Josie Robertson Investigators are appointed to five-year terms.
2021–2026
Structural Biology Program

Melinda M. Diver, PhD
The Diver laboratory aims to enhance our biophysical and molecular understanding of sensory transduction and pain sensation and, specifically, how modulation of ion channels in primary afferent somatosensory neurons contributes to chronic pain.
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Santosha Vardhana, MD, PhD
The Vardhana Lab studies how nutrient availability, uptake and metabolism regulates host immune responses during cancer development and immunotherapy.
2020–2025
Chemical Biology Program

Heeseon An, PhD
Heeseon An’s lab develops chemical, biological, and proteomics tools to study protein homeostasis of sub-cellular organelles.
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Chrysothemis Brown, MBBS, PhD
The Brown Lab studies how the tissue environment shapes immune cell fate and function during early life immune development, inflammation, and cancer.
2019–2024
Molecular Pharmacology Program

Karuna Ganesh, MD, PhD
Physician-scientist Karuna Ganesh studies stem cell plasticity in metastasis, therapy resistance and tissue regeneration.
Computational & Systems Biology Program

Thomas Norman, PhD
Systems biologist Thomas Norman develops new computational and functional genomics approaches for studying how genes interact to realize complex phenotypes.
2018–2023
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Samuel Bakhoum, MD, PhD
Physician-scientist Samuel Bakhoum studies the role of chromosomal instability in tumor evolution and metastasis.
Developmental Biology Program

Thomas S. Vierbuchen, PhD
The Vierbuchen laboratory directs the differentiation of mouse and human pluripotent stem cells to characterize fundamental mechanisms of neuronal cell fate specification and function.
2017–2022
Structural Biology Program

Richard Hite, PhD
The Hite laboratory studies the mechanisms of intracellular ion transport.
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program

Tuomas Tammela, MD, PhD
Cancer biologist Tuomas Tammela investigates cellular heterogeneity in lung and pancreatic cancers.
Alumni
2016–2021
Chemical Biology Program

Yael David, PhD
Yael David’s lab develops and applies methods in chemical biology toward studying epigenetic regulation and its correlation with disease states.
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Piro Lito, MD, PhD
Physician-scientist Piro Lito studies oncoproteins that drive cancer cell growth.
2015–2020
Chemical Biology Program

Daniel Bachovchin, PhD
Chemical biologist Daniel Bachovchin designs selective inhibitors to study enzymes and pathways in cancer and immune system signaling.
Memorial Hospital Research Laboratories

Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD
Molecular geneticist Elli Papaemmanuil performs systematic interrogations of well-annotated clinical trial cohorts in leukemia and cancer to explore how the compound genetic and clonal architecture in patients' leukemias and tumors dictate clinical phenotype, disease progression, and clinical outcomes.
2014–2019
Immunology Program

Andrea Schietinger, PhD
Cancer Immunologist Andrea Schietinger investigates immune responses to cancer, molecular mechanisms underlying tumor-induced T cell dysfunction, and new approaches for cancer immunotherapy.
2013–2018
Molecular Pharmacology Program

Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD
Cancer biologist and pediatric oncologist Alex Kentsis leads research in the functional proteomics and molecular pharmacology of refractory childhood cancers.
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Nikolaus Schultz, PhD
Cancer biologist Nikolaus Schultz uses computational tools to study the diversity of genomic alterations underlying different cancer types.
2012–2017
Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD
Physician-scientist Omar Abdel-Wahab studies the functional genomics of hematopoietic malignancies.
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program

Richard White, MD, PhD
Cancer biologist and oncologist Richard White uses the zebrafish to dissect interactions between tumor cells and the microenvironment that promote metastasis.