UAMS Cancer Institute Expands Research with Addition of 10 Faculty
| The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently added 10 research faculty, significantly expanding the institute’s cancer research programs.
“We are in a period of significant growth and are proud to welcome these talented investigators,” said Alan Tackett, Ph.D., deputy director of the Cancer Institute. “These new faculty members are performing translational cancer research, which will build strength within and across our cancer research programs.”
Below are the new research faculty joining the Cancer Institute, their areas of expertise and college:
Mathias Brochhausen, Ph.D. | Data mining
Brochhausen is joining the College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics. His expertise is the use of semantic web technologies to assist in the collection, curation and maintenance of biomedical data.
Hui-Ming Chang, M.D. | Cancer therapy and toxicity
Chang is joining the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her research is focused on identifying novel and cost-effective strategies to prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.
Samrat Roy Choudhury, Ph.D. | Epigenetics in cancer
Roy Choudhury is joining the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. His expertise is the functional understanding of epigenomics that drive an aggressive disease state in subpopulations of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Eric Enemark, Ph.D. | Structural biology
Enemark is joining the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His expertise is in the use of X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM to better understand the detailed mechanisms of DNA replication in the context of disease states such as cancer.
Yong-Chen “William” Lu, Ph.D. | T-cell cancer therapies
Lu is joining the College of Medicine Department of Pathology. His expertise is using cutting-edge technologies to drive the development of T-cell based therapies for cancer.
Md Sayem Miah, Ph.D. | Kinase signaling in cancer
Miah is joining the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His expertise is defining novel signaling and transcription activating protein interactions that promote triple negative breast cancer.
Marius Nagalo, Ph.D. | Cancer vaccines
Nagalo is joining the College of Medicine Department of Pathology. His research focuses on the development of recombinant viral vectors for use in gene therapy, gene-based vaccines and in oncolytic viral therapy.
Yong-Moon “Mark” Park, M.D., M.S., Ph.D. | Cancer epidemiology
Park is joining the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. He is an epidemiologist with interests including metabolic diseases and breast cancer.
Adam Wolfe, M.D., Ph.D. | DNA repair in cancer
Wolfe is joining the College of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology as a clinician scientist. His research focuses on DNA damage mechanisms and pancreatic cancer.
Edward Yeh, M.D., FACC | Chemotherapy and heart disease
Yeh is the new chair of the College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. Yeh’s laboratory discovered Sentrin/SUMO, which have revolutionized our understanding of cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders. His laboratory also discovered the molecular basis of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity that shepherds in a new era of personalized cardio-protection for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
These new hires were recruited into one of four research programs in the Cancer Institute: Cancer Biology, DNA Damage & Host Response, Developmental Therapeutics, and Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. Each research program is defined by a common research focus, and within each program, individual research themes are identified based on the talent and expertise of its members and for the purposes of strategic planning, optimization of resources and funding opportunities. These 10 new research recruits are part of the first wave of research expansion and growth as the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute builds toward applying for National Cancer Institute designation.