Exterior photo of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center

Scientists who are part of the Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research conduct their work at the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center.

Invited Guest Lecturers

Gina DeNicola, PhD
‘New insights into cysteine metabolism in lung cancer’
Assistant Member
Department of Cancer Physiology
Moffitt Cancer Center

Monte M. Winslow, PhD.

‘Multiplexed functional cancer genomics’
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics
Stanford University School of Medicine

Alice Berger, Ph.D.

‘CRISPR-based discovery of oncogene and non-oncogene dependencies to inform lung cancer precision medicine’
Assistant Professor, Human Biology
Innovators Network Endowed Chair
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Giovanni Ciriello, PhD

‘Genetic and non-genetic routes of (lung) cancer evolution’
Associate Professor, Department of Computational Biology (DCB)
Lead, Computational Biology and Cancer Genomics group
University of Lausanne (UNIL)

Lindsay LaFave, PhD

‘Epigenomic heterogeneity in lung cancer evolution’
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Heather Wakelee, MD

‘Updates in peri-operative immune checkpoint inhibitors for early stage NSCLC’
Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Oncology
Stanford University School of Medicine
Interim Medical Director, Stanford Cancer Center
Deputy Director, Stanford Cancer Institute

Narjust Duma, MD

‘Unique aspects of women with lung cancer’
Associate Director, Cancer Care Equity Program
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Caroline Dive, PhD

‘Liquid Biopsies and Lung Cancer’
Professor of Cancer Pharmacology, University of Manchester
Deputy Director, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Manchester Institute
Director, CRUK Manchester Institute Cancer Biomarker Centre
Co-Director, CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence

Jin Billy Li, MS, PhD
‘ADAR1 RNA editing is critical to evade MDA5-mediated dsRNA sensing in innate immunity’
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics
Member, Bio-X, Stanford Cancer Institute, Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute
Stanford University

A. Sasha Krupnick MD
‘Developing IL-2 Mutants for Treatment of Lung Cancer’
Professor, Department of Surgery
Vice Chairman for Research
Surgical Director of Lung Transplantation
University of Virginia

Trudy G. Oliver, PhD
‘MYC drives a unique molecular and therapeutically-relevant subset of SCLC’
Assistant Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
Huntsman Cancer Institute Endowed Chair in Cancer Research
Investigator, Huntsman Cancer Institute

Eric Snyder MD, PhD
‘Regulation of cellular identity in lung cancer’
Investigator, Huntsman Cancer Institute
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
University of Utah School of Medicine

Filippo G. Giancotti, M.D., Ph.D.
‘Diverse mechanisms underlie NF2-mediated tumor suppression’
Olla S. Stribling Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research
Professor, Department of Cancer Biology
Scientific Director, David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of GU Cancers
Co-Leader, Prostate Cancer Moon Shot Program
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Tushar Desai, MD
‘Surprises in Lung Cancer biology’
Associate Professor of Medicine, PCCM 
Institute for Stem Cell Biology

Woods Family Endowed Faculty Scholar
Stanford Child Health Research Institute

Timothy F. Burns, MD PhD
‘Targeting the EMT Transcription Factor, TWIST1 in Oncogene Driven Lung Cancer to Overcome TKI Resistance’
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology
Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburg 

James M. Larner, MD
‘The E3 ligase CHIP and ZEB1 as Molecular Targets for Radio-sensitization’
Medical Director, Focused Ultrasound Center
Chairman and Professor of Radiation Oncology 
Department of Radiation Oncology and Professor of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine/Hematology Oncology
University of Virginia Health System

David MacPherson, PhD
‘Modeling genetically defined subsets of small cell lung cancer using mice’
Associate Member, Divisions of Human Biology and Public Health Sciences
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Genome Sciences
University of Washington

Matthew Oser, MD, PhD
‘New Therapeutic Targets in Small Cell Lung Cancer that are Epistatic or Synthetic Lethal with pRB Loss’
Instructor, Thoracic Oncology Program 
Postdoctoral Fellow, Kaelin Lab
Dana Farber Cancer Institute

David Barbie, MD
‘Tumor innate immunity primed by specific interferon-stimulated endogenous retroviruses’
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School 
Assistant Physician, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Associate Physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Member, Cancer Program, Broad Institute

Benjamin J. Drapkin, MD, PhD
‘Co-clinical trial of olaparib and temozolomide in patient-derived xenograft models of small cell lung cancer’
Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

Triparna Sen, PhD
‘Targeting DNA damage response and immune checkpoints in small cell lung cancer- and the biomarker landscape’
Post Doctoral Fellow, Byers Laboratory 
Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology 
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 

Tulia Bruno, PhD
‘Targeting the differential function of tumor infiltrating B cells within tertiary lymphoid structures of lung cancer patients’
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Immunology 
University of Pittsburg 

Elsa Anagnostou, MD, PhD
‘Evolution of Neoantigen Landscapes during Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer:Understanding Mechanisms of Resistance and Clinical Applications’
Assistant Professor, Medical Oncology
Upper Aerodigestive Oncology Program
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Thales Papagiannakopoulos, PhD
‘Novel CRISPR/Cas9-based precision medicine approaches in lung cancer research’
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
New York University School of Medicine

Brendon M. Stiles MD
‘The ART of lung cancer immune evasion’
Associate Professor
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University

Monte Winslow, PhD
‘Molecular Determinants of Lung Cancer Growth and Metastasis’
Assistant Professor
Department of Genetics
Department of Pathology
Stanford University School of Medicine

Ray Osarogiagbon, MD
‘Why We Fail to Cure Early Stage Lung Cancer and What Can We Do About It’
Director, Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program
Research Professor
Baptist Centers for Cancer Care

David Schrump, MD
‘Dissecting the Epigenome for Precision Therapy of Lung Cancer’
Chief, Thoracic and GI Oncology Surgery 
Co-Chief, Thoracic and GI Oncology Branch
Center for Cancer Research 
National Cancer Institute

Christine Lovly, MD PhD
“Mechanisms and Modulators of Sensitivity and Resistance to Kinase Inhibitors in Lung Cancer”
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology
Co-Leader, Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Program
Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center 

Eric Haura, MD
“Visualizing Signaling Associated Protein Complexes as Molecular Diagnostics”
Director, Moffitt Lung Cancer Center of Excellence 
Co-Program Leader, Chemical Biology and Molecular Medicine Program
Department of Thoracic Oncology
Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Jonathan M. Kurie, M.D
‘Transcriptional control of Golgi functions in tumor cells drives EMT and metastasis’
Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Lauren Averett Byers, MD
Targeting the proteome in Small Cell Lung Cancer - Emergence of PARP, CHK1, and other DDR inhibitors’
Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Paul Bunn, MD
’Rational combinations for upfront EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinomas’
Professor, Division of Medical Oncology
James Dudley Chair in Lung Cancer Research
University of Colorado

Alice Shaw, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital
Paula O’Keeffe Endowed Chair in Thoracic Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-Leader, Lung Cancer Program, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

Charles Swanton, FRCP BSc PhD
’Tracking Lung Cancer Evolution: Insights from the TRACERx Program’
Chair, Personalised Cancer Medicine, University College London
Co-Director CR-UK UCL/Manchester Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence 
Translational Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory
Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

Marty Mayo, PhD
Role of Sirtuin 6 in lung cancer: friend or foe?
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of Virginia, School of Medicine
Department of Surgery
University of Virginia

Work in Progress Lectures

Semanti Mukherjee, PhD
Clinical Genetics Service, Department of Medicine 
‘Clinically Actionable Cancer Predisposing Germline Mutations in Patients With Lung Cancers’

Goncalo Rodrigues, PhD
Weill Cornell Medicine
‘Exploring the role of tumor-derived exosomes in brain metastasis formation’

Joyce Chen, PhD
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Harnessing differentiation of hESCs to study carcinogenesis of small cell lung cancer

Piro Lito, MD PhD
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program
An approach to suppress the evolution of resistance in BRAFV600E-mutant cancer

Pang Fan, MD PhD
Department of Pathology
Identification of novel mechanisms of resistance to EGFR inhibition through transposon mutagenesis screening and clinical genomic testing

Ronglai Shen, PhD
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
A data driven approach to link tumor genomics to clinical outcome

Thomas Reiner, PhD
Center for Molecular Imaging & Nanotechnology
Molecular Imaging of PARP

Lee Jones, MD
Survivorship, Outcomes & Risk Program
‘Development of Exercise Treatment as an Anticancer Strategy’

Ekrem Emrah Er, PhD
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
“Pericytic Spreading of Disseminated Cancer Cells Activates YAP for Metastatic Colonization” 

Neal Rosen, MD PhD
Chair, Center for Mechanism-Based Therapy
’Targeting the ERK Pathway in KRAS- and BRAF- Driven Lung Cancers’

Marcus Ruscetti, PhD
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
“Combinatorial Strategies for Treating KRAS Mutant Cancers”

Michael Berger, PhD
Associate Director, Center for Molecular Oncology
‘Non-invasive genomic profiling of cell-free DNA in plasma and CSF’

Yuan Liu, MD, PhD
Biochemist, Memorial Hospital Research Labs, David Jones Lab
’CK2α’ Drives Lung Cancer Metastasis by Targeting BRMS1 Nuclear Export and Degradation’

Alex Drilon, MD
Thoracic Oncology Service
Romel Somwar, PhD
Department of Pathology
“Identifying Mechanisms of Acquired Resistance to RET Inhibition in RET-Rearranged Lung Cancers”

Natasha Rekhtman, MD, PhD
Department of Pathology
‘Genomic analysis of lung neuroendocrine tumors in the context of detailed histological, immunohistochemical and clinical correlation’

Paul Paik, MD
Clinical Director, Thoracic Oncology Service
‘A Phase 2 Study of MLN0128 in Patients with Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancers Harboring NFE2L2 and KEAP1 Mutations’

Benjamin Lok, MD
Molecular Pharmacology Program, Rudin Lab
‘Strategies to predict response to and maximize PARP inhibitor therapy for small cell lung cancer’

Hans Guido Wendel, MD
Member, Cancer Biology & Genetics Program, Center for Stem Cell Biology
J.T. Poirier, PhD
Thoracic Oncology Service, Molecular Pharmacology Program, Rudin Lab
‘eIF4A is a New Therapeutic Target in Small Cell Lung Cancer’

J.T. Poirier, PhD
Thoracic Oncology Service, Molecular Pharmacology Program, Rudin Lab
Jason Lewis, PhD
Chief, Radiochemistry and Imaging Sciences Services, Department of Radiology
‘Preclinical development of a DLL3-targeted theranostic for high-grade neuroendocrine lung cancers’

Eli Amin, PhD
Memorial Hospital Research Labs, David Jones Lab
‘ADAR mediated RNA editing in Lung Adenocarcinoma’

Joana DeCampos Vidigal, PhD
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program, Ventura Lab
‘Improving CRISPR-Cas9 tools for somatic genome editing’

Daniel Heller, PhD
Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program
‘Targeted Drug Delivery to the Tumor Microenvironment’

Prasad Adusumilli, MD
Deputy Chief, Translational and Clinical Research, Thoracic Surgery
‘CAR T-cell therapy for lung adenocarcinoma’

David R. Jones, MD
Director, DCLCR; Chief, Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery
‘The role of BRMS1 in p53 mutant lung adenocarcinoma’

Bob T. Li, MD
Thoracic Oncology Service
‘Circulating Tumor DNA in Lung Cancers - The State of the Art and the Future’

Eric Gardner, PharmD
Rudin Lab, Molecular Pharmacology Program
‘Chemo-sensitive Relapse in Small Cell Lung Cancer Proceeds through an EZH2-SLFN11 Axis”

Charles Rudin, MD, PhD
Director, DCLCR; Chief, Thoracic Oncology Service; Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program
‘New Targets in Small Cell Lung Cancer’