Oncology Research Labs (Click to download)

Oncology Related Research Labs at University of Kentucky

*If you are interested in the projects of any of these researchers, feel free to send them an email to see if they are open to having students work with them.

NAME: Kenneth B. Ain, MD

Position/Title: Professor and Director, Thyroid Oncology program, Department of Internal Medicine

Markey Research Programs:

Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling; Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational

Therapeutics; Thyroid oncology, thyroidology, cell biology and immunology

Research Interest :

NAME: Michael A. Andrykowski, PhD

Position/Title: UK Provost's Distinguished Service Professor; Department of Behavioral Science

Markey Research Programs: Cancer Prevention and Control

Research Interest : The role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. Quality of life and quality of life assessment. Disparities in mental health outcomes in cancer survivors associated with rural residence.

NAME: Lowell B. Anthony, MD

Position/Title: Professor and Chair Division of Medical Oncology; Department of Internal Medicine

Markey Research Programs: Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational Therapeutics

Research Interest : Neuroendocrine cancer, gastrointestinal malignancies

NAME: Susanne M. Arnold, MD

Position/Title: Professor, Associate Director of Clinical Translation; Department of Internal Medicine

Markey Research Programs: Cancer Prevention and Control; Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational

Therapeutics

Research Interest : Phase I investigations, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, radiation-chemotherapy interactions, population studies in Appalachia

NAME: Younsoo Bae, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy


Research Interest : Controlled drug and gene delivery using block copolymer nanoassemblies

NAME: Cherry Ballard-Croft, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Surgery


Research Interest : Development of veno-venous systemic hyperthermia (vv-PISH) for late stage lung cancer treatment

NAME: Brad J. Berron, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, College of

Engineering


Research Interest : Clinical diagnostics drug delivery / transport responsive surfaces

NAME: Penni Black

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy


Research Interest : Pharmacogenomic individualization of therapy in solid tumors

NAME: Subbarao Bondada, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics

Markey Research Programs: Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling

Research Interest :



Cellular Immunology: Role of dendritic cells in B cell tolerance:



B-cell Lymphoma and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL):



Myeloid Dysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and the role of early growth response -1 (Egr-1)

NAME: J. Scott Bryson, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Internal Medicine


Research Interest : The long-term interests of the Bryson laboratory have been to study immune complications that arise after blood and marrow transplantation (BMT). We have been studying the effects of calcineurin inhibitor treatment on intestinal inflammation in murine models of BMT. Calcineurin inhibitors are immunosuppressive agents that are widely utilized to modulate immune complications that develop following allogeneic BMT.

NAME: D. Allan Butterfield, PhD

Position/Title: Director, Free Radical Biology in Cancer Shared Resource Facility; UK Alumni

Association Endowed Professor of Biological Chemistry; Director, Center of Membrane Sciences; Faculty,

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging; Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences

Markey Research Programs: Redox Injury and Repair

Research Interest : Oxidative stress, redox proteomics, chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment

(chemobrain), Alzheimer's disease

NAME: Gang Chen, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology


Research Interest : Heavy metals and carcinogenesis

NAME: Li Chen, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health


Research Interest : My research focuses on the development and application of novel statistical methods for medical and epidemiological studies especially in cancer research. Specifically, she is interested in semiparametric and nonparametric methods, survival analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and prediction model.

NAME: Don Cohen, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Director, Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource Facility;

Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics


Research Interest : Mucosal immunology and innate immunity

NAME: Elisia L. Cohen, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Chair, Department of Communication; Department of Communication,

College of Communication and Information


Research Interest : Communication strategies to reduce cancer disparities

NAME: Rolf Craven, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology


Research Interest : Lung cancer, signaling, autophagy

NAME: Mark Dignan, PhD, MPH

Position/Title: Professor; Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program

Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine


Research Interest : Evaluation of community-based screening and early detection interventions

NAME: John A. D'Orazio, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Pediatrics


Research Interest : Melanoma, melanocyte biology, UV carcinogenesis, DNA repair, pigmentation, cancer predisposition.

NAME: Eric B. Durbin, DrPH, MS

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Director, Cancer Research Informatics Shared Resource Facility;

Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health


Research Interest : Electronic cancer surveillance; natural language processing of free-text health records; cancer epidemiology; population/public health informatics

NAME: Thomas Dziubla, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, College of

Engineering


Research Interest : Biomaterials, drug delivery and antioxidant polymers for oxidative stress-related diseases

NAME :

B. Mark Evers, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Director, Department of Surgery ; Markey Cancer Center; Vice-Chair for

Research, Department of Surgery; Physician-in-Chief, Oncology Service Line


Research Interest : Dr. Evers’s basic research, continuously funded by the NIH for the past 21, years focuses on signaling pathways regulating colorectal cancer proliferation and metastasis and mechanisms contributing to intestinal cell differentiation and aging. His laboratory has identified key components of the

PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway which play differential roles in colorectal carcinogenesis and differentiation.

NAME: Jonathan M. Feddock, MD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Radiation Medicine


Research Interest : Gynecologic and breast cancers, stereotactic body radiosurgery for lung cancer and spinal metastases, head and neck cancers

NAME: Victor A. Ferraris, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Tyler Gill Professor of Surgery; Department of Surgery


Research Interest : Platelet function and carcinogenesis

NAME: Steven T. Fleming, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health


Research Interest : Comorbidities and cancer; patterns of care for breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer

NAME: Michael G. Fried, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry


Research Interest : DNA repair, mutagenesis, chemotherapy

NAME: Tianyan Gao, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry


Research Interest : My lab focuses on elucidating the functional importance of a novel family of protein phosphatase, PHLPP, in regulating tumorigenesis. We use colon cancer as a model system to study how PHLPP functions in suppressing cancer development and progression. The long-term goal of my lab is to understand the physiological function of PHLPP and the molecular mechanisms underlying PHLPP-mediated regulation in cancers.

NAME: Roberto Gedaly, MD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Surgery


Research Interest : I am Hepatobiliary and Transplant surgeon, Chief of the Abdominal Transplant section. I have strong interest in basic science and clinical science research in the areas of hepatocellular carcinoma and other liver diseases. I have strong background and motivation to study hepatocellular carcinoma markers and their impact on patient outcomes.

NAME: Howard P. Glauert, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Graduate Center for Nutritional Sciences


Research Interest : Environmental carcinogenesis and the effect of nutrition. We have examined environmental carcinogens such as PCBs, cigarette smoke, and PPAR activators, and are interested in the mechanisms by which they induce cancer. We have hypothesized that these agents induced oxidative stress, and have studied effects of dietary antioxidants, such as selenium.

NAME: Edith C. Glazer, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences


Research Interest : Development of potential chemotherapeutics

NAME: Peixuan Guo, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; William Farish Endowed Chair in Nanobiotechnology; Department of

Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy





Nanobiotechnology, including structure, function and applications of phi29 DNA-packaging nanomotor.



RNA technology and siRNA/miRNA/drug delivery.



Single molecule imaging and optical instrumentation.



Single pore sensing and single pore DNA sequencing.

NAME: Ellen J. Hahn, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Director, Clean Indoor Air Partnership; Tobacco Policy Research Program,

College of Nursing


Research Interest : Tobacco use, prevention, policy, and treatment; policy outcomes research; radon prevention; lung cancer prevention

NAME: Peter A. Hardy, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Radiology


Research Interest : Magnetic resonance imaging

NAME: James K. Hartsfield, DMD, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; E. Preston Hicks Endowed Chair; Department of Oral Health Science, College of Dentistry


Research Interest : Dr. James K Hartsfield, Jr. and Dr. Lorri A. Morford run the Hereditary Genomics

Laboratory within the Center for Oral Health Research in the UK College of Dentistry. A central theme to their research is the study of genomic and genetic markers in genetic association and genetic linkage analyses.

NAME: John Hayslip, MD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Director, Clinical Research and Data Management Shared Resource

Facility; Department of Internal Medicine


Research Interest : Lymphoma cancer survivorship immunotherapy

NAME: Donald W. Helme, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Communication, College of Communication and

Information


Research Interest : Tobacco prevention and control; adolescent sexual health; adolescent drug and risky behavior prevention

NAME: Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Director, Biospecimen and Tissue Procurement Shared Resource

Facility; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine

Markey Research Programs: Redox Injury and Repair; Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational Therapeutics

Research Interest : Gliomas

NAME: Bin Huang, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health


Research Interest : Application of novel statistical and epidemiological methodologies and study designs to population-based cancer research

NAME: Cai Huang, PhD



Research Interest : Ubiquitin ligases and phosphoinositides in regulating cell adhesions and tumor metastasis

NAME: Tadahide Izumi, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor


Research Interest : Cancer genetics, DNA damage and repair, and oxidative stress

NAME: Jianhang Jia, PhD



Research Interest : The goal of my research is to understand the molecular mechanisms of Hedgehog (Hh) signal transduction and the roles of Hh signaling components in development and cancer. We focus the research on the regulation of Smoothened (Smo), a seven-span transmembrane protein required for transduction of the Hh signal in cells exposed to the Hh ligand. We are investigating novel mechanism that may play a central or convergence role in mediating the activation of Smo.

NAME: Dennie V. Jones Jr., MD

Position/Title: Professor


Research Interest : Prevention and treatment of aerodigestive tract malignancies; novel drug and regimen design; solid tumor epigenetics

NAME: Daniel E. Kenady, MD



Research Interest : Surgical oncology

NAME: Mahesh R. Kudrimoti, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Vice-Chair of Clinical Operations


Research Interest : Head and neck cancers, mucositis, pancreatic cancer and biliary tumors

NAME: Natasha Kyprianou, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; James F. Hardymon Chair in Urology Research


Research Interest : Prostate cancer

NAME: Wooin Lee, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor


Research Interest : Understanding molecular and genetic factors influencing chemotherapy response; role of drug transporters in the disposition of chemotherapy agents; development of novel chemotherapy agents targeting the proteasomes

NAME: Guo-Min Li, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Madeline F. James & Edith D. Gardner Chair in Cancer Research


Research Interest : Dr. Li’s research primarily focuses on DNA mismatch repair (MMR), a critical cellular mechanism that ensures replication fidelity by correcting mispairs created during DNA replication. Defects in this pathway predispose to certain types of human cancer, including hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer

(HNPCC).

NAME: Ying Liang, PhD






Identify molecular mechanisms that regulate self-renewal and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells in normal, aging and cancerous condition.



Study the effects of aging on hematopoietic stem cells and their niche.

NAME: Jinze Liu, PhD



Research Interest : High throughput sequencing data analysis, bioinformatics, and computational biology

NAME: Jia Luo, PhD



Research Interest : Mechanisms of alcohol-induced tumor promotion

NAME: Charles T. Lutz, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Vice Chair for Research

Markey Research Programs: Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling; Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational

Therapeutics

Research Interest : Natural killer (NK) lymphoma

NAME: Amrita Machwe, PhD



Research Interest : Our research is primarily focused on understanding the relationships between DNA damage and genomic instability and their relevance to human health. Persistent DNA damage can result in genetic changes that over time may play an important role in the development of cancer and other age-related diseases.

NAME: Suleiman Massarweh, MD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Co-leader, Breast Cancer Translational Working Group; Co-Chair, Breast

Cancer Clinical Care and Research Team; Co-Director, Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program


Research Interest : Breast cancer advanced disease and preoperative therapy, endocrine therapy resistance and targeted therapy

NAME: Ronald C. McGarry, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Vice-Chair of Clinical Research


Research Interest : Clinical trials, lung cancer, nanoparticles

NAME: Isabel Mellon, PhD



Research Interest : My laboratory studies DNA repair mechanisms and we are interested in how alterations in

DNA repair impact disease processes, in particular the etiology of certain forms of cancer.

NAME: Michael D. Mendenhall, PhD



Research Interest : Administers a recombinant viral core for the production of lentiviruses, adenovirus and adenoassociated viruses. Can also produce TALEN vectors targeted to any genomic location.

NAME: Jeff Moscow, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Co-Leader, Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational Therapeutics Research Program;

Children's Miracle Network Chair


Research Interest : Anticancer drug discovery and development

NAME: Kathleen L. O'Connor, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Associate Director for Cancer Education


Research Interest : My lab is interested in understanding how integrins and integrin-mediated signaling contribute to the late stages of carcinoma progression where cells acquire the ability to invade into the surrounding tissues. Integrin receptors, which link the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton and various signaling pathways, are essential for cells to sense and integrate cues from the extracellular matrix. Signaling from integrin receptors is critical for carcinoma cell invasion.

NAME: David K. Orren, PhD



Research Interest : Our laboratory focuses on the interrelationships between DNA damage and its repair to human health outcomes, primarily the development of cancer and other age-related diseases. One area of emphasis is the function of the human RecQ helicase enzymes required for maintaining genome stability.

NAME: Christian M. Paumi, PhD



Research Interest : Leukemia

NAME : Kevin J. Pearson, PhD



Research Interest : Our goal is to provide new information on the positive impact that maternal exercise or other interventions can have on offspring health. Such an intervention provides a realistic mechanism to improve insulin sensitivity in the next generation and positively impact insulin-resistant states that are associated with a plethora of age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and

Alzheimer’s disease.

NAME : Rina Plattner, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Co-Leader, Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling Research Program


Research Interest : Abl non-receptor tyrosine kinases, cancer

NAME : Marcus E. Randall, MD, FACR

Position/Title: Professor; Chair, Department of Radiation; Chief of Ambulatory Services


Research Interest : Gynecologic malignancies

NAME :

Vivek M. Rangnekar, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Associate Director of Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Co-Leader, Cancer

Cell Biology and Signaling Research Program


Research Interest : Cancer cell and molecular biology, cell signaling and apoptosis in prostate and lung cancer.

NAME : Jurgen T. Rohr, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Provost's Distinguished Service Professor


Research Interest : Natural products chemistry, drug discovery, anticancer natural product drugs

NAME : Hiroshi Saito, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Surgery


Research Interest : Aging is associated with increased cancer incidence which is accompanied with elevated chronic inflammation and reduced stress tolerance. Our laboratory has been trying to understand the mechanisms for age-dependent increases in inflammation which is causally linked to cancer.

NAME : Nancy E. Schoenberg, PhD

Position/Title: Marion Pearsall Professor of Behavioral Science; Department of Behavioral Science


Research Interest : Dr. Schoenberg, a medical anthropologist, maintains research interests in cancer prevention and control, employing community-based participatory interventions and qualitative and complementary methodology. Her research projects a smoking cessation intervention, several cancer screening interventions, and several energy balance studies.

NAME : Qing-Bai She, PhD



Research Interest : My lab is currently focusing on using pharmacologic, biochemical and genetic approaches and animal models 1) to understand the biochemical and biologic consequences of mutational activation of growth signaling pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR and RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathways in human cancers; 2) to dissect the mechanistic basis of redundancy and crosstalk among oncoprotein-activated signaling pathways; and 3) to use these insights to develop new strategies for cancer therapy.

NAME : Xianglin Shi, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology ; William A. Marquard Chair in Cancer

Research; Director, Center for Research on Environmental Disease


Research Interest : Metal toxicity and carcinogenesis, cancer prevention using natural compounds, and oxidative stress

NAME : Brett T. Spear, PhD

Position/Title: Professor: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics


Research Interest : My research is focused on aspects of gene regulation in the liver during development and disease, and how changes in gene expression can influence liver physiology. We use a variety of biochemical and molecular genetic strategies using in vitro systems, tissue culture cells, and genetically modified mouse models.

NAME : Daret St. Clair, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology ; Associate Director for Basic Research and

Co-Leader, Redox Injury and Repair Research Program; James Graham Brown Foundation Endowed

Chair


Research Interest : Dr. St. Clair’s research focuses on investigating the fundamental mechanisms by which reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) contribute to normal tissue injury and cancer formation. Her laboratory is the first to clone the human gene for the primary superoxide removal enzyme in the mitochondria, manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and this initial study has been expanded into several separate but related projects.

NAME : William St. Clair, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Radiation Medicine ; Co-Director, Gamma Knife Radiosurgery program

Markey Research Programs: Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling; Drug Discovery, Delivery and

Translational Therapeutics

Research Interest : Dr. William St. Clair is a physician-scientist with principal interested in advancing the efficacy of radiation therapy for the treatment of cancers. Thus, the goal of his research project is to investigate novel approaches that can enhance cancer therapeutic efficacy while protecting normal tissues against the side effects of radiation therapy.

NAME: Jamie L. Studts, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Behavioral Science


Research Interest : His primary research interests involve examining behavioral and psychosocial factors associated with cancer prevention and control of tobacco-related malignancy. His currently funded research addresses the development of optimal smoking cessation interventions for individuals diagnosed with lung or head/neck cancer (KLCRP), efforts to promote informed decision making about lung cancer screening (NCI), testing an intervention to promote lung cancer prevention via radon risk notification (NIEHS), and the development of point-of-care software tools to facilitate implementation of evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies among a broad range of health care providers (NIDCR,

NIDA).

NAME : Daniel Tai, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , College of Pharmacy


Research Interest : Prostaglandins and cancer

NAME :

Thomas C. Tucker, PhD, MPH

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Epidemiology , College of Public Health ; Associate

Director for Cancer Prevention and Control and Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control Research

Program


Research Interest : Population-based studies that address disparities in the burden of lung, colorectal and cervical cancer with a focus on Appalachia

NAME : Frederick Rand Ueland, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ; Medical Director, Outpatient

Chemotherapy and Infusion


Research Interest : Ovarian cancer; biomarkers; ovarian tumor diagnostics

NAME : Meenakshi Upreti, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , College of Pharmacy


Research Interest : The current focus of Upreti’s laboratory is on developing 3D co-culture tumor models that incorporate the stromal components and microenvironment to better simulate the characteristics of in vivo human tumors. These pre-clinical models in conjunction with nanoparticle drug delivery systems are expected to provide novel insights on tumor initiation, growth and progression in response to combinatorial therapeutic regimens in the presence of radiation. Their ability to faithfully capture essential tumor characteristics lends themselves for controlled experimental manipulation in a cost-effective manner with the potential to accelerate drug development. Her ongoing research is currently funded by the NCI/NIH (R21).

NAME : Joseph Valentino, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery


Research Interest : Head and neck cancer

NAME : Emily M. Van Meter, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Biostatistics , College of Public Health


Research Interest : Clinical trial design, implementation and analysis

NAME : John R. van Nagell, MD

Position/Title: Professor; Director, Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology


Research Interest : Ovarian cancer screening

NAME : Gary Van Zant, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Internal Medicine ; Lucille P. Markey Endowed Chair in Cancer

Research


Research Interest : My research has focused on the hematopoietic stem cell, the effect of aging on this cell population, and the malignant transformation of normal stem cells into tumorigenic cells. Recently, we have identified a novel gene encoding a protein called Latexin that we found plays an important role in regulating the size of the hematopoietic stem cell population.

NAME: Craig Vander Kooi, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry


Research Interest : Our lab focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms by which secreted growth factors regulate and coordinate cell signaling in complex multicellular organisms. Our specific interest centers on the essential human cell surface receptor neuropilin.

NAME : Robin C. Vanderpool, DrPH

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Health Behavior , College of Public Health


Research Interest : My research centers on the intersection of health behavior, public health practice, and cancer prevention and control. As the second leading cause of death and disease in the U.S., cancer is a disease largely preventable through lifestyle changes such as smoking prevention and cessation, improved diet, increased physical activity, reduced sun exposure, reduced alcohol consumption, and limited virus exposure.

NAME : Mary Vore, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology; Co-Leader, Redox Injury and Repair

Research Program; Chair, Graduate Center for Toxicology


Research Interest : Protection of normal tissue injury induced by cancer chemotherapeutic agents that induce oxidative stress; protection mediated by ABCC1/MRP1

NAME : Chi Wang, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor;Department of Biostatistics , College of Public Health


Research Interest : Bioinformatics; microarray and second generation sequencing data analysis; causal inference; Bayesian methods

NAME : Qingding Wang, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Department of Surgery


Research Interest : The signaling pathways involved in intestinal cell proliferation and differentiation as well as colorectal cancer cell growth

NAME : Zhigang Wang, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology


Research Interest : Endogenous and environmental agents frequently attack DNA. DNA damage can cause mutations during replication. Mutagenesis is an important factor during the initiation and progression of human cancers. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it appears that the majority of damage-induced mutations and some spontaneous mutations are generated through the REV1 mutagenesis pathway. Apparently, similar mutagenesis pathway is also operational in humans. Hence, understanding damage-induced mutagenesis is a key to the understanding of carcinogenesis.

Furthermore, this mutagenesis pathway offers an exciting novel target for cancer prevention and suppression through therapeutic inhibition of the pathway. The human REV1 gene was originally cloned in my laboratory. Our studies have shown that REV1 plays a catalytic function as a dCMP transferase and a non-catalytic function in translesion DNA synthesis and DNA base damage-induced mutagenesis.

Current focus of my laboratory is to understand the role of the REV1 mutagenesis pathway in carcinogenesis and to explore this pathway as a potential target for cancer prevention and suppression.

NAME : David Watt, PhD



Research Interest : Development of small-molecule activators and inhibitors relevant to cancer

NAME : Qiou Wei, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology


Research Interest : Redox biology, cancer biology, tumorigenesis and cancer progression

NAME : Heidi L. Weiss, PhD

Position/Title: Professor; Department of Surgery ; Associate Director, Shared Resources and Director,

Biostatistics Shared Resource Facility


Research Interest : Design and analysis of early phase clinical trials focusing on Bayesian design and interim monitoring. Statistical analysis of transgenic, xenograft and chemically induced mouse models of cancer.

NAME : Elaine M. Wittenberg-Lyles, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Communication , College of Communication and

Information


Research Interest : Hospice and palliative care; oncology caregivers

NAME : Yadi Wu, PhD



Research Interest : Breast cancer metastasis and microenvironment

NAME :

Ren Xu, PhD



Research Interest : Tumor microenvironment and breast cancer

NAME : Hsin-Sheng Yang, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology


Research Interest : Dr. Yang's lab studies protein translational control of genes involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. Currently, we focus on investigating how Pdcd4 (Programed cell death 4), a novel tumor suppressor and a translation inhibitor, impacts on protein translation particularly the genes critical for tumor invasion and metastasis. Therefore, our research interests include:



Elucidation of the signaling pathways impinged upon tumor invasion and metastasis



Identification and characterization of novel factors involved in protein translation initiation



Development and identification of novel agents or approaches for cancer therapeutics

NAME : Guoqiang Yu, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Biomedical Engineering , College of Engineering


Research Interest : The Biomedical Optics Lab (PI: Guoqiang Yu) develops near-infrared diffuse optical spectroscopy/imaging for the quantification of blood flow, oxygenation and oxygen metabolism in normal and diseased tissues of animals and humans. The motivation is to explore the feasibility of optical-electronic instruments for noninvasive diagnosis of cancer diseases and longitudinal monitoring of cancer therapies.

NAME : Zhuo Zhang, PhD

Position/Title: Assistant Professor; Graduate Center for Toxicology


Research Interest : Heavy metals such as chromium (VI), arsenic, and nickel are well-known carcinogens. However, the mechanisms underlying metal-induced tumorigenesis are unclear. Research in my lab focuses on investigation of molecular mechanism of metal-induced toxicity and carcinogenesis.

We are studying metal-induced generation of reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, cell migration and invasion, transformation, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis.

NAME : Binhua Peter Zhou, MD, PhD

Position/Title: Associate Professor; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry


Research Interest : We are currently focusing on characterization of the functional role and regulation of

Snail/Slug transcription factors in the control of EMT. Snail is a zinc-finger transcriptional repressor that was identified in Drosophila as a suppressor of the transcription of shotgun (an E-cadherin homologue) in the control of embryogenesis.

NAME : Haining Zhu, PhD



Research Interest : Proteomics, oxidative stress, protein aggregation and degradation, RNA metabolism, neurodegenerative diseases

Oncology Research Labs (Click to download)

Oncology Related Research Labs at University of Kentucky

*If you are interested in the projects of any of these researchers, feel free to send them an email to see if they are open to having students work with them.

Markey Research Programs:

Related documents

Products

Support

Oncology Research Labs (Click to download)

Oncology Related Research Labs at University of Kentucky

*If you are interested in the projects of any of these researchers, feel free to send them an email to see if they are open to having students work with them.

Markey Research Programs:

Related documents

Add this document to collection(s)

Add this document to saved

Suggest us how to improve StudyLib