BBS PhD Program

Cancer Biology

Faculty Research Area(s)

Parminder Basran  		Radiation Dosimetry and Treatment Planning; Medical Image Processing and Analysis​; and Medical Physics Training and Education. I have keen interests in machine learning methods in radiation oncology, radiomics, and stereotactic ablative radiation therapies and hypo-fractionation.

Nicolas Buchon 		Host/microbe relationships and control of intestinal stem cell behavior in homeostasis and disease - lab

James W. Casey 		Molecular virology; retrovirology

Richard A. Cerione 		Signal transduction growth factor receptors; protein structure; drug design and chemical biology; signaling cues that direct cell proliferation, differentiation and development - lab

Paula E. Cohen 		Etiology of spontaneous birth defects in mammals; mechanisms of meiotic recombination; DNA repair proteins in meiosis and recombination; germ cell development; ovarian development - lab

Ruth Collins 		Pharmacology; cancer cell biology; small GTPase regulation of intracellular traffic and cellular growth control - lab

Scott Coonrod 		Reproductive physiology; molecular and cellular physiology; epigenetic reprogramming during the egg-to-embryo transition; mechanisms by which specific histone modifications are dynamically regulated during hormone-dependent gene transcription in breast cancer cells

Brian R. Crane 		Metalloenzyme structure and catalysis; protein electron transfer; nitric oxide enzymology; bacterial chemotaxis; circadian clock photo sensors - lab

Charles Danko 		Medical genetics and genomics and cancer biology research
Erin Daughterity

As a trained, American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) board certified veterinarian, Dr. Erin Daugherity has a strong interest in animal models of disease, the humane use of animals used in teaching and research, and applying the 3 R’s (reduce, refine, replace) to the use of animals in research.


Matthew DeLisa 		Molecular biotechnology; protein biogenesis and folding pathways; protein engineering - lab

Anushka Dongre

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition as a driver of resistance to anti-tumor immunity - lab


Gerald E. Duhamel 		Mechanisms of infectious diseases with particular emphasis on molecular mechanisms of bacterial infections in animal models of human diseases; host-pathogen relationships

Jacquelyn Evans 		hereditary diseases in dogs to identify genetic variants contributing to disease development - lab

Claudia Fischbach-Teschl 		Tissue-engineered model systems for analysis of microenvironmental conditions fundamental to cancer pathogenesis and therapy - lab

Kelly Hume 

Cancer biology; veterinary oncology; clinical oncology; molecular oncology; DNA damage; chemosensitivity and novel therapeutics

Glenn Jackson My research interests include creating systems to evaluate and improve the welfare of research animals, and the development and refinement of animal models of human disease
Shaoyi Jiang (a) Immunology of nanomaterials and implantable materials and (b) safe and targeted delivery of mRNAs and DNAs for cancer immunotherapies/vaccines and neurological diseases


Gary Koretzky

Aims to better understand the signal transduction events that occur following engagement of the T cell antigen receptor; study more globally the molecular events important for immune cell development, differentiation and function


Natasza Kurpios 		Tissue morphogenesis; cell shape and architecture; organ development; gut morphogenesis; mammary gland biology; breast cancer - lab

Jan Lammerding 		Cellular biomechanics; mechanotransduction; cell migration; muscular dystrophy and cancer cell biology - lab

Esak Lee

The laboratory is currently focused on further advancing the novel 3D organ-on-chip systems, as well as developing both cellular and molecular tools and in vivo models, to better understand the mechanisms through which cells regulate their response to biological and mechanical cues - lab

Cynthia Leifer 		Understanding innate immunity from the receptors that detect microbes to how innate immune cells react to changes in their environment during inflammatory processes - lab

Maurine Linder 		Regulation of cell signaling by protein lipidation

Sean P. McDonough 		Use of contemporary methods to explore lymphocyte function in spontaneous veterinary disease

Andrew Miller

Anatomic pathology; small and large animal neuropathology; CNS tumorigenesis; disease diagnostics; stem cell pathology - lab


Alexander Nikitin 		Stem cells and cancer; pathogenesis of ovarian and prostate cancers; modeling of human disease in genetically modified mice and human organoids - lab

Robert Oswald 		Ion channel receptor/ligand interactions; NMR and molecular dynamics; molecular neurobiology and biophysics; neurotransmitter receptors and signal transduction
Richa Sardana membrane protein trafficking and quality control mechanisms - lab

Luis Schang 		Role of cellular protein, lipids, and glycans play in viral infection

John Schimenti 		Genetics of reproduction and germ cell development; cancer genetics; meiosis; DNA repair; genome manipulation in mice; functional genomics - lab

Praveen Sethupathy

Functional genomics; gene regulation; molecular genetics; gastrointestinal physiology; stem cell biology; metabolic disease - lab


Carolyn Sevier 		Signaling of cellular oxidative stress; molecular mechanisms used by cellular pathways that sense and signal redox imbalances within the cell 
Marcus Smolka Cell signaling and genome maintenance; DNA replication stress; phosphproteomics

Tracy Stokol 		Hematopoietic and hemostatic disorders in animals; mechanisms of cancer metastasis - lab

Tudorita Tumbar 		Basic cellular and molecular mechanisms implicated in cell fate choice and stem cell activity within tissues - lab

Gerlinde Van de Walle 		Veterinary viral pathogenesis; mesenchymal stem cell biology and regenerative medicine; mammary stem cell biology and carcinogenesis - lab

Robert S. Weiss 		Molecular mechanisms for the maintenance of genomic stability; cellular responses to DNA damage; mouse models of human cancer - lab

Andrew C. White 		Cancer biology; stem cell biology; biochemistry and cell biology - lab

Andrew Yen 		Leukemia; cell growth and differentiation; oncogenes/genetics - lab