Clinical and Translational Oncology Program (CTOP) Members

Name (click for info)	Affiliation	Research Interests
Abraham, Allistair	CNMC: Pediatrics
Adige, Sunil	SMHS: Medicine	Cancer and blood disorders, Hormone Receptor Positive Breast Cancer, HER2 Positive Breast Cancer, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Metastatic Breast Cancer
Aldhahri, Walaa	SMHS: Medicine
Ashok Kumar, Prashanth	SMHS: Medicine
Bethony, Jeffrey	SMHS: Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine	Research focuses on pre-clinical and clinical support of vaccines and translational research. Vaccine projects include immunology and serology assays and membership in the Hookworm Vaccine to Control Human Hookworm Infection in endemic countries (HOOKVAC) program. Translational medical research includes biobanking, epidemiology, cohort surveys, and biomarker development.
Bollard, Catherine	CNMC: CCRI	Research topics include intravenous mesenchymal stromal cell therapy for inflammatory bowel disease; adoptive immunotherapy for glioblastoma, leukemia, and lymphoma; cellular therapy for sickle cell disease; therapies for HIV; and cell-based immune therapeutics in hematology.
Bottiglieri, Anna	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering
Chalasani, Pavani	SMHS: Medicine	Breast cancer and bleeding/clotting disorders; development of biomarkers- imaging, blood based or tissue
Clark, Andrew	CNMC: Pediatrics
Cruz, Conrad Russell	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research examines cell enhancement, technologies for immunotherapy, and immune cell therapy for cancer and opportunistic infections.
Dagalakis, Urania	CNMC: Pediatrics
Delaney, Meghan	CNMC: Pediatrics	Dr. Delaney is a recognized expert in the field of transfusion medicine.
Diab, Khalil Jebrab	SMHS: Medicine	Endobronchial Ultrasound, Radial ultrasound, Percutaneous Tracheostomy, Endobronchial Stent Placement, Electromagnetic, Navigation Bronchoscopy, Endobronchial Valve Placement, Tumor Debulking Using Argon Plasma Coagulation and Cryotherapy.
Dome, Jeffrey	CNMC: Pediatrics	Dr. Dome's does clinical research on kidney tumors and studies pediatric cancer.
Entcheva, Emilia	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Professor Emilia Entcheva directs the Cardiac Optogenetics and Optical Imaging Laboratory. Her research group combines biophotonics tools with human stem-cell-derived cardiomyocyte technology and gene editing approaches to aid the advancement of personalized medicine. The lab played a key role in bringing optogenetics to the cardiac field and validating its use experimentally and computationally. The lab combines cell and tissue engineering, genetic engineering, all-optical cardiac electrophysiology, instrumentation and control, machine learning and transcriptomics analysis to help improve the maturity of engineered human heart tissues and their use in high-throughput drug-screening applications. Professor Entcheva is an AIMBE Fellow and her work is supported by the NSF, NIH, AHA, HFSP and others.
Fonseca Sheridan, Adriana	CNMC: Pediatrics
Friedman, Adam	SMHS: Dermatology	Research interests focus on medical and pediatric dermatology, including acne, eczema, psoriasis, skin infections, hair loss, wound healing, urticaria, blistering diseases, lupus, sarcoidosis, and skin cancer.
Goyal, Sharad	SMHS: Radiology	Dr. Goyal’s medical research focuses on improving the quality of care received by cancer patients, both by advancing the ways in which cancer is treated with radiation and by integrating data from epidemiological settings in cardiology and oncology to better inform treatment and survivorship issues among cardiology and cancer patients.
Gulla, Aiste	SMHS: Surgery	Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) transplantation and surgery, clinician researcher development.
Hanley, Patrick	CNMC: CCRI	Dr. Hanley is interested in helping to improve outcomes after stem cell transplantation, including bone marrow transplant and cord blood transplant and has helped pioneer work in expanding virus-specific immune cells from naïve T cells, such as those present in cord blood or virus-seronegative donors.
Hardy, Steven	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research interests include psychosocial care of children with cancer, sickle cell disease, and other hematological diseases.
Haydar, Dalia	CNMC: Pediatrics	Dr. Haydar's aim is to investigate mechanisms responsible for the lack of CAR T cell efficacy in pediatric brain tumors using cutting-edge technologies and innovative animal models that recapitulate human disease and barriers for adoptive immunotherapies.
Hont, Amy	CNMC: Pediatrics	Her research interests include immunotherapy and high-risk malignancies; cancer immunology & immunotherapy.
Hsieh, Michael	CNMC: CN Surgery	Dr. Hsieh’s research focuses on the role of bladder inflammation in urinary tract infections and development of bladder cancer.
Hwang, Eugene	CNMC: Pediatrics	Dr. Hwang studies pediatric brain tumors.
Jacobs, Shana	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research interests include palliative and supportive care within the field of leukemia and lymphoma.
Jacobsohn, David	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research focuses on impact on bone marrow and stem cell transplants.
Jain, Maneesh	DCVA: Medicine	Genitourinary Oncology
Joshi, Arjun	SMHS: Surgery	His areas of expertise include: Head and Neck Cancer, Head and Neck Masses, Head and Neck Reconstruction, Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery, and Salivary Endoscopy.
Karcher, Donald	SMHS: Pathology	Research interests include pathophysiology and laboratory diagnosis of lymphomas and leukemias, effects of HIV infection on the hematopoietic system, bone marrow pathology, and the role of pathologists in coordinated patient care models.
Karim, Nagla Abdel	SMHS: Medicine
Kay, Matthew	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Recent projects address metabolism and electrophysiology during hypoxia, ischemia, and heart failure. One project examines how chronic selective activation of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons improves cardiac function and favorably alters indices of cardiac ischemia and damage that occurs in heart failure.
Keidar, Michael	SEAS: Mechanical & Aerospace	The lab conducts advanced fundamental and applied research in plasma medicine, micropropulsion for micro and nanosatellites, and plasma nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Keller, Michael	CNMC: CCRI	Research includes disorders of immunity and care of immunologically vulnerable patients. Dr. Keller's research interests focus on the use of antiviral T-cell therapies in bone marrow transplantation, including expanding the use of this therapy to benefit children with primary immunodeficiency disorders.
Khalili, Marian	SMHS: Surgery
Kilburn, Lindsay	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research focuses on the development and evaluation of new therapeutic agents for children with pediatric brain tumors through clinical trials. She is committed to the improvement of palliative and supportive care.
Kim, AeRang	CNMC: Pediatrics	She develops therapeutics for pediatric cancer, such as pre-clinical testing of novel agents, pharmacokinetic analysis, new methods for toxicity monitoring, and clinical trial design.
Kinoshita, Hannah	CNMC: Pediatrics
Kiss, Alexi	SMHS: Anatomy & Regenerative Med
Latham, Patricia	SMHS: Pathology	Research Pathology, Diseases of the liver, Fatty Liver Disease, Hepatocellular carcinoma.
Lazarski, Christopher	CNMC: CCRI	cancer immunology & immunotherapy, immunology and infectious disease, T cell therapies targeting viral infections and tumors,
Li, Zhenyu	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Dr. Li researches the innovation of novel biosensors and medical devices using micro and nanotechnology, specifically microfluidics, MEMS, nanophotonics, and flexible electronics. He studies the integration of Nanophotonics and Microfluidics, which is Optofluidics, for biomedical applications.
Loew, Murray	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Professor Murray Loew's Laboratory for Medical Imaging and Image Analysis develops new methods for acquiring”and extracting useful information from”medical images.
Lopez-Acevedo, Micael	SMHS: Gynecology Oncology
Lu, Luyao	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Research includes the exploration the next-generation soft, lightweight, and bio-compatible materials and devices with an emphasis on creating inorganic and organic classes of optoelectronic systems. The goal is to provide advanced healthcare platforms that can seamlessly integrate with biological systems to facilitate personalized medicine design and accurate disease diagnosis.
Luban, Naomi	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research interests are focused on clinical and translational investigations of transfusion safety and include studies of infectious and non-infectious complications of transfusion, including RBC and HLA alloimmunization, graft versus host disease, and evidence based transfusion practices. Recent studies include the molecular characterization of genes associated with alloimmunization and genetic modifiers of hemoglobin F expression.
McCann, Chase	CNMC: CCRI	Cancer immunology & immunotherapy,
McKinnell, Zoë	SMHS: Medicine
Meany, Holly	CNMC: Pediatrics	Dr. Meany's clinical research is focused on phase I clinical trials and pharmacology in the development of new agents for treating pediatric cancers.
Mendhiratta, Neil	SMHS: Urology
Mettle-Amuah, Dorinne	SMHS: Clinical Research and Leadership
Mobarek, Dalia	DCVA: Medicine	Research interests are cardiac lymphoma, heart disease, and identifying thromboembelism in cancer patients.
Mugnaini, Emiliano	DCVA: Medicine	T cell receptor repertoires in T cell subsets during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
Ng, Matthew	SMHS: Surgery	He specializes in minimally invasive surgical techniques along with robotic surgery for malignant and benign diseases including inflammatory bowel disease. He also practices transanal minimally invasive surgery for rectal pathologies. Dr. Ng has a deep interest for anal disorders as well, including anal dysplasia, hemorrhoids, fistula and fissure.
Noureldine, Salem	SMHS: Surgery
Packer, Roger	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research focuses on clinical trial development and translational research and has developed and led multiple clinical/translational neuro-oncology trials, clinical research in pediatric brain tumors and neurofibromatosis type 1.
Papa, Anne-Laure	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Focuses her work on disease processes, particularly in cancer and vascular diseases, toward the goal of designing targeted translational therapies and new diagnostic methods. Research is based on understanding system interactions (i.e. cell-cell and cell-particle) and delivery platforms (particle-based targeting strategies as well as cellular therapeutics).
Patel, Vishal	SMHS: Dermatology	Research interests focus on the medical and surgical management of high risk squamous cell carcinoma.
Paul, Sonal	SMHS: Medicine
Plesniak, Michael	SEAS: Mechanical & Aerospace	Professor Michael Plesniak's Biofluid Dynamics Lab conducts advanced fundamental research on human speech production (phonation) and cardiovascular flows.
Poudel, Aarati	DCVA: Medicine
Prakash, Punit	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering
Rood, Brian	CNMC: Pediatrics	He studies the proteome of medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain tumor, in order to identify therapeutic targets. He is working to identify biomarkers that can be used to identify brain tumors and microsatellite markers in DNA that predict the risk of developing brain tumors.
Samankan, Shabnam	SMHS: Pathology
Sanchez, Carlos	SMHS: Neurosurgery	Research interests include cellular engineering of CAR NK cells for brain tumor immunotherapy
Sandler, Anthony	CNMC: CN Surgery	Dr. Sandler's research interests include tumor immunology and tumor vaccine therapy, as well as the application of novel devices and technologies in surgical practice.
Sarin, Shawn	SMHS: Radiology	Dr. Sarin's research is focuses on venous thromboembolic disease, vascular closure devices, endovascular therapy, and stroke.
Sarkar, Kausik	SEAS: Mechanical & Aerospace
Scher, Daniel	SMHS: Radiology	Research interests focus on venous interventions and pulmonary embolisms
Schore, Reuven	CNMC: Pediatrics	He is investigating intravenous treatments for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Sharma, Karun	SMHS: Radiology	Research areas include robotic applications for imaging guided arthography and MRI.
Siegel, Robert	SMHS: Medicine	His research has focused on treatment for oropharyngeal cancer, circulating tumor cells and the reoccurrence of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and renal disease.
Szalontay, Luca	CNMC: Pediatrics
Thakkar, Punam	SMHS: Surgery	Research interests lie primarily in the treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck, microvascular free tissue transfer, and transoral robotic surgery (TORS) with an emphasis on preserving functional outcomes.
Toner, Keri	CNMC: Pediatrics	Immunotherapy for high-risk hematologic malignancies.
Vadakkedath John, Liny	CNMC: Pediatrics
Vatsayan, Anant	CNMC: CN Pathology
Vaziri, Khashayar	SMHS: Surgery	Dr. Vaziri's research interests include clinical outcomes of laparoscopic procedures, and innovation and application of new surgical techniques, technologies and instruments.
Webb, Jennifer	CNMC: Pediatrics	Research include stem cell transplantation and sickle cell disease; cancer immunology & immunotherapy
Whalen, Michael	SMHS: Urology	Dr. Whalen's research interests include robotic surgery techniques, optimization of pathologic reporting of urological cancers, and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) and its role in prostate cancer management—active surveillance, post-treatment biochemical recurrence, focal ablation, and comparison to/integration with commercially-available serum-based and tissue-based genomic assays.
Wistinghausen, Birte	CNMC: Pediatrics	Her clinical research concentrates on non-Hodgkin lymphoma, specifically on the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (PTLD) and cellular therapy in EBV-positive PTLD as well as the biology and treatment of B-lymphoblastic lymphoma.
Yvon, Eric	SMHS: Medicine	Dr. Yvon leads the Stem Cell transplantation and the CAR gene-modified T-cell and NK-cell programs that are developing innovative strategies to enhance T and NK cells survival, proliferation, and tumor targeting within the immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment.
Zara, Jason	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Research focuses on the development of novel imaging instrumentation and software to approach the detection and evaluation of epithelial cancers, epilepsy, and other human diseases.
Zderic, Vesna	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Current projects include application of ultrasound to enhance ocular drug delivery, focused ultrasound treatment of tumors, studies of safety of therapeutic ultrasound applications, and ultrasound application for functional modification of cells such as pancreatic beta cells.
Zhang, Anqing	CNMC: Pediatrics	Biostatistics, pediatrics
Zhang, Lijie	SEAS: Biomedical Engineering	Dr. Zhang's main research areas include 3D/4D bioprinting for complex tissue regeneration, biologically-inspired nanomaterials, stem cell therapy for tissue regeneration, targeted drug delivery systems, and breast cancer therapy using cold plasma.
Zhu, Wenge	SMHS: Biochemistry	Dr. Zhu's research investigates mechanisms of how cells maintain stability of their genome and utilizes this information to identify new drugs for cancer treatment. Projects include: (1) Investigating the mechanisms of how cells response to DNA damage and repair damaged DNA; (2) Identifying new compounds targeting DNA replication apparatus and investigate mechanisms of anti-cancer drug resistance; (3) Investigating how cells prevent DNA re-replication in both normal and cancer cells; and (4) Identifying small molecules that selectively kill cancer cells by inducing DNA re-replication via HTS.