Mentor: Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., Richard E.
Haynes Distinguished Professor in Clinical Cancer Prevention and
Director of the Integrative Medicine Program
I am very thankful for the CPRTP program. Drs. Chang and Cameron have always been available to me give great insight and guidance, even when I was not a CPRTP postdoc. This project also solidified my desire to develop and examine interventions for (cancer) patients with poor prognosis.
CPRTP Predoc and Postdoc Alumni
Alumni at MD Anderson
- Clayton Boldt, Ph.D., Program Manager, Communications, Public Relations
- Jinyun Jane Chen, M.D., Pharm.D., Instructor, Epidemiology
- Shine Chang, Ph.D., Professor, Epidemiology; Director, Cancer Prevention Research Training Program
- Mary Coolbaugh-Murphy, Ph.D., Sr. Health Professions Educator, School of Health Professions
- Karla Crawford, M.P.H., Research Dietician, Pediatrics Research
- Kristina Dahlstrom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Head & Neck Surgery
- Kplola Y. Elhor Gbito, Ph.D., Assistant Epidemiologist II, Epidemiology
- Michelle Hildebrandt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
- Maosheng Huang, Ph.D., Senior Statistical Analyst, Epidemiology
- Georges Khalil, Ph.D., Instructor, Behavioral Science
- Guojun Li, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Head & Neck Surgery Research
- Kathrin Milbury, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Behavioral Science
- Jennifer Minnix, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Behavioral Science
- Mala Pande, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology Research
- Nathan Parker, Ph.D., Instructor, Duncan Family Institute Fellow, Behavioral Science
- Madhu Purewal, Ph.D., J.D., Senior Legal Officer and Director, Institutional Compliance
- Bo Peng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
- Jason Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Behavioral Science
- Eileen Shinn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Behavioral Science
- Irene Tami-Maury, DMD, MSc, DrPH, Assistant Professor, Behavioral Science
- Melinda Yates, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine Research
Alumni at Texas Institutions
- Rachel Atkinson, Ph.D., Director of Medical Affairs, Merck Worldwide (Manvel, TX)
- Julienne Brackett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Cancer Center
- Yessenia Castro, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin
- Virmarie Correa-Fernandez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychological, Health & Learning Sciences (PHLS), University of Houston
- Ashish Deshmukh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Management, Policy & Community Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health
- Daniel Hughes, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
- David Lopez, DrPH, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, University of Texas School of Public Health
- Charles Minard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biostatistician, Baylor College of Medicine
- Raheem Paxton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of North Texas Health Science Center (Denton, TX)
- Lorraine Reitzel, Ph.D., Professor of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences (PHLS), University of Houston
- Michael Scheurer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine
- Karyn Skaar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Northeast Texas Community College (Mt Pleasant, TX)
Alumni at Other Institutions
- Claire Adams, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA)
- Jennifer Adams, M.D., Research Assistant Professor, University of Colorado (Denver, CO)
- Carrie Aigner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Humboldt State University (Arcata, CA)
- Hoda Badr, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY)
- Jill S. Barnholtz-Sloan, Ph.D., Associate Director of Bioinformatics, Associate Professor, General Medical Sciences (Oncology), Dept. of Epidemiology, (CCC) Case Comprehensive Cancer Center - (CWRU) Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH)
- Whitney (Boling) Blondeau, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences, Indiana State University (Terre Haute, IN)
- Michael Businelle, Ph.D., Director of the mHealth Shared Resource, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Stephenson Cancer Center (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Miguel Cano, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Florida International University (Miami, FL)
- Allison Burton-Chase, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Albany, NY)
- Jessica Clague DeHart, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Etiology, City of Hope (Duarte, CA)
- Tracy Costello, Ph.D., Director, Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa, FL)
- Menton DeWeese, Ph.D., Instructor, School of Science and Math, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
- Jan Eberth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC)
- Faith Fletcher, Ph.D., Assistant Profssor, Community Health, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (Chicago, IL)
- Christopher Ford, MPH, Ph.D., Nutrition Scientist, Emory University (Atlanta, GA)
- Adita Hazra, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA)
- Whitney Heppner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Georgia College & State University (Athens, GA)
- Shelly Hovick, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
- Rosenie Thelus Jean, Ph.D., Science Director, Pharmacovigilance Center, Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the United States Army (Washington, DC)
- Adam Leventhal, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Psychology, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
- Scherezade Mama, Dr.PH, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)
- Jennifer Irvine Vidrine, Ph.D., Peggy and Charles Stephenson Endowed Chair in Cancer, Deputy Director for Tobacco Research, Stephenson Cancer Center; Associate Professor, Family & Preventive Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Nynikka Palmer, DrPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Division of General Internal Medicine), Urology and Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco
- Anushree Sharma, Ph.D., Observational Research Manager, Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA)
- Rajesh Talluri, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS)
- Damon Vidrine, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research, Co-Program Leader Cancer Health Disparities, Stephenson Cancer Center, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (Oklahoma City, OK)
CPRTP Summer Program Alumni
Summer Alumni Perspectives
"I came to MD Anderson with a closed mind about my research capabilities, but that changed on the very first day." -Henry Henderson, Ph.D., 2017
"Both of my mentors were kind and taught me a lot about research and clinical care."-Mariana Henry, 2017
"(Originally) Ortho looked the most tantalizing and I didn’t think about Urology, GI, or Pathology! Being here changed all that!"-Noah Choi, 2018
"I've learned a great deal about myself and how I can make an impact in cancer prevention research."-Princess Ekpo, 2018
"(Cancer) Prevention is a mindset and by the end of the summer program, my entire view of cancer and prevention changed!"-Briana Brown, 2018
"My mentors provided guidance and helped me sort through the gray areas that arise when I set up my next stage career goals."-Dee Jordan, Ph.D., 2013
"The CPRTP has empowered me to pursue a career in cancer prevention with an emphasis on health disparities."-Siddhartha Roy, Ph.D., 2015