Hematoxylin and eosin-stained section of a triple negative breast tumor

Hematoxylin and eosin-stained section of a triple negative breast tumor

Cancer Biology

The Cancer Biology focus group encompasses a wide spectrum of research interests, from translational goals for improving treatment of human tumors, to basic research describing the molecular interactions of pathways that are key to cell regulation.   Several group members work on the molecular regulation of known tumor driver pathways, such as the hormonal drivers of breast and prostate cancer (Alarid, Schuler, Xu), epidermal growth factor signaling components for several carcinomas (Wheeler) or NFkb for multiple myeloma (Miyamoto).  Others evaluate the viral origins of cervical and hematopoietic tumors (Lambert, Sugden).  Some focus on pathways that collaborate to promote tumor development, such as deficiencies of DNA repair (Tibbetts), or problems with mitosis and aneuploidy (Ahmad, Weaver, Skop); others aim to find out which genes are activated during tumor progression, using unbiased genetic screens (Collier, Zhang).  An emerging sub-focus is the study and imaging of the unique metabolism of cancer cells and tumors (Ahmad, Alexander, Cryns, Pagliarini, Skala, Yen).   With the realization that tumor development and growth can be suppressed or promoted by the tumor microenvironment, several group leaders are focused on immune, metabolic or physiologic interactions of tumor cells (Arendt, Asimakopoulos, Miyamoto).  The approaches vary from nanometer scale analysis of molecular regulation of phosphatases (Xing) to the assembly of rodent models of human breast, head and neck and cervical tumors (Alexander, Arendt, Asimokopolous, Lambert, Zhang).   Our investigators are interested in many specific tumor types, from head and neck tumors (Kimple, Lambert, Wheeler) to breast tumors (Alarid, Alexander, Arendt, Cryns, Schuler, Wheeler, Xu), to cervical (Lambert) and prostate cancer (Marker), melanoma (Ahmad, Setaluri) and tumors of the hematopoietic lineage (Asimakopoulos, Bresnick, Miyamoto, Rui, Zhang).  For students interested in translational aspects, many groups are developing therapeutic strategies for specific tumor types, suppressing graft-versus-host disease and developing novel imaging modalities for screening patient responses (Capitini, Fowler, Wheeler).

Headshot of Caroline Alexander

Focus Group Chair Caroline Alexander
Oncology Department
Mammary tumor cell biology
alexander@oncology.wisc.edu

Focus Group Members

Paul Ahlquist

Credentials: Institute for Molecular Virology, Oncology, Plant Pathology Department

Position title: Virus Replication and Host Interactions

Email: ahlquist@wisc.edu

Nihal Ahmad

Credentials: Dermatology Department

Position title: Mechanism of cancer development & novel approaches for cancer management

Email: nahmad@wisc.edu

Elaine Alarid

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Molecular mechanism of hormone action in cancer

Email: alarid@oncology.wisc.edu

Richard Anderson

Credentials: Medical School Dean's Office

Position title: Molecular and cellular signaling and cancer

Email: raanders@wisc.edu

Lisa Arendt

Credentials: Comparative Biosciences Department

Position title: Obesity, breast cancer, mouse models

Email: lmarendt@wisc.edu

Anjon Audhya

Credentials: Biomolecular Chemistry Department

Position title: Mechanisms of membrane trafficking; live cell imaging techniques

Email: audhya@wisc.edu

David Beebe

Credentials: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Investigating cellular scale phenomena from physical and biological sciences perspectives

Email: djbeebe@wisc.edu

Alexander Birbrair

Credentials: Dermatology

Position title: Mechanisms regulating cancer progression

Email: birbrair@wisc.edu

Marjorie Brand

Credentials: Cell and Regenerative Biology

Position title: Leukemia; Blood differentiation; Gene regulation; Genomics; Proteomics

Email: mbrand3@wisc.edu

Emery Bresnick

Credentials: Cell & Regenerative Biology Department

Position title: Normal and malignant hematopoiesis; epigenetics; molecular medicine

Email: ehbresni@wisc.edu

Mark Burkard

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Mitotic kinase function and cancer

Email: mburkard@wisc.edu

Christian Capitini

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Adoptive cell therapies (NK cell and CAR T cell infusions), Bone marrow transplant, GVHD

Email: ccapitini@pediatrics.wisc.edu

Jason Cantor

Credentials: Biochemistry Department

Position title: Influence of environmental factors on human cell metabolism

Email: jcantor@morgridge.org

Pippa Cosper

Credentials: Human Oncology

Position title: Chromosomal instability, radiation sensitivity, DNA tumor viruses

Email: cosper@wisc.edu

Vincent Cryns

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Mechanisms of cell death in disease

Email: vlcryns@medicine.wisc.edu

Huy Dinh

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Computational biology, Tumor microenvironment heterogeneity

Email: huy.dinh@wisc.edu

Amy Fowler

Credentials: Radiology Department

Position title: Molecular imaging of steroid receptors in breast cancer

Email: afowler@wisc.edu

Anne Griep

Credentials: Cell & Regenerative Biology Department

Position title: Molecular regulation of mammalian eye development

Email: aegriep@wisc.edu

Gaelen Hess

Credentials: Biomolecular Chemistry

Position title: High-Throughput Mammalian Functional Genomics

Email: ghess3@wisc.edu

Troy Hornberger

Credentials: Comparative Biosciences Department

Position title: Mechanotransduction and the regulation of skeletal muscle mass

Email: troy.hornberger@wisc.edu

Jiaoyang Jiang

Credentials: Pharmaceutical Sciences

Position title: Protein glycosylation in biology and disease

Email: jiaoyang.jiang@wisc.edu

Rob Kalejta

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Manipulation of the cell cycle by Human Cylomegalovirus

Email: rfkalejta@wisc.edu

Randall Kimple

Credentials: Human Oncology Department

Position title: HPV associated cancers; therapeutic resistance in cancer

Email: rkimple@humonc.wisc.edu

Pamela Kreeger

Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department

Position title: Tumor microenvironment, systems biology, ovarian cancer

Email: kreeger@wisc.edu

Paul Lambert

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Molecular genetics of papillomaviruses

Email: lambert@oncology.wisc.edu

Dudley Lamming

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Regulation of metabolism by nutrient signaling pathways

Email: lamming@wisc.edu

Jessica Lang

Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Position title: Translational ovarian cancer epigenetics

Email: jessica.lang@wisc.edu

Peter Lewis

Credentials: Biomolecular Chemistry Department

Position title: Mechanisms of chromatin assembly, gene silencing, and epigenetic inheritance

Email: peter.lewis@wisc.edu

Yun Liang

Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department

Position title: Molecular basis for sexual dimorphism

Email: liang95@wisc.edu

Dan Loeb

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Molecular biology of hepatitis B viruses

Email: loeb@oncology.wisc.edu

Kinjal Majumder

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Mechanisms of virus localization to cellular DNA breaks

Email: kmajumder@wisc.edu

Thomas Martin

Credentials: Biochemistry Department

Position title: Mechanisms of hormone action; regulation of hormone/neurotransmitter secretion

Email: tfmartin@wisc.edu

Kristyn Masters

Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department

Position title: In vitro disease modeling

Email: kmasters@wisc.edu

Daniel Matson

Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Position title: Transcription Factors and Replication Origins

Email: drmatson@wisc.edu

Douglas McNeel

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Development of immunological treatments, and vaccines in particular, that can eradicate prostate cancer

Email: dm3@medicine.wisc.edu

Shigeki Miyamoto

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Regulatory mechanisms of Rel/NF-kappaB transcription factors

Email: smiyamot@wisc.edu

Zachary Morris

Credentials: Human Oncology

Position title: Radiotherapy to immune-modulate tumor microenvironments

Email: zmorris@humonc.wisc.edu

Muhammed Murtaza

Credentials: Surgery

Position title: Cancer genomics and precision medicine

Email: murtaza@surgery.wisc.edu

Xuan Pan

Credentials: Medical Sciences Department

Position title: Epigenetic regulation, hematopoiesis, mouse models

Email: xpan24@wisc.edu

Rebecca (Becky) Richards

Credentials: Pediatrics

Position title: Engineering next-generation CAR-T cells for blood cancers

Email: rmrichards3@wisc.edu

Avtar Roopra

Credentials: Neuroscience Department

Position title: Regulation of chromatin structure in neurons and cancer

Email: asroopra@wisc.edu

Lixin Rui

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Molecular pathogenesis of lymphoma

Email: lrui@medicine.wisc.edu

John-Demian (JD) Sauer

Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department

Position title: Host-pathogen interactions

Email: sauer3@wisc.edu

David Schwartz

Credentials: Chemistry Department

Position title: Structural variation in mammalian genomes

Email: dcschwartz@wisc.edu

Nathan Sherer

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Cell biology of HIV replication

Email: nsherer@wisc.edu

Vijay Setaluri

Credentials: Dermatology Department

Position title: Cell and molecular biology of skin in health and disease

Email: vsetaluri@dermatology.wisc.edu

Melissa Skala

Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department

Position title: Metabolism, cancer, microscopy

Email: mcskala@wisc.edu

Paul Sondel

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Clinical immunotherapy of cancer and tumor immunology

Email: pmsondel@humonc.wisc.edu

Aussie Suzuki

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Cell Division, Mitosis, Kinetochore, Tension, Chromosomal Instability

Email: aussie.suzuki@wisc.edu

Randal Tibbetts

Credentials: Human Oncology Department

Position title: DNA repair; gene expression; neurodegeneration; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Email: rstibbetts@wisc.edu

Beth Weaver

Credentials: Cell & Regenerative Biology Department

Position title: Mitosis, chromosome segregation, aneuploidy and cancer

Email: baweaver@wisc.edu

Deric Wheeler

Credentials: Human Oncology Department

Position title: Mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies

Email: dlwheeler@wisc.edu

Yongna Xing

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Cell signaling related to caner, structural biology, biochemistry, proteomics

Email: xing@oncology.wisc.edu

Wei Xu

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Epigenetic regulation of breast cancer

Email: wxu@oncology.wisc.edu

Jing Zhang

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Hematopoietic stem cell, leukemic stem cell, cytokine signaling

Email: zhang@oncology.wisc.edu