Members
Faculty
Lynn Hlatky, PhD.
Director.
Lynn Hlatky is the founding director of the Center of Cancer Systems Biology at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. She joined the Medical Center from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Department of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School. The mission of the Center of Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) is based on the appreciation that carcinogenesis evolves at multiple levels ranging from molecular signaling to cellular and tissue interactions, and that only by their concerted study can the entire process be understood and translated into advances in clinical treatment and the development of novel therapies. Accordingly, the CCSB incorporates researchers with expertise in clinical oncology, cancer biology, molecular biology, radiobiology, bioengineering, mathematics, physics and engineering, chemistry and computational biology.
Dr. Hlatky also directs three major federal program grants from different national agencies:
- From the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Dr. Hlatky is the
principal investigator of one of twelve inter-disciplinary Centers
for Cancer Systems Biology under the
NCI's
Integrative Cancer Biology Program. This collaborative network
focuses on the analysis of cancer as a complex biological system.
Under this program, our efforts augment the current understanding
of carcinogenesis and identify how the tumor cell's environment
affects disease development and progression. This work involves
collaboration with researchers at
NYU Langone Medical Center, at
University of California, Berkeley, and at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
- As a designated
NASA Specialized Center of Research (NSCOR), our CCSB
contributes investigations into radiation-induced carcinogenesis to
the multi-institutional mission. Our program involves investigators
at University of California, Berkeley and at University of
Heidelberg, Germany.
- Through the Low-Dose Radiation Research Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the CCSB investigates the relationship between biological responses to low-dose radiation and health consequences.
- Carcinogenesis and tumor growth dynamics
- Radiobiology
- Translational studies on microenvironmental influence
- DNA damage and repair
- Tumor angiogenesis
- Tumor-cell fusion
Mail: lynn.hlatky [at] tufts.edu or lynn.hlatky [at] steward.org
Philip Hahnfeldt, PhD.
Senior Investigator.
Associate Professor of Medicine.
Phil Hahnfeldt joined the CCSB from the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He is an MIT-trained mathematician who has specialized in cancer systems analysis. He directs a project under the Center's NSCOR Program to form composite models of carcinogenesis risk incorporating the biological and mathematical studies of the other collaborators.
Research interests:
- Cancer growth dynamics
- Radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic dosing
- DNA damage and repair
- Tumor angiogenesis modeling
- Gene interaction networks
Mail: philip.hahnfeldt [at] tufts.edu or philip.hahnfeldt [at] steward.org
David A. Goukassian, MD, PhD.
Senior investigator.
Associate Professor of Medicine.
David Goukassian joined the CCSB from the Departments of Dermatology and Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine where he was head of the Translational Research Unit, and from the Division of Cardiovascular Research at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center where he was Principal Investigator on several projects examining the effect of TNF signaling in therapeutic neovascularization (heart and skeletal muscle) and pathological (melanoma, lung and breast cancer) angiogenesis. His earlier research work was concentrated on the development of novel treatment modalities for various Ultraviolet(UV)- and other environmental carcinogen-induced (i.e., chemotherapy) human tumors, and improvement of the age-associated decreases in DNA repair capacity using various knockout and transgenic mouse models, human skin 3D organ-cultures and human skin and lung cancer organotypic models. In recent years his research work was focused on the development of novel treatment modalities based on inhibition of TNF signaling via selective blocking of its receptors (p55 or p75) for treatment of various human tumors including, but not limited to skin, breast, prostate and lung cancers. His current research interest is focused in the area of space radiobiology, specifically, evaluation of space radiation-induced damage to bone marrow endothelial progenitors cells (EPCs) and resident endothelial cells (ECs) in the myocardium and associated long-term degenerative cardiovascular (CV) risks.
Research interests:
- DNA damage and Repair
- Aging, tissue repair and regeneration
- Endothelial and endothelial progenitor cell biology in physiological and pathological angiogenesis
- Hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells
- Tumor angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis
- Tumor prevention and therapeutics
- Animal models of human cancers
- Space radiobiology:
- Molecular mechanisms of long-term CV degenerative risks
- Development of mouse models for evaluation of space radiation-induced Excess Relative Risks (ERR)
- Development of predictive biomarkers for ERR
Mail: david.goukassian [at] tufts.edu
Kashi Javaherian, PhD.
Senior Investigator.
Before joining the CCSB, Kashi Javaherian was associated with the late Dr. Judah Folkman at Childrens Hospital for many years. His main focus of research centered around two angiogenic inhibitors, angiostatin and endostatin; two proteins first discovered in Folkman's laboratory. He has been the senior author or coauthor on a number of major publications dealing with these inhibitors. In their recent article, Kashi along with Tong-Young Lee and Amir Abdollahi, have presented the most up to date illustration of the angiostatin mechanism (Blood, 2009, 114, 1987-1998). Accordingly, angiostatin targets a number of proteins in mitochondria of endothelial cells. In parallel with this event, recruitment of inflammatory immune cells to tumor is reduced and expression of extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin is increased. A detailed analysis to elucidate the contributions of these different compartments is being undertaken in his laboratory.
Research interests:
- Structure, function and mechanism of angiogenic inhibitors angiostatin and endostatin
- Developing new antiangiogenic peptides and proteins based on identification of specific proteins responsible for angiogenesis in cancer
Mail: kashi.javaherian [at] steward.org
Amir
Abdollahi, MD, PhD.
Associate Investigator.
Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Amir Abdollahi joined the CCSB from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), University of Heidelberg Medical School, where he was head of translational research at the Departments of Radiation Oncology. With Dr. Hlatky, he has worked to establish a multidisciplinary research consortium at CCSB bringing together molecular, bioinformatics, and clinical expertise from the DKFZ/Heidelberg University and the Folkman laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where Amir maintains an adjunct affiliation.
Research interests:
- Systematic transcriptional and functional analysis of cancer
with focus on
- Tumor <=> microenvironment communication
- Tumor-Angiogenesis (tumor vasculature, i.e., endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors)
- Tumor-Fibrogenesis (tumor stroma, 'interstitium')
- Tumor-Metastasis
- Role of the tumor- microenvironment interplay in acquired resistance to conventional therapies (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) as well as to novel 'targeted' anticancer agents (e.g. antiangiogenic therapy).
- Preclinical identification of novel therapeutic targets and clinical evaluation of identified targets
- Identification of potential biomarkers (e.g. gene/protein signatures) of therapeutic response
Nava Almog, PhD.
Associate Investigator.
Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Nava Almog joined the CCSB from Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School. She obtained her PhD in Molecular Cell Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel in 2000.
Research interests:
- Molecular mechanisms and pathways underlying tumor dormancy
- Experimental models of human tumor dormancy in animals
- Genome expression profiles analysis
- Tumor dormancy associated MicroRNAs
- Stromal effects on tumor dormancy
- Use of platelets content as early indication for tumor presence (as collaboration with G. Klement)
Mail: nava.almog [at] tufts.edu
Heiko Enderling, PhD.
Associate Investigator.
Assistant Professor of Medicine.
ICBP Outreach and Education director.
Heiko Enderling joined the CCSB from the University of Dundee, Scotland, where he received his PhD on 'Mathematical Modeling of Breast Cancer Development, Treatment and Recurrence' in 2006.
Research interests:
- Basic cancer cell kinetics in tumor dormancy and progression
- Tumor morphological evolution; self-metastatic phenotype
- Mathematical modeling of stem cell mutations, tumorigenesis, tumor growth and invasion
- Irradiation response and radiotherapeutic design
- Tissue architecture evolution
- Invadopodia formation and cancer-microenvironment interaction
- Computational simulations and high-dimensional visualization of mathematical models
Mail: heiko.enderling [at] tufts.edu
Giannoula Klement, MD.
Associate Investigator.
Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Giannoula Klement joined the CCSB in May 2009 from Harvard Medical School where she worked as a pediatric oncologist.
Research interests:
- Benign vascular tumors
- Vascular anomalies and anti-angiogenic therapies
- Cancer and angiogenesis biomarkers
Mail: giannoula.klement [at] tufts.edu
Afshin Beheshti, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
Afshin Beheshti joined the CCSB from the Forsyth Institute where he was working on oral bacteria for three years. He obtained his PhD in Biophysics from Florida State University on 'Modeling DNA Behavior in Gel Networks' in 2002.
Research interests:
- Double Strand Breakage/Repair in tumor populations and in the tumor-microenvironment
- Imaging of DNA repair dynamics
- Tumor-cell fusion
- Adult Stem Cells and relation to tumor growth
- HZE radiation response in tumors and tumor microenvironment
Mail: afshin.beheshti [at] tufts.edu or afshin.beheshti [at] steward.org
Swati Girdhani, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
Instructor of Medicine.
Swati Girdhani joined the CCSB from the Indian Atomic Research Centre, where she received her PhD in Radiation Biology.
Research interests:
- Radiation biology
- DNA damage and repair
- Proton irradiation response
- Tumor response to anti-angiogenic therapy
Mail: swati.girdhani [at] steward.org
Shiva Kalinga, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
Shiva Kalinga received his PhD from the ETHZ, Switzerland. His thesis involved studying the kinetic and mechanistic functions between hemeproteins and peroxynitirite. Following this, he joined Dedon's Laboratory at MIT for his post-doctoral studies on genomic instability where he developed methods to map DNA damage across entire genome. His research currently focuses on elucidating cellular and molecular pathways leading to prostate cancer progression with an emphasis on the cell-cell interactions. His main interests in the Hlatky Laboratory include determining the cellular interaction between prostate cells and prostate cancer cells with respect to its growth, invasion and metastasis.
Research interests:
- Cell-cell interactions
- Cancer biomarkers
- Role of epigenetics in cancer
- Oxidative and nitrosative stress in cancer
Mail: shiva.kalinga [at] steward.org
Edward Rietman, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
Prior to joining the CCSB in April 2011, Edward Rietman worked at Bell Laboratories in NJ for eighteen years and then at military-funded think tanks and start-up companies for nine years before retooling himself for systems biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a Research Fellow for two years. His research experience spans multiple disciplines including chemical synthesis, materials science, applied physics, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence. In addition, Edward serves on the Editorial Board for Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling.
Research interests:
- Exploring questions and mathematics at the interface between living and nonliving matter
- Applying group theory and abstract algebra to molecular systems biology
- Integrating diverse multidimensional datasets to enable asking new biological questions
Mail: erietman [at] gmail.com
George E. Parris, PhD.
Associate Investigator.
Adjunct Professor of Medicine.
George Parris joined the center in 2009. Most of his career has been as an employee or consultant to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Energy. His work has centered on cancer risk assessment based on environmental exposures to chemicals or radiation. He also holds an adjunct appointment for Johns Hopkins University where he teaches courses in the environmental science and policy curriculum. Over the last few years, he has expanded his activity to a study of cancer from which the risk assessment methodology must follow. He is particularly interested in cell-cell fusion as an important step in the evolution (progression) of cancer. Cell-cell fusion is particularly interesting because it provides a mechanism for rapid (sexual) evolution of cancers, which largely circumvents the need for immortal cells in the cancer (i.e., cancer stem cells). Cell-cell fusion is frequently catalyzed by viruses and other intracellular micro-organisms. Cell-cell fusion also explains the observations that many tumors (neoplasia) are initially diploid, evolve to tetraploid and then become aggressive metastasize concurrent with evolving to aneuploid karyotypes. Many of these features are controlled by cell surface glycoproteins and glycans.
Research interests:
- Cell-cell fusion
- Cell-virus fusion
- How cancer cells overcome Muller's ratchet
- Glycans and glycoproteins
- Cancer risk assessment
- Methods of blocking cell fusion
Mail: antimony_121 [at] hotmail.com
Rainer K. Sachs, PhD.
Adjunct Professor of Medicine.
Ray Sachs is Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the CCSB and Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He directs a project on quantitative modeling of carcinogenesis dynamics under the Center's ICBP. This year he has worked mainly on leukemia dynamics and on radiation modulation of solid tumor dynamics.
Research interests:
- Modeling carcinogenesis due to ionizing radiation
- Quantitative models of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
- Radiation risk estimation for astronauts on extended missions
- Modeling second cancers after tumor radiotherapy
- Modeling radiation formation of chromosome aberrations
- Modeling large-scale geometry of chromatin during cell cycle interphase
Mail: sachs [at] math.berkeley.edu
Christian Schwager, PhD.
Adjunct Professor of Medicine.
Christian Schwager is Head of Biocomputing and Bioinformatics in the Department of Molecular Radiooncology (MRO), at the University of Heidelberg, Medical School, and in the Center of Cancer Systems Biology, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, where he oversees analysis of high-throughput molecular data. In collaboration with the CCSB, he is continuing development of the comprehensive and freely-available bioinformatics resource at http://www.oncoexpress.org.
Research interests: Tel: tbc
Mail: tbc
Alex Shtifman, PhD.
Associate Investigator.
Assistant Professor of Neurology.
Alex Shtifman employs sophisticated imaging technologies to study how calcium moves in and out of cells, including in a model of inclusion body myositis.
Research interests:
- Calcium signalling in tumor progression
- Muscle disorders
- Neurological disorders
Mail: alex.shtifman [at] steward.org
Research staff
Jaspreet Singh Batra, MD.
Research Associate.
Jaspreet Batra joined the CCSB in August 2011. He received his MD from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Thereafter, he joined Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston in April 2006, where his work was focused on Her2neu positive breast cancer. From 2008 until 2011 he did clinical training in Boston. He plans to continue with bench research along with his clinical work.
Research interests:
- Identification of circulating surrogate markers for prostate cancer
- Development of novel techniques to better predict prognosis and recurrence of solid tumors
- Clinical research
Mail: jaspreet.batra [at] steward.org
Mahdokht Behravan, PhD.
Research Associate.
Mahdokht Behravan joined the CCSB from the Medical Imaging Group in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics from Michigan State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, in 2005. IAEA Fellowships include the KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.
Research interests:
- Bioelectric signaling and membrane potential
- Cell interaction and attachment
- Radiation carcinogenesis
- Nanotechnology in diagnostics and therapy
Mail: Mahdokht.Behravan [at] tufts.edu or mahdokht.behravan [at] steward.org
Nandita Bhattacharya, PhD.
Research Associate.
Nandita Bhattacharya joined the CCSB in 2011 from Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, where she worked as an instructor/research associate. She obtained her PhD from the University of Calcutta, India in Physiology.
Research interests:
- Biomarkers of tumor angiogenesis in blood platelets using proteomic analysis
- Role of platelets, and the role of pro- and anti-angiogenic factors in tumor microenvironment
- Mechanism of action of PF-4, Thrombospondin, and heparin sulfate in tumor extracellular matrix
Mail: nandita.bhattacharya [at] steward.org
Sébastien Benzekry, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sébastien Benzekry joined the CCSB in January 2012 from the University of Provence in Marseille, France where he obtained his PhD in applied mathematics about mathematical and numerical analysis of a model for therapies in metastatic cancers.
Research interests:
- Modeling of the metastatic development
- Modeling of tumor growth and angiogenesis
- Anti-angiogenic therapies
- Low dose, metronomic schedules for chemotherapy
- Structured equations in population dynamics
- Optimal control theory for anti-cancerous therapies
Mail: sebastien.benzekry@steward.org
Sophie Domhan, MD.
Research Associate.
Sophie Domhan joined the CCSB in 2008 from University of Heidelberg Medical School where she received her MD, and is trained in Internal Medicine (Department of Nephrology).
Research interests:
- Immunosuppressive drugs and cancer
- Tumor-microenvironment and angiogenesis
- Epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Mail: tbc
Xuefeng Gao, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow.
Xuefeng Gao (aka Ryan) joined the CCSB in November 2011 from the
University College Cork, Ireland, where he received his PhD on
'Multi-scale Modeling and Simulation of Tumor Development and Cancer
Gene Therapies' in 2011.
Research interests:
- Modeling tumor growth, tumor angiogenesis, and invasion
- Darwin evolution of cancer cells: the emergence and distribution of cancer cell phenotypes
- Modeling cancer gene therapies (e.g., virotherapy, bacterial therapy)
- Dynamics of multi-cellular systems
- Cell-centered multi-scale modeling and simulation
- Biomedical visualizations, animations and movies
- Interactive technologies
Tel: 617.789.5147
Mail: xuefeng.gao [at] steward.org
Lili Ma, MD, MS.
Postdoctoral Fellow.
Lili Ma joined the CCSB in August 2007 from Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences (SIBS), China, where she worked on immulogical studies. She received her MD and MS from China. She was working on tumor molecular biology as a research technician until 2008 and is now persuing her postdoctoral studies.
Research interests:
- Tumor and senescence
- Tumor angiogenesis and resistance to antiangiogenic therapy
- Tumor molecular biology
Tel: 617.779.6540
Mail: lili.ma [at] tufts.edu
Irina Kareva, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow.
Irina Kareva joined the CCSB in January 2012 from Arizona State University, where she received her PhD in Applied Mathematics in Life and Social Sciences. Her thesis focused on modeling cancer as an evolving ecological system, particularly from the point of view of competition for resources, interaction with predators (the immune system) and microenvironment modification.
Research interests:
- Evolution and ecologys
- Metabolism (particularly Warburg effect)
- Applications of game theory to tumor dynamics
- Tumor-immune interactions as predatory-prey type system
- Ordinary differential equations and adaptive dynamic
Mail: irina.kareva [at] steward.org
Tyson McDonald, PhD.
Senior Research Associate.
Tyson McDonald joined the CCSB in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles where he received his PhD in Radiation Biology from the Biomedical Physics Program. His thesis examined the impact of ionizing radiation on the Nrf2/Antioxidant Response Element pathway and also assisted in high throughput screening for novel radiation modifying agents.
Research interests:
- Radiation biology
- Delayed effects of ionizing radiation
- Radiation-induced neoplastic and malignant transformation
- Low-dose exposure and carcinogenesis
Mail: tyson.mcdonald [at] steward.org
Charles Morton, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow.
Charles Morton joined the CCSB in 2009 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his PhD in Molecular and Systems Toxicology and Pharmacology from the Department of Biological Engineering. His thesis examined the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of programmable genotoxicants targeting metastatic prostate cancer.
Research interests:
- Agent-based modeling of tumor growth kinetics
- Dynamics of intercellular communication through exosomal miRNA
- Theoretical modeling of the tumor-microenvironment milieu
Mail: charles.morton [at] tufts.edu
Maoyun Sun, MD, PhD.
Research Associate.
Maoyun Sun joined the CCSB in 2009. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, China in 2006.
Research interests:
- Tumor angiogenesis
- Epithelial-mesenchymal transition
- Tumor molecular biology
Mail: maoyun.sun [at] tufts.edu
Kathleen Wilkie, PhD.
Research Associate.
Kathleen Wilkie joined the CCSB in 2011 from the University of Waterloo, Canada, where she received her PhD in Applied Mathematics from the Faculty of Mathematics. In her thesis, she used continuum mechanics to develop both porelastic and viscoelastic descriptions of the brain to model hydrocephalus (a neurological condition) and examine several medical hypotheses for its pathogenesis.
Research interests:
- Cell adhesion and the extracellular matrix
- Tissue-matrix remodelling
- The effects of mechanical stresses on cells
- Heterogeneous cell populations in cancer progression
- Growth, development, and aging effects on biological tissues
- Mechanical properties of biological tissues
Mail: kathleen.wilkie [at] tufts.edu
Administrative staff
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Winifred Nwangwu. Administrative Director. Winifred Nwangwu joined the CCSB as the Administrative Director in 2011. She is our grants specialist and an expert in managing large grant portfolios with over 20 years of experience working at Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, among others. She has a Bachelors degree in Accounting and a Masters in Organizational Leadership. Tel: 617.562.7587 Mail: winifred.nwangwu [at] steward.org |
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Melissa Klumpar. Program Manager. Melissa Klumpar brings a broad administrative and program management background to the CCSB, which she joined in 2010. She has experience coordinating large complex grant initiatives, such as the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant, at academic medical centers like Tufts Medical Center Cancer Center and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. As Program Manager in the CCSB, Melissa works with the Administrative Director, Research Office, and internal and external investigators to coordinate the research efforts of the CCSB. Tel: 617.562.7654 Mail: melissa.klumpar [at] steward.org |
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Clare Lamont. Research Coordinator and NSCOR Outreach Director. Clare Lamont is the Administrative Coordinator for the NASA Specialized Center of Research. She also directs the outreach program for the NSCOR program. Tel: 617.779.6571 Mail: clare.lamont [at] steward.org |
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Cassie Enayo. Administrative Assistant. Tel: 617.789.2995 Mail: cassedra.enayo [at] steward.org |
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Technicians
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Michael Peluso. Laboratory Manager. B.S. Biological Sciences - Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Rochester Tel: 617.779.6544 Mail: michael.peluso [at] steward.org |
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Abdo Abou-Slaybi. Research Technician. B.A. Biology, College of the Holy Cross Tel: 617.789.3102 Mail: abdo.abou-slaybi [at] steward.org |
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Caitlin Coelho. Research Technician. B.S. Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston Tel: 617.779.6541 Mail: caitlin.coelho [at] steward.org |
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Bert Liu. Graduate Student Intern. Bert is working with Afshin Beheshti. Tel: tbc Mail: bert.liu [at] steward.org |
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Sharath Sasi. Research Technician II. Biomedical Engineering, Louisiana Tech Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, India - Inhibition of Tumor Angiogenesis by Telomere Homolog Oligonucleotides; Journal of Oncology, Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 928628, 14 pages. - Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Signaling Via TNFR1/p55 is Deleterious whereas TNFR2/p75 Signaling is Protective in Adult Infarct Myocardium; Proceedings of 12th TNF Conference. Tel: 617.789.3101 Mail: sharath.sasi [at] steward.org |
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Janusz Weremowicz. Research Technician II. Foreign graduated DVM. LAT-G technologist. Janusz Weremowicz's field of interest is microsurgery and care of our animal colony. Tel: 617.779.6560 Mail: janusz.weremowicz [at] steward.org |
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Collaborators / adjunct members (NSCOR)
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Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff, PhD. Professor of Radiation Oncology and Cell Biology, NYU Langone Medical Center. Research interests:
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Sylvain Costes, PhD. Senior Research Associate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Research interests:
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Ingolf Tuerk, MD, PhD. Chief of Urology and Director of the Robotic Assisted Surgery Program, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. Research description: Ingolf Tuerk is a world renowned expert in laparoscopic and robotic urologic surgery and has pioneered several laparoscopic techniques including radical prostatectomy, radical and partial nephrectomy, right side donor nephrectomy, pyeloplasy and radical cystectomy with continent urinary diversion. Dr. Tuerk is working with CCSB on translational prostate cancer projects. Learn more about Dr. Tuerk |
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Jeffrey Nickerson, PhD. University of Massachusetts. Research description: Cells in different types of tumors and at different stages in malignant progression have characteristic nuclear changes and these are important in clinical diagnosis and staging. The structure of the nucleus is partly determined by patterns of gene expression. Conversely, the architecture of the nucleus is a major determinant of those patterns of gene expression. These reciprocal relationships might contribute to advancing nuclear alterations in cancer, driving further tumor progression. There are multiple mechanisms by which altered nuclear structure can dysregulate the faithful replication and expression of the genome. For example, attachments of chromatin to the nuclear lamina participate in the formation of peripheral heterochromatin, silencing large regions of the genome. In the interior of the nucleus, attachments of chromatin to a fibrogranular nuclear matrix scaffolding facilitate efficient transcription as well as accurate DNA replication and repair. The architecture of the nucleus is also dependent on tissue architecture and attachments to a basement membrane, both of which are also regulators of gene expression, and both of which are radically altered in tumors. We propose that key alterations associated with tumor progression may manifest through nuclear structural alterations, suggesting they may be important determinants of clinical cancer risk. |
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Jörg Kleeff, MD. Associate Professsor of Medicine. Jörg Kleeff is currently senior consultant surgeon in the Department of Surgery, Technical University Munich, directed by Professor Helmut Friess, a world leader in pancreatic cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research. Pancreatic cancer is an extremely aggressive malignancy that is virtually therapy-resistant and has therefore one of the worst prognoses of all human cancers. Together with CCSB, Dr. Kleeff is systematically investigating pancreatic cancer development and progression using cutting edge proteomics, transcriptomics and functional genomics approaches. His major interest in the field of pancreatic cancer are: Research interests:
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Edgar Knobloch, PhD. Professor of Nonlinear Dynamics, University of California, Berkeley. Research interests:
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Douglas Schneider, MD. Associate Clinical Professor of Pathology. Douglas Schneider is a pathologist at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine. |
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1933 - 2008 |
Judah Folkman, MD. Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Professor of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School. In Memorium: On January 14, 2008 Judah Folkman died unexpectedly en route to a conference on Angiogenesis. His passing is an immense loss to those who knew and worked with him, as well as to the advancement of science. We will greatly miss his scientific insight, unbounded enthusiasm, and friendship. |
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Alumni
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David Story, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
David joined the CCSB from Solar Plexus Nexus, a solar energy research start-up, in 2010. His background includes Electrical Engineering design and development and Plasma Physics research associated with microplasma instabilities and thin film deposition. Additionally, David has specialized training and experience in micromachines and nonlinear systems. Research interests:
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Peter Nowd. Research Technician. B.S. Biology, Stonehill College - Aprepitant as salvage antiemetic therapy in breast cancer patients receiving doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide; Supportive Care in Cancer, 2009, Volume 17, Number 9, pages 1065-1070. |
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Julia Fox, PhD.
Assistant Investigator.
Julia joined the CCSB in 2010 from the Broad Institute and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and where she was involved in cross-center collaborations focused on the discovery of small molecules and conditions which specifically promote the differentiation of stem cells into desired mature and functional cell types. Research interests:
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Heather Szelag.
Research Technician.
B.S. Biophysics/Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Heather worked with the CCSB from 2008 to 2011 as an integral member of the translational research program. She worked closely with Giannoula Klement and Ingolf Tuerk in the establishment and day-to-day operations of our prostate cancer efforts. |
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Jawon Lee.
2011 ICBP Summer Research Fellow.
B.A. Microbiology and Computer Science, University of California, San Diego Jawon joined the CCSB for the summer of 2011 as a fellow in the NCI's ICBP Summer Cancer Research Fellowship/Internship program. She worked closely with mentors Tyson McDonald and Heiko Enderling on a research project entitled, "Characterizing the regenerative potential of irradiated cancer cell populations." Her research interests include computer modeling and analysis of large biological data sets. |
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Annie Kang.
Research Technician.
B.A. Biology, Boston University |
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Glenn Stern, MBA.
Administrative Director of Laboratory Research.
Glenn was the Administrative Director of Laboratory Research for the Center of Cancer Systems Biology from 2009 to 2011. |
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Niharika Dixit, MD.
Clinical Fellow.
Niharika collaborated with the CCSB on translational research during her Hematology/ Oncology Fellowship at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. |
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Erik Fung, MD, PhD.
Clinical Fellow.
Hematology/Oncology Fellow at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center |
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Ambreen Ijaz, MD.
Clinical Fellow.
Ambreen collaborated with the CCSB on translational research during her Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. |
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Colleen Yavarow, MD.
Clinical Fellow.
Colleen collaborated with the CCSB on translational research during her Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. |
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Maria Sousa.
Summer student.
Maria worked with Tyson McDonald during the summer of 2010. |
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Sangita Murali.
Summer student.
Bates College 2012. Major: Neuroscience with a Concentration in Philosophy and Mathematics Sangita worked with Giannoula Klement and Nava Almog during the summer of 2010. |
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Zachary Anaya.
Research Technician.
B.Sc. Neuroscience, Dalhousie University |
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Birin Padam.
Summer student.
Johns Hopkins University 2014 Major: Neuroscience Birin worked with Afshin Beheshti. |
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Joseph Pariseau.
Summer student.
Joseph worked with Giannoula Klement during the summer of 2010. |
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Derek Park.
Summer student.
Derek worked in our lab as a summer student from Weston High School in 2008 and 2009, where he was involved in different projects with his mentor Heiko Enderling. Projects:
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Daniel Seth Greenstein.
Part-time research technician.
B.A. Psychology, Middlebury College |
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Therese Dane.
Summer student.
Therese worked with our lab while she was a Biology Major at Rochester Institute of Technology. |
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Mia Edgar.
Summer student.
Mia joined us for a summer while she was studying PreMed at Boston College. |
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Blake Wang.
Summer student.
Blake was a summer student from Weston High School. |
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Bianling Liu, MD.
Senior Research Associate.
Research interests:
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Zili Tang, MD.
PhD Candidate.
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Hochschule Mannheim, Germany M.D. Chengdu University of TCM, China |
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Olga Kiner,
Research Technician.
M.S. Molecular Biology, Bar-Ilan University, Israel B.Sc. Medical Science, Hadassah College, Israel |
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Roslyn Whitley,
Research Technician.
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University Ruth Grau Zises Women's Health Student Research Award, 2007 'analyzing the effects/side effects of cabergoline on a neuroendocrine abnormality of the pituitary gland that disproportionately affects women' |
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Raktima Raychowdhury, PhD.
Senior Research Associate.
Raktima joined CCSB from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 2007. Research interests:
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Mohsen Hosseinkhani, PhD.
Research Associate.
Mohsen joined CCSB in 2008. Research interests:
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Baili Chen, PhD.
Research Associate.
Baili joined CCSB in 2008. She obtained her PhD from Texas Tech University in 2005 for her thesis entitled 'Mathematical Models of Motion Detection in the Fly's Visual Cortex'. Research interests:
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Jaclyn Nestor,
Research Technician.
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Armine Matevossian,
Research Technician.
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Aaron Burg,
Research Technician.
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Matthew Perkins,
Research Technician.
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