MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Distinguished Alumni

2017-2018 GSBS Distinguished Alumnus

2017-2018   David Voehringer
1995/M.S./Radiation Biology/1998/Ph.D./Cancer Biology/Raymond Meyn
MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is proud to announce the 2017-2018 GSBS Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient, David Voehringer, Ph.D., Sales Director of ProteinSimple in San Jose, CA. Read more

Voehringer received his award at the GSBS Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2018.

CRITERIA FOR THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD NOMINATIONS

Eligibility
To be eligible for the GSBS Distinguished Alumni Award, a candidate must be a GSBS alumnus or alumna and currently reside in the US. Candidates must have graduated with a degree in the MS, SMS, PhD or PhD in the MD/PhD programs. Send nominations to Cheryl Spitzenberger.

Criteria
Distinguished Alumni will be chosen on the basis of strength in several areas such as recognition, leadership, scholarship, service and research.


DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD PREVIOUS WINNERS

Each recipient is listed below with their distinguished accomplishments

1981   Robert E. Marc
1975/Ph.D./Neuroscience/Harry Sperling
Marc is professor of ophthalmology and physiology, University of Utah School of Medicine and president & CEO, Signature Immunologics Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah. He holds an endowed chair in ophthalmology & visual science and is Director of Research, at the John A. Moran Eye Center, Utah. The Marc laboratory has developed high-speed transmission electron microscope imaging with molecular tagging for brain and retinal mapping. 

1996   Lawrence H. Thompson
1969/Ph.D./Radiation Biology/Herman Suit
Thompson's work includes significant research in DNA repair at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

1997   Aravinda Chakravarti
1979/Ph.D./Human and Molecular Genetics/Masatoshi Nei
His career follows the rise of human genetics and today focuses on the development and applications of molecular genetics, genomics and computational methods for identifying human disease genes through “genetic dissection.”  He is professor in the Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics and Molecular Biology and Genetics; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins University.

1998   Hugo A. Barrera-Saldana
1982/Ph.D./Molecular Biology/Grady Saunders
Barrera-Saldana is a specialist in Science and Technology Commercialization (IC² Institute-UT-Austin and ITESM, 1999). In Latin America he pioneered molecular diagnosis of several diseases, clinical trials on cancer gene therapy (prostate cancer), and internationally-competitive research on the regulation, evolution, dysfunction and biotechnological use of growth hormone genes. In 1988, with colleagues from Genentech, Inc. and the Universities of Texas and Washington, the team establishes the world record for the largest human gene manually sequenced. This accomplishment was considered evidence for the feasibility of the Human Genome Project.

2000   Michael E. McClure
1970/Ph.D./Biochemistry/L.S. Hnilica
McClure is a leader in the research field of reproductive genetics and reproductive immunology. He played a major role in developing the science policy related to cloning. He is retired Chief, Organs and Systems Toxicology Branch Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH.

2001   Deborah Anderson
1976/Ph.D./Immunology/Bar Levy
Anderson is professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University.  She is most noted for her research in the areas of mucosal immunology and contraceptive and STD vaccine development. 

2002   Larry Deaven
1969/Ph.D./Cell Biology/T. Elton Stubblefield
As director of the Human Genome Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Deaven is known for leading the design and construction of the library framework for mapping the human genome.  He holds three international patents.

2003    Eugene W. Gerner 
1974/Ph.D./Biophysics/Ronald Humphrey
Gerner is highly regarded for his work in gastro- intestinal cancer; currently professor, Departments of Dell Biology & Anatomy and Molecular Biophysics, and SPORE director in GI at the University of Arizona Health Science Center.  Dr. Gerner holds several patents related to the Modifiers of Genetic Risk Factors as Prognostic and Predictive Factors in Intestinal Cancer Prevention.  

2004   Ronald S. Duman 
1984/Ph.D./Pharmacology/Sam Enna
In his landmark 1995 paper he discovers that antidepressants increase the gene expression of Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. The results of his work led him to formulate the hypothesis that depression is caused by a decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis caused by elevated cortisol levels.  

2005   Bhudatt Paliwal
1973/Ph.D./Medical Physics/Peter Almond 
Paliwal is a renowned medical physicist who has achieved significant work in radiation dosimetry and radiation imaging which encompass the use of CT and MRI in planning radiological treatment and the use of hyperthermia in cancer care. 

2006   John J. Kopchick
1980/Ph.D./Virology/Ralph Arlinghaus
Kopchick is an internationally recognized leader in the growth hormone field.  In 1989, he and his group were the first to discover and characterize the molecular aspects of growth hormone antagonists, an accomplishment for which he and Ohio University (where he holds both an endowed professorship and chair) were awarded several U.S. and European patents.  He founded a company, Sensus, to apply his laboratory discovery to the development of a drug that has been evaluated in clinical trials for acromegaly (gigantism), a chronic disease caused by excessive secretion of the pituitary growth hormone.  The drug, Somavert, was approved by the in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration, marketed by Pfizer, and partial royalty income rights licensed to a private equity firm. 

2007   Suzanne A. W. Fuqua
1982/Ph.D./Virology/Robert Naso
Fuqua is widely recognized for her pioneering work on hormonal resistance in breast cancer. Her lab identified variant estrogen receptors in breast cancer tissue which linked these mutations to hormone resistance and breast cancer progression by demonstrating their consequences in altering estrogen-binding and cell responsiveness in model systems.  Professor and SPORE grant director at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Fuqua has also made seminal observations about the role of heat shock proteins in breast cancer progression.  

2008  Danny R. Welch
1984/Ph.D./Tumor Biology/Garth Nicolson
Welch is an internationally recognized leader in the field of cancer metastasis, specifically in breast cancer. Professor and chair at the University of Kansas in the department of molecular and integrative physiology, he is best known for his discovery of 4 of the 24 known metastasis-suppressor genes. Dr. Welch and his associate J. H. Lee are inventors of and hold the international patent for KISS-1, a novel human melanoma metastasis-suppressor gene.  

2009   John B. Simpson
1971/Ph.D./Reproductive Biology/John Hampton
Simpson designed and developed the first over-the-wire balloon catheter for heart surgery that is still in use today.  Currently a professor of clinical medicine at Stanford University, he is founder of Perclose (now an Abbott Laboratories company); the founder of LuMend, Inc. (now a Johnson & Johnson company); and the founder of Fox Hollow Technologies (recently merged with ev3 Inc.). 

2010   Cathy Wicklund
1993/M.S./Genetic Counseling/Jacqueline Hecht
Wicklund is the Director of the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University where she provides clinical genetic counseling and prenatal and pediatric genetic services. Wicklund serves on the Board of Directors of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and as president in 2008. She is an advocate, on the national level, for the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act and the recognition of genetic counselors as providers under the Social Security Act.  

2011   E. Antonio Chiocca
1988/M.D., Ph.D./Molecular Biology/Joseph Stein
Chiocca is a practicing neurosurgeon who performs over 200 craniotomies per year, primarily in patients with glial tumors.  His research laboratory studies glial tumor biology and translational therapeutics with a central focus on the use of oncolytic viruses for glioma therapy. He has uncovered a viral mutant whose replicative cycle targets the p16 tumor-suppressor pathway and the host immune and micro-environmental responses that limit the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy. 

2012   Steven R. Patierno
1985/Ph.D./Pharmacology/Max Costa
Patierno is internationally recognized as a leading expert in cancer causation and environmental carcinogenesis. His laboratory discovered the anti-cancer activity of a protein that is the subject of 10 U.S. patents and under commercial development by a bio-pharmaceutical company as a molecularly-targeted cancer therapeutic.   Dr. Patierno secures and implements many large, complex, biomedical and public health-related research grants and he is a formidable advocate for patient-centered and community-based grants in cancer disparities.

2013   Super Panels - 50th Anniversary
Celebrated the 50th Anniversary of MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences with two Super Panels, showcasing seven alumni. 

2014   Dolores J. Lamb
1980/Ph.D./Biomedical Sciences/Barbara Sanborn
Lamb is the director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine;  The Lester and Sue Smith Chair in Urologic Research; the vice chair for research (Scott Department of Urology) and a professor in the Departments of Urology and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. She is an investigator in the fields of urology, male infertility, steroid hormone action, prostate cancer and genitourinary birth defects. Her experience is unique as she has an extensive background in both the clinical diagnostic and the basic science arenas in men’s health. 

2015   Pu (Paul) Liu
1991/Ph.D./Human and Molecular Genetics/Michael Siciliano
Liu, M.D., Ph.D., received his medical degree and residency training in internal medicine in Beijing, China.  Liu has been head of the Oncogenesis and Development Section in NHGRI since 1995 and was appointed as the deputy scientific director in 2011. The main focus of Liu's research has been the mechanism of leukemia development at the molecular level, using genetic and genomic approaches.  Liu discovered that a CBFB-MYH11 fusion gene is the product of chromosome 16 inversion, a common chromosome abnormality in human acute myeloid leukemia. Liu's lab has focused on developing targeted treatments for leukemia.

2016-2017   David F. Smith
1972/Ph.D./Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Earl Walborg
Enamored with the beauty of the stereochemistry of structural carbohydrates and the mystery of their function, Smith did not follow the major research path of biochemistry to molecular and cell biology, but instead entered the field of glycobiology or Glycomics, which is the study of the structure, function and biology of glycans (carbohydrates) that are widely distributed in nature.  He is professor of biochemistry and director of the Emory Comprehensive Glycomics Core at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

2017-2018   David Voehringer
1995/M.S./Radiation Biology/1998/Ph.D./Cancer Biology/Raymond Meyn
Voehringer has a proven track record of success in both industry and academia with over 50 publications. As a founding member of ProteinSimple (now a division of Bio-Techne), he was part of a team that built a unique protein analysis business from scratch that was successfully sold for $330M. Over 12 years he made significant contributions to a revolutionary technology that modernized the Western Blot method and grew ProteinSimple from $0 to $60M in revenue. Taking on the roles of managing the research team, directing the marketing and business development efforts early in the technology roll-out, and ultimately building and spearheading an international sales teams, Voehringer gained a wealth of experience as a small startup successfully transitions to a market force.