Cancer Biology Program Student Seminar Series
Aundrietta D. Duncan, PhD - Director, Non-Clinical Development - Salarius Pharmaceuticals
Targeting the scaffolding function of LSD1
Thursday, November 18, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Symposium
Mock Candidacy Exam - Lan Phi
Thursday, November 11, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Student Club
Candidacy Exam Information Panel
Thursday, October 28, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Invited Speaker Series
Tim Heffernan, PhD - Executive Director & Head, Oncology Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Drug Discovery and Development in Academia
Thursday, October 21, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Invited Speaker Series
Guocan Wang, PhD - Dept. of Genitourinary Medical Oncology-Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Epigenetic dysregulation in prostate cancer progression and therapeutic resistance
Thursday, September 16, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Student Club
Carolina Garcia Garcia
Stromal-derived Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 2 regulates immune responses in pancreatic cancer
Thursday, September 2, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Invited Speaker Series
Mauro Di Pilato, PhD - Dept. of Immunology - MD Anderson Cancer Center
CXCR6 Positions Cytotoxic T Cells to Receive Critical Survival Signals in the Tumor Microenvironment
Thursday, August 19, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Invited Speaker Series
Shabnam Shalapour, PhD - Dept. of Cancer Biology - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Regulation of anti-tumor immunity by inflammation-induced systemic metabolic reprograming and epigenetic alterations
Thursday, July 22, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Student Club
Maria Monberg 
Leveraging single-cell technologies to understand PDAC heterogeneity
Thursday, July 1, 2021; 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Zoom

Cancer Biology Spring Virtual Symposium
Friday, March 26, 2021; 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Keynote Address: Dr. Drew Pardoll, MD, PhD, Director - Johns Hopkins - Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy; 2:00 pm
Dissecting immunotherapy resistance at the single cell level
Zoom

Cancer Biology Program Invited Speaker Series
Philip Jones, PhD - Executive Director, Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS) - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Tuesday, March 3, 2020; 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
South Campus Research Building 4 - 4SCR1.1110 - Auditorium

2019 Cancer Biology Graduate Program Retreat
October 11-12, 2019
San Luis Resort & Spa, Galveston, Texas

Cancer Biology Ice Cream Social
August 7, 2019, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
BSRB S3.8371 - GSBS Large Classroom

2018 Cancer Biology Graduate Program Retreat
October 5-6, 2018
San Luis Resort & Spa, Galveston, Texas

Congratulations to all of our Cancer Biology Students who placed in their competitions at the GSBS Virtual Graduate Student Research Day event on June 24^th, 2021!!!

 2021 Virtual Oral Presentation Skills Competition:
Pre-Candidacy PhD and MS: 2^nd Place – Ko-Chien Chen (advisor: Dr. Ronald DePinho)

 2021 Virtual Elevator Speech Competition:
1^st year PhD & MS Category: 2^nd place – Daisy Diaz Rohena (advisor: Dr. Deepa Sampath)
2^nd year+ PhD Category: 1^st place – Sonia Patel (advisor: Dr. John Heymach)
2^nd year+ PhD Category: 2^nd Tie – Kimberly Rivera Caraballo (advisor: Dr. Balveen Kaur)

Congratulations to Cancer Biology Student Fellowship, Scholarship and Award Recipients 

Rakhee Bajaj (mentor: Don Gibbons, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2020-2021 T.C. Hsu Memorial Scholarship

Recep Bayraktar (mentor: George Calin, MD, PhD
2021-2022 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research

Ana Bolivar (mentor: Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez, MD, PhD)
2020-2021 Predoctoral Fellow in the training program on Translational Genomics and Precision Medicine Approaches in Cancer

Emily Caggiano (mentor: Cullen Taniguchi, MD, PhD)
2022-2023 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research

Li Cai (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2021-2022 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research
2020 GSBS Endowment Scholarship

Vidhi Chandra (mentor: Florencia McAllister, PhD)
2022 GSBS Presidents' Research Scholarship
2020-2021 Investing in Student Futures Fellowship
2019-2020 Scholarship for Excellence in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Ko-Chien Chen (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2021-2022 Floyd Haar, MD Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Memory of Freda Haar

Olu Coker (mentor: E. Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD)
2020-2021 Predoctoral Fellowship position in the training program on Translational Genomics and Precision Medicine Approaches in Cancer

Sharvari Dharmaiah (mentor: Jason Huse, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Ray Meyn Scholarship for Cancer Research

Daisy Diaz-Rohena (mentor: Deepa Sampath, PhD)
2022-2023 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research

Mary Fuentes (mentor: Pawel Mazur, PhD)
2021-2022 R.W. Butcher Student Achievement Scholarship
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2020-2021 The Fadine Jackson Roquemore Scholarship in Cancer Research
2019-2020 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research
2018-2019 Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation Scholarship honoring George M. Stancel, Ph.D.

Carolina Garcia-Garcia (mentor: Cullen Taniguchi, MD, PhD)
2022 Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship - Renewal
2021 GSBS Presidents' Research Scholarship
2021 Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship
2018-2019 Ellen Taylor Goldin Legacy Scholarship
2017-2018 Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation Scholarship honoring George M. Stancel, Ph.D.

Deanna Glassman (mentor: Anil Sood, MD)
2021-2022 Cancer Answers Scholarship

Sarah Glazer (mentor: David Piwnica-Worms, MD, PhD)
2017-2018 Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation Scholarship honoring George M. Stancel, Ph.D.

Jincheng Han (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2021-2022 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research

Cheng-En Hsieh (mentor: Michael Curran, PhD)
2021-2022 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2019-2020 Ralph B. Arlinghaus, Ph.D. Scholarship

Wen-Hao Hsu (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2022-2023 Pauline Altman-Goldstein Foundation Discovery Fellowship - Renewal
2021-2022 George M. Stancel, Ph.D. Fellowship in the Biomedical Sciences
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2021-2022 Pauline Altman-Goldstein Foundation Discovery Fellowship

Sunada Khadka (mentor: Florian Muller, PhD)
2021-2022 Cancer Answers/Sylvan Rodriguez Scholarship
2020-2021 Renewal - Larry Deaven Ph.D. Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences
}2019-2020 Larry Deaven Ph.D. Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences
2019-2020 R.W. Butcher Student Achievement Scholarship

Kyle LaBella (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2022-2023 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research - Renewal
2022 Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellow
2021-2022 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research 

Hey Min Lee (mentor: E. Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Ralph B. Arlinghaus, Ph.D. Scholarship

Jiexi Li (mentor: Ronald DePinho, MD)
2022 GSBS Presidents' Research Scholarship
2021-2022 T.C. Hsu Memorial Scholarship
2019-2020 Meyn Scholarship for Cancer Research

Shengxin Li (mentor: Hyun-Eui Kim, PhD)
2020-2021 Sam Taub and Beatrice Burton Endowed Fellowship in Vision Disease

Abdallah Mohamed (mentor: Clifton Fuller, MD, PhD)
2018-2019 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research

Swati Mohapatra (mentor: George Calin, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Steve Lasher and Janiece Longoria Graduate Student Research Award in Cancer Biology

Maria Monberg (mentor: Anirban Maitra, MBBS)
2021-2022 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research 

Jayanta Mondal (mentor: Jason Huse, MD, PhD)
2022-2023 Schissler Foundation Fellowship

Ryan Nini (mentor: Peter Friedl, MD, PhD)
2018-2019 Scholarship for Excellence in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Thomaia Pamplin (mentor: Curtis Pickering, PhD)
2021-2022 Cancer Answers Scholarship

Sonia Patel (mentor: John Heymach, MD, PhD)
2022 Linda M. Wells GSBS Outreach Award
2022-2023 Schissler Foundation Fellowship
2022 Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellow
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2020-2021 Investing in Student Futures Fellowship

Jing Qian (mentor: Powel Brown, MD, PhD)
2020-2021 Ray Meyn Scholarship for Cancer Research

Dhwani Rupani (mentor: Andrew Rhim, MD)
2019-2020 Floyd Haar, MD Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Memory of Freda Haar

Vivian Salama (mentor: Clifton Fuller, MD, PhD)
2022-2023 American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research

Hannah Savage (mentor: Keri Schadler, PhD)
2020-2021 Schissler Foundation Fellowship
2019-2020 Scholarship for Excellence in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Center 

Dong Ho Shin (mentor: Juan Fueyo, MD)
2022-2023 John and Rebekah Harper Fellowship - Renewal
2021-2022 John and Rebekah Harper Fellowship - Renewal
2020-2021 John and Rebekah Harper Fellowship
2018 Terry and Janet Klebe Fellowship

Oscar Villarreal (mentor: E. Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD)
2022 Charlene Kopchick Fellow

Amanda Warner (mentor: Don Gibbons, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Deans Excellence Scholarship 

Xiaojie Yang (mentor: Pawel Mazur, PhD)
2020-2021 The Antje Wuelfrath Gee and Harry Gee, Jr. Family Legacy Scholarship

Fatma Yasar (mentor: Jian Hu, PhD)
2019-2020 Steve Lasher and Janiece Longoria Graduate Student Research Award in Cancer Biology
2019 Graduate Student Research Day – Elevator Speech Competition – 1^st place as well as the winner of the People’s Choice Award

Rui Ye (mentor: Steven Lin, MD, PhD)
2022-2023 Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship - Renewal
2021-2022 GSBS Endowment Scholarship
2021-2022 Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship

Er-Yen Yen (mentor: Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Investing in Student Futures Fellowship
2021-2022 MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program Scholar
2021-2022 Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship
2019-2020 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarships in Cancer Research 

Daniel Zamler (mentor: Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD)
2021-2022 Jesse B. Heath, Jr. Family Legacy Award
2019-2020 Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarships in Cancer Research

Introduction and Mission

The goal of the Cancer Biology Program is for our basic and clinical faculty to teach graduate students, postdoctoral and clinical fellows concepts of cancer biology and its translation, enabling our trainees to become cancer biology scientists, who can conduct significant, cutting-edge, and hypothesis-driven basic, translational, and clinical research.

Program Organization

The administrative organization of the Cancer Biology Program is as follows:

• The Cancer Biology Program is under the aegis of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, a shared graduate program of the UT Health Science Center in Houston and the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.
• The Cancer Biology Program will be conducted by all members of the Program Faculty. It will elect a Program Director, through whom the Program will be administered in collaboration with the Steering Committee.
• The Cancer Biology Program is comprised of two separate tracks:
  • Cancer Discovery Track
  • Clinical Translational Oncology Track

Cancer Biology Program Director

• The Director of the Program will be appointed to a two-year term by the Dean of the GSBS upon election by the Program Faculty. The Director will be allowed to be elected to serve a second, consecutive term.  The Director will be responsible to the Cancer Biology Graduate Program faculty and the Dean of the GSBS.  The Director will serve on the Program Directors Committee (PDC) of the GSBS.
• The Director will oversee all administrative activities of the Program. These activities include:
  • Coordinate Activities of the Program Steering, and any other ad hoc Committees as needed.
  • Counsel students.
  • Assist in the coordination of laboratory rotations.
  • Grant an exception to Program course requirements for an individual student in response to a written request from the student.
  • Organize Program faculty meetings.
  • Present applications for membership in the Program.
  • Review Program faculty.

Cancer Biology Program Co-Directors

• The Program Co-Directors are appointed to a two-year term by the Dean of the GSBS upon election by the Program faculty.  Consecutive terms for Co-Directors will be allowed.  The Co-Directors must be members of the Cancer Biology Program faculty and are responsible to the Program faculty and the Dean of the GSBS. One Co-Director will be from the Cancer Discovery track, and one Co-Director will be from the Clinical Translational Oncology track.
• The Co-Director(s) assists with the administrative activities of the Director and conducts business (e.g., approving student forms) in the Director’s absence.  The Co-Director also oversees the administrative activities related to the track that the Co-Director represents.

Program Steering Committee

The Director and Co-Director(s) will be advised by a Steering Committee comprised of the Director, Co-Director(s), and a minimum of five other elected faculty members and students.  The faculty members of the Steering Committee will be elected by Program Faculty and serve staggered terms.  Steering committee membership will be for two-year terms.  There is no limit to the number of terms a member may serve.

The Steering Committee will meet at least semi-annually and there will be a Program-wide faculty meeting semi-annually at which the Steering Committee will present their report and Program business will be conducted with minutes recorded for public dissemination.  The Steering Committee will formulate policies related to the academic and administrative aspects of the Program and present them to the Program faculty for approval or modification.  The Steering Committee will empanel subcommittees to advise on Program matters.

The Steering Committee is responsible for the following, with input from the Program faculty:

• Appointing and reviewing Program faculty.
• Approving changes to the Program curriculum.
• Approving academic requirements.
• Overseeing the recruitment, admissions, and academic progress of Cancer Biology Program students.
• Appointing a Chair each year to coordinate the Annual Program Retreat.
• Determining the allocation of Program funds.
• Approving appointments to Program Committees.
• Organizing ad hoc committees as needed,
• Distributing a summary of meeting activities in a timely manner.

Election Process of Program Leaders

To preserve the integrity and anonymity of the election process, the Graduate School will conduct the elections for Program Director, Co-Directors and Steering Committee Members. GSBS will solicit nominations, including self-nominations, from the Program faculty at-large.  Once the slate of candidates has been approved by the Deans’ Office, GSBS will conduct the election and report the results of the election to the Program community.

GSBS will also conduct the election of the two student members of the Steering Committee. GSBS will solicit volunteers from Program students.  To be eligible to serve, students must be in good academic standing, and it is recommended but not required that candidates have completed the candidacy exam.  Once the slate of volunteers has been approved by the Program Director and the Deans’ Office, GSBS will conduct the election and report the results to the Program community.

Faculty Program Membership

The Cancer Biology Program welcomes enthusiastic faculty who are dedicated to student education and have vigorous and well-funded research programs.  Program faculty must be members of the GSBS. Program faculty will include Regular Members, Associate Members and Distinguished Senior Lecturers as determined by the GSBS Membership Committee.

Cancer Biology Program faculty will: 

• Participate in the formulation of Program policies
• Train and mentor students
• Serve on student committees
• Organize and lecture in Program courses
• Make changes to these bylaws by majority vote. The faculty must receive notice of the proposed changes at least ten business days prior to the vote. The method of voting will follow GSBS guidelines
• Participate in Program Retreats
• Attend Program Faculty meetings to discuss issues relevant to the Cancer Biology Program

Applications for membership in the Cancer Biology Program are submitted to the Program Coordinator and are reviewed by the Cancer Biology Program Steering Committee.  In addition to the applicant’s CV and NIH biosketch, applications should include a letter stating the applicant’s reasons for requesting to join the Program. This letter should identify what the applicant expects to gain from being a Program faculty and what the applicant can contribute to the Program.  This letter should clearly outline 1) current projects of interest in lab as they pertain to cancer biology; 2) teaching experience; 3) mentoring experience.

Criteria for membership include, but are not limited to: 

• Scientific independence
• Active and funded research projects in an area relevant to the Cancer Biology Program mission
• A willingness to participate in Program activities and assume the responsibilities of Program faculty as outlined above
• Prefer tenure-track
• Prefer at least one independent external course of peer-reviewed funding
• Strong interest in cancer biology research, teaching and mentoring

Faculty who apply for Program membership but are denied may appeal the decision to the GSBS Membership Committee, who will make a recommendation to the Deans.

The Cancer Biology Program will notify GSBS Faculty Affairs of all new Program faculty members.

Review of Current Faculty Members

The Cancer Biology Program will review participation by individual faculty members once every five years in conjunction with the faculty member’s five-year review by the GSBS Membership Committee. 

The five-year review by the Program will be done on a schedule determined by the Program. Scoring metrics shall be used to determine membership.  The criteria will be based on a faculty member’s evidence of engagement in graduate education using the GSBS Membership Committee criteria as a guideline.  Faculty participation reports will be provided by GSBS but should be augmented by reports/statements of the Program-specific activities.

The Co-Directors may discuss ways to improve participation with any faculty members who are marginally involved with the Program’s activities.  The Program will send GSBS a list of faculty they suggest are inactive.  Inactive faculty will be notified that they are on probation for an additional year.  At the end of this time, if there is no increase in activity, the Program may terminate membership.  Faculty who are asked to leave the Program or who apply for Program membership in later years but are denied may appeal the decision to the GSBS Membership Committee, who will make a recommendation to the Deans.  Faculty determined to be disengaged are subject to not being reappointed to GSBS.  Being a Program faculty member should involve a significant investment of time and energy.  To avoid dilution of this effort, faculty members may affiliate with a maximum of two Programs.

The Program will notify GSBS Faculty Affairs of any terminated faculty members.