Molecular Pharmacology Program

The Daniel Heller Lab

Research

Daniel Heller, PhD
Daniel A. Heller, PhD
Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program, SKI

Cancer Nanomedicine Laboratory

We are a biomedical engineering laboratory that develops nanotechnologies to advance breakthroughs in the research, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and allied diseases. We develop drug delivery technologies to target therapies to disease sites, advanced diagnostics to detect disease at earlier stages, and nanosensors to accelerate the discovery of new therapies. Please check out our recent innovations using the “View Lab Overview” button below…

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Research Projects

Publications Highlights

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People

Daniel Heller, PhD

Daniel A. Heller, PhD

Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program, SKI

  • Biomedical engineer Daniel Heller is Head of the Cancer Nanotechnology Laboratory, which invents disruptive technologies to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and allied diseases.
  • PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
[email protected]
Email Address
646-888-3419
Office Phone
Download CV
PDF File

Members

Daniel A. Heller, PhD
Daniel A. Heller

Lab Head

Philip Asamani
Philip Asamani

Graduate Student, CUNY Chemistry PhD Program

Atena Farahpour

CUNY Chemistry/Nanotechnology PhD Program Student

Christian Figueroa-Espada

Research Scholar

Dana Goerzen
Dana Goerzen

Graduate Student, Weill Cornell PBSB PhD Program

Alec Goffin

Graduate Student

Takeshi Irie
Takeshi Irie

Assistant Attending, Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Arianna Izawa-Ishiguro
Arianna Izawa-Ishiguro

Pharmacology PhD Graduate Student

Erin Keblish
Erin Keblish

Graduate Student, Weill Cornell PBSB PhD Program

Mijin Kim
Mijin Kim

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Quincey LaPlant
Quincey LaPlant

Assistant Attending L1, Radiation Oncology

Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos
Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Ana Marie Perea

Research Technician

Stanislav Piletsky

Postdoctoral Scholar

Boglarka Racz

Laboratory Manager

Raashed Raziuddin
Raashed Raziuddin

Graduate Student, Weill Cornell Pharmacology PhD Program

Isabella Richter

Graduate Student

Stephen Ruiz
Stephen Ruiz

BCMB PhD Program Student

Kristen Vogt
Kristen Vogt

Tri-institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology

Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson

Senior SKI Administrative Assistant

Jaina Wollowitz

Graduate student, Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology

Lab Alumni
Ashley Sullivan

GSK PhD student

Cynthia Almonte
Cynthia Almonte

Clinical Nurse

Merav Antman-Passig
Merav Antman-Passig

Chief Executive Officer, Life Therapeutics

Elana Apfelbaum
Elana Apfelbaum

Graduate Student, Weill Cornell Pharmacology PhD Program

Hanan Baker
Hanan Baker

Resident in Anesthesiology, Bonica Scholars Program, University of Washington

Naxhije Berisha
Naxhije Berisha

Process Development Scientist, New England Biolabs

Gavin Black
Gavin Black

Associate Consultant, Triangle Insights Group, LLC

Januka Budhathoki-Uprety, PhD
Januka Budhathoki-Uprety

Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University

Chen Chen
Chen Chen

Postdoctoral Fellow, Genentech

Christian Cupo
Christian Cupo

Graduate Student, Columbia University

Ron Feiner
Ron Feiner

Equity Research Associate - smidcap Biotechnology at J.P. Morgan

Rune  Frederiksen
Rune Frederiksen

Manufacturing Development Engineer, Zoetis Denmark

Thomas Galassi
Thomas Galassi

Director, Scientific Affairs, Pfizer

Emma Grabarnik
Emma Grabarnik

Scientist, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Declan Gwynne
Declan Gwynne

Senior Associate Scientist at Generation Bio

Jackson Harvey
Jackson Harvey

Analyst, Deerfield

Christopher Horoszko
Christopher Horoszko

Application Scientist, On-Line Instrument Systems, Inc. (OLIS)

Prakrit Jena, PhD
Prakrit Jena

CTO, Lime Therapeutics, Inc.

Brian J. Joseph
Brian J. Joseph

Healey ALS Scholar at Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Hiro Kiguchi
Hiro Kiguchi

Attending Physician, Division of Oncology,  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Jaclyn Kubala
Jaclyn Kubala

Scientist II, SalioGen Therapeutics

Pictured: Rachel Langenbacher
Rachel Langenbacher

Associate Medical Writer – PPD

Mandana T. Manzari
Mandana T. Manzari

Founder and Principal, Honu Consulting

Ewelina Randall

Associate Scientist, Merck

Daniel Roxbury
Daniel Roxbury

Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island

Janki Shah
Janki Shah

Biomarker Operation Manager, BioNTech SE

Yosef Shamay
Yosef Shamay

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Maria Sirenko

Postdoctoral Fellow, NYU Langone, New York, NY

Ramya Sridharan
Ramya Sridharan

Consultant, Prescient

Daniel Tylawsky
Daniel Tylawsky

Senior Scientist, Regeneron

Jasmine Wallas
Jas Wallas

Patent Law Clerk at Foley Lardner LLP and JD Candidate

Ryan Williams, PhD
Ryan Williams

Assistant Professor, CCNY

Zvi Yaari, PhD
Zvi Yaari

Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, Department of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Young Alumni Award, University of Illinois (2024)
  • Life Sciences Invention of the Year, UM Ventures (2023)
  • American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow (2021)
  • Pharmacology Teaching and Mentoring Award, Weill Cornell Graduate School (2020)
  • American Cancer Society Research Scholar (2018)
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  • NSF CAREER Award (2018)
  • Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Innovators in Cancer Research (2017)
  • NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2012)
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010)
  • Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowship (2006)

Lab News & Events

Upcoming event

Lipid Nanoparticles for Overcoming Biological Barriers to mRNA Delivery

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Rockefeller Research Laboratories
430 East 67th Street
Room RRL-116
New York, NY 10065

Accolades

Team Recognitions

  • Congratulations to Erin Keblish for winning the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition!
  • Congratulations to Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos for winning the AI in Drug Delivery award at CRS 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo!
  • Congratulations to Jaina Wollowitz on her poster award at the 245th Electrochemical Society Meeting!
  • Congratulations to Dana Goerzen for being awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Research Award (Funding Number 193220)!
  • Congratulations to Dana Goerzen for being awarded the General Atlantic Graduate Research Fellowship Award!
  • Congratulations to Atena Farahpour - awarded the Fall 2023 NanoBioNYC student award in Biomedical Materials!
  • Congratulations to Dr. Mijin Kim for being selected as a 2023 STAT Wunderkind! The award recognizes the work of early-career scientists and clinicians.
  • Congratulations to Chen Chen on the Best Poster Award at the 19th Annual Tri-institutional Chemical Biology Symposium!
  • Congratulations to Mijin Kim on winning the 2023 MSK Postdoctoral Researcher Award!
  • Congratulations to Dr. Mijin Kim - NIH K99/R00 awardee!
  • Congratulations to Naxhije Berisha - Tow Fellowship Awardee!
  • Congratulations to Dr. Mijin Kim - Kravis WiSE Postdoctoral Fellowship Winner!
  • Congratulations to Stephen Ruiz - awarded the MERIT Mandel Graduate Fellowship!
  • Congratulations to Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos – Tow Postdoctoral Fellowship Awardee!
  • Congratulations to Dr. Mijin Kim – MIT Technology Review 35 Under 35 Innovator!
  • Congratulations to Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos on winning the Controlled Release Society Poster Prize
  • Congratulations to Erin Keblish on winning the 2023 Electrochemical Society Best Poster Award for Industrial/Applied Science
  • Congratulations to Magdalini Panagiotakopoulos for winning 2nd place and the People's Choice Award in the 2023 MSK Postdoc Slam
  • Congratulations to Stephen Ruiz for winning the 63rd International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids Oral Communication Award!!
  • Congratulations to Mijin Kim for winning the 2023 STAT Wunderkind Award!!
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Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Daniel A. Heller discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Celine Therapeutics
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Concarlo Therapeutics, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Lime Therapeutics, Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Mediphage Bioceuticals, Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • METiS Therapeutics Inc.
    Intellectual Property Rights; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Nanorobotics, Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Nine Diagnostics, Inc.
    Equity; Fiduciary Role / Position; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Selectin Therapeutics, Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology
    Professional Services and Activities

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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