Members

Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics Program member Francine Garrett-Bakelman, MD, PhD
The work of the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center is led by more than 200 member researchers representing 25 departments in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Engineering, Data Science, and Education, along with the College of Arts and Sciences.
Cancer Center members are divided into four research programs representing the primary areas of our work to reduce the burden of cancer: Cancer Biology, Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Cancer Therapeutics, and Cancer Prevention and Population Health.
To learn more about Cancer Center members and their research interests, click on the program headings below:
Huiwang Ai, PhD
Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering
Protein engineering to image specific bioactivities in cells and in vivo
Amy Bouton, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Proliferation and adhesion pathway drivers of breast cancer
John Bushweller, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Chemical and structural biology focused on transcription factor drivers in cancer
David Cafiso, PhD
Professor, Chemistry
Reversible protein and membrane interactions controlling cell-signaling and membrane trafficking, molecular mechanisms of membrane transport
Steven Caliari, PhD
Associate Professor, Biomedical and Chemical Engineering
Design of 3D biomaterials as cellular microenvironments for applications in cancer, fibrosis, and tissue regeneration
James Casanova, PhD
Professor, Cell Biology
Molecular regulation of cell motility and metastasis
Charles Chalfant, PhD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Hematology and oncology, cell biology, lipid signaling, cancer cell signaling and RNA biology
Linda Columbus, PhD
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Biophysical methods to investigate the function, structure and dynamics of membrane proteins involved in pathogen-host interactions; use of molecular understanding of Opa mediated liposome: cellular interactions to design functionalized targeted liposomes for drug delivery and cell manipulation
Ana Karina de Oliveira, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology
Molecular mechanisms involved in immune evasion, cancer development (breast precancer lesion) and progression using in vitro and in vivo models; finding new molecular targets for breast cancer therapeutic prevention.
Zygmunt Derewenda, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Structural biology of proteins involved in smooth muscle regulation and cancer
Sepideh Dolatshahi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Systems immunology, systems biology of immune regulation and immunotherapies, regulation and regulatory roles of glycosylation in cancer
Andrew Dudley, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Tumor microenvironment and mechanisms of tumor neovascularization
Seham Ebrahim, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Elucidating the mechanochemical signaling pathways that regulate of specialized epithelial cell function and dysfunction in homeostasis and disease
Edward Egelman, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Structural biology of macromolecular complexes using cryo-EM
Loren Erickson, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Antibodies as biomarkers of disease
Sarah Ewald, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Innate immune regulation of cancer progression and cancer cachexia
Mohammad Fallahi-Sichani, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Systems biology approaches to understand the mechanisms of cancer drug response and resistance
Jay Fox, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Microenvironment of dense breasts and role of exosomes in host stem cell modulation
Todd Fox, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
Sphingolipids in ocular disease and cancer
Cassandra Fraser, PhD
Professor, Chemistry
Materials chemistry focused on the development of novel biosensor molecules
Zheng Fu, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
Role of primary cilia as a novel mechanism regulating cancer drug resistance and sensitivity
Daniel Gioeli, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Mechanistic understanding of the cell signaling network that contribute to cancer progression and resistance to therapy
Adam Goldfarb, MD, PhD
Professor, Pathology
Erythroid and megakaryocytic differentiation to identify new approaches toward treatment of anemias and thrombocytopenias in cancer patients and to shed light on the pathogenesis of megakaryocytic leukemias
Barry Gumbiner, PhD
Professor, Cell Biology
Cadherins and cell junctions, endothelial permeability, invasion and metastasis
David Green, PhD
Associate Professor, Materials Science, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering
Synthesis of well-defined nanoparticles, their dispersion into polymer solutions and melts, and their use for detection and therapeutics
Thurl Harris, PhD
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Signaling and enzymes in lipid metabolism
Michael Hilinski, PhD
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry focused on potential anticancer small molecules
Karen Hirschi, PhD
Professor, Cell Biology
Understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to blood vessel formation
Donald Hunt, PhD
Professor, Chemistry
Class I MHC phosphopeptides for immunotherapy of multiple cancers and the viruses that cause them
Kevin Janes, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Cancer systems biology approaches to solid tumors
Ahmad Jomaa PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Localization of nascent proteins to sub-cellular compartments
David Kashatus, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
The regulation of mitochondrial dynamics by oncogenic signaling pathways and the role of mitochondrial dynamics in tumorigenesis
Dean Kedes, MD, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Kaposi’s sarcoma virus – tumorigenesis, immune responses and viral immune evasion mechanisms
Melissa Kendall, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Bacterial cell signaling, host-pathogen interactions, intestinal pathogens
Anne Kenworthy, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Architecture and function of biological membranes
John Lazo, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology
Chemical biology of protein tyrosine phosphatases, drug discovery, high throughput and high content screening, experimental therapeutics and molecular pharmacology
Matthew Lazzara, PhD
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Cancer cell signaling, systems biology approaches for the rational design of combination therapy for cancer
Ilya Leventhal, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Composition, biophysics and physiology of cellular membranes
Kevin Lynch, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology
Discovering inhibitors of sphingosine 1-phosphate synthesis and transport
Wladek Minor, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Structural biology focused on structure-function relation and data mining
Golam Mohi, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic development in myeloid neoplasms
Christopher Moskaluk, MD, PhD
Professor, Pathology
Genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of primary cancer specimens for biomarker discovery, and validation of tissue-based biomarkers by in situ analytic techniques and tissue microarray construction of population cohorts
Kristen Naegle, PhD
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Computational systems biology approaches to understand the role of tyrosine phosphorylation in proteins and protein networks
Robert Nakamoto, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Elucidation of the multiple-drug transporter P-glycoprotein mechanism in resistance to cancer chemotherapy
Jason Papin, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Metabolic networks in cancer
Kwon-Sik Park, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Functional genetics focused lung cancer
Lucy Pemberton, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Nuclear transport in chromatin assembly and transcriptional regulation
Marcos Pires, PhD
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Chemical biology and immunology focused on targeting tumors via infectious agents
Rebecca Pompano, PhD
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Bioanalytical chemistry and microfluidics to reveal dynamics in the lymph node
Gustavo Rohde, PhD
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Objective and quantitative modeling of data from imaging and other types of sensors
Melanie Rutkowski, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Tumor microenvironment, molecular and cellular mediators of tumor metastasis, tumor growth, and response to therapy
Ira Schulman, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
Transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism focusing on the control of inflammation and cell proliferation
Gloria Sheynkman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Proteoform systems biology: proteogenomic approaches to uncover the role of proteomic variation in driving cancer
Harald Sontheimer, PhD
Professor of Neuroscience and Department Chair
Communication between tumor cells and the neuronal brain microenvironment in glioma progression
Cliff Stains, PhD
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Chemical approaches for interrogating cellular processes
Lukas Tamm, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Structural biophysics of membranes proteins involved in cell signaling
Scott Vande Pol, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology
Physical structure and biological functions of papillomavirus E6 oncoproteins
David Wotton, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Regulation of gene expression, development and tumor progression by TGF beta signaling
Joshua Wythe, PhD
Associate Professor, Cell Biology
Glioblastoma, angiogenesis, blood brain barrier/CNS vasculature
Jinghang Xie, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Molecular imaging and cancer immunology
Jochen Zimmer, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Structural and molecular biology of complex carbohydrate biosyntheses
Eli Zunder, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Mechanisms that control stem cell fate
Tarek Abbas, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
The ubiquitin system and human cancer; the regulated process of protein ubiquitination and proteolysis of DNA sensing and repair molecules
Roger Abounader, MD, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Roles and targeting of c-Met in brain tumors; c-Met/PTEN interactions in gliomas; PTEN/mutant-p53 interactions in gliomas; microRNAs in brain tumors
David Auble, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Chromatin remodeling during sensing and repair of DNA damage
Stefan Bekiranov, PhD
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Developing algorithms for analysis of sequence data to extract insight into chromatin and epigenetic regulation; applying quantum computers to bioinformatic analysis
Anja K. Bielinsky, PhD
Professor and Chair, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
DNA replication-coupled repair, genome integrity networks, DNA damage-tolerance pathways
Matthew Devall, PhD
Assistant Professor Family Medicine
Colorectal cancer risk
Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
RNA-protein interactions in antiviral immunity and autoimmune diseases
Francine Garrett-Bakelman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Epigenetic changes underlying Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Marie-Louise Hammarskjold, MD, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Regulation by RNA and Retrovirology and export of RNAs in HIV-infected cells; relevance to HIV-associated neoplasms
Eric A. Hendrickson, PhD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
DNA recombination, DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, telomeres and gene targeting
Hao Jiang, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Changes to splicing and biomolecular condensates that underlie cancer
Muge Kuyumcu-Martinez, PhD
Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
RNA regulatory networks and RNA binding proteins during cardiovascular development and in cardiovascular disease
James Larner, MD
Professor, Radiation Oncology
Molecular basis of resistance to radiation; development of techniques for target-tissue sensitization to ionizing radiation; development of therapeutic focused ultrasound
Hui Li, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Pathology
Trans-splicing as a novel regulatory mechanism in cancer
Wenpeng Liu, PhD
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
DNA replication-coupled damage repair pathways related to tumorigenesis and cancer treatment
Clint Miller, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Cardiovascular complications of chemotherapeutics, chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy and radiation-induced vasculitis, single-cell and spatial genomics analysis of solid tissues, genomic and epigenomic analysis of large population cohorts
Marty Mayo, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
NFkB involvement in the suppression of apoptosis in non-small-cell lung cancer and in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Bryce Paschal, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Androgen signaling and ADP-ribosylation in prostate cancer
Aakrosh Ratan, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Genomics, Molecular Evolution, Algorithm Design and Analysis
Stefanie Redemann, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Mechanisms of chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis
David Rekosh, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
RNA based regulatory mechanisms
Nathan Sheffield, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Computational methods to identify drivers of AML
Jeffrey Smith, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Role of the NADH-dependent deacetylase, sirtuin, in modulating gene expression in aging and carcinogenesis
P. Todd Stukenberg, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Role of Aurora kinases in mitosis and how their disfunction drives aneuploidy in tumorigenesis
Jianguo Tao, PhD
Professor, Pathology
Identifying major molecular determinants for drug response and resistance, as well as novel targets for overcoming or preventing drug resistance evolution in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and double hit lymphoma (DHL)
Bon Trinh, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology
Understanding protein and RNA regulations of gene expression via chromatin structure in myeloid cell development and diseases
Yuh-Hwa Wang, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Roles of Fragile Site breakage in generating translocations in tumors
Chongzhi Zang, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Development of bioinformatic algorithms to apply the vast amounts of publicly available RNA sequencing data to cancer problems
Aidong Zhang, PhD
Professor, Computer Science
Developing machine learning and data science approaches to modeling and analysis of structured and unstructured data with bioinformatics and health informatics applications
Tian Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Mass spectrometry-based method development and application in cancer biology
Hui Zong, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
MADM, a mouse genetic mosaic model, to study how tumor cells originate and compete
Antonio Abbate, MD, PhD
Professor, Cardiology
Cardio-immunology and cardio-oncology: heart inflammation (pericarditis and myocarditis) and complications due to cancer treatment
Kumari Andarawewa, DVM, MSS, PhD, DACLAM
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Immunologic effects of focused ultrasound on cancer tissues
Kristin Anderson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Cancer immunotherapy, engineered T cell therapy
Emily Ayers, MD, MSCE
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, circulating tumor DNA, real-world evidence
Karen Ballen, MD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of stem cell transplant
Todd Bauer, MD
Professor, Surgery
Targeted therapies for pancreatic cancer
Stuart Berr, PhD
Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging and Biomedical Engineering
Medical and molecular imaging, cardiovascular engineering
David Brenin, MD
Professor, Surgery
Focused ultrasound therapy trials in breast cancer
Kimberly Bullock, PhD
Associate Professor, Surgery
Clinical trial development, immunotherapy
Timothy Bullock, PhD
Professor, Pathology
Increasing the presence and function of T cells in the tumor microenvironment; impact of CD70-CD27 co-stimulation on T cell function; function of CD4 T cells in enhancing CD8 T cell recruitment to tumors
Chuanxi Cai, PhD
Associate Professor, Surgery
Delineate the connections between heart disease and cancer via targeting circulating factors
Mark Conaway, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Novel clinical trials designs for targeted and immune therapies for cancer
Jeffrey Craig, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology
Lymphoid cancer biology, lymphoma diagnostics
Lynn Dengel, MD
Assistant Professor, Surgery
Focused ultrasound and immunotherapy of melanoma
Michael Devitt, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials in urogenital cancers
Patrick Dillon, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Immunotherapy of breast cancer, breast cancer clinical trials
Robert Dreicer, MD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of genitourinary malignancies, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and combination therapies
Linda Duska, MD
Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Clinical trials in ovarian cancer
Firas El Chaer, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials in leukemias
W. Jeffery Elias, MD
Professor, Neurosurgery
Stereotactical neurosurgery
Michael R Elliott, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
Understanding the function of tissue-resident macrophages as effectors of mAb-mediated cell clearance in hematologic malignancies
Michael Engel, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics
Developing new therapies for pediatric leukemias
Victor Engelhard, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology
T lymphocyte-based immunity to antigens expressed on melanoma and other tumors. Identification of phosphopeptides. Elucidation of factors responsible for T cell homing to cancers
Elizabeth Gaughan, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of immunotherapy for melanoma and for head and neck cancers
Paola Gehrig, MD
Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Clinical trials of novel therapeutics for endometrial cancer
Ryan Gentzler, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of immunotherapy and combination therapies for lung cancer
Kirsten Greene, MD
Professor and Chair, Urology
Developing and testing novel imaging technologies in prostate cancer
Alejandro Gru, MD
Professor, Pathology
Pathological analysis and intraoperative immunohistochemistry
Richard Hall, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of lung cancer
Jiang He, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging
Imaging of molecular signatures
Marilyn Huang, MD, MS
Professor and Director, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Novel therapeutics and innovative drug combinations with immunotherapy across gynecologic cancers
Anuradha Illendula, PhD
Assistant Research Professor, Hematology and Oncology
T-Cell lymphoma; PTCL and CTCL AML, prostate cancer, Child sarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma
Sumit Isharwal, MD
Assistant Professor, Urology
Developing super resolution molecular imaging for improved prostate cancer diagnostic performance
Einsley-Marie Janowski, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
Breast cancer; focused on investigating relevant biomarkers to evaluate treatment response and to predict for treatment related toxicity
Kimberly Kelly, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Targeted agents for cell surface plectin for imaging and cancer therapy
Michael Keng, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of hematologic malignancies
Alexander Klibanov, PhD
Associate Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
Molecular imaging (primarily using ultrasound) with the intent of translation of targeted micro-bubbles for specific delineation of tumor-specific endothelial biomarkers (e.g. VEGFR2, alphVbeta3, neuropilin, VCAM-1) and drug delivery using ultrasound-triggered drug release (e.g., doxorubicin) in the tumor vasculature
Bijoy Kundu, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging and Biomedical Engineering
Parametric PET analytics and multimodal deep learning
Paul Kunk, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials in gastrointestinal cancers
Charles Landen, MD
Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Basic discovery in cancer resistance to chemotherapy
Tri Le, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials for gastrointestinal cancers
Daniel W. Lee, MD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Clinical trials of CAR T cells
Thomas P. Loughran, MD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Large granular lymphocyte leukemia: oncogenic mechanisms, and clinical trials for therapy. Combination therapy for hematologic malignancies
Lawrence G. Lum, MD, DSC
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Adoptive cell therapy of cancers with bispecific antibody armed T cells (BATs)
Jianjie Ma, PhD
Professor, Surgery
Exercise physiology and immune regulation, therapeutic development to treat lung cancer
Enrica Marchi, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Mechanism and clinical trials in T cell lymphomas
Linda Martin, MD, MPH
Professor, Surgery
Clinical trials for lung cancer
Jamie Mata, PhD
Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging
Early detection and characterization of lung cancer using hyperpolarized gas MRI; non-invasive surgical treatment of lung cancer using magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound
Ileana Mauldin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Surgery
Immune microenvironment of cancers, and impact of immune therapy
Christopher McLaughlin, MD
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Leveraging adaptive radiotherapy to reduce toxicity from treatment and to improve patient outcomes, particularly in the setting of head and neck cancer; the comparative costs of various interventions for cancer utilizing activity-based costing analyses; medical education
Trish Millard, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of breast cancer
G. Wilson Miller, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging
Development of new pulse-sequence techniques, contrast mechanisms, and hardware for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in cancer
Shayan Moosa, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery
Neurosurgical oncology
Ifeyinwa Obiorah, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology
Lymphomas
Owen O’Connor, MD, PhD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Mechanism and clinical trials in T cell lymphomas
Gina Petroni, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy
Craig Portell, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials of combination immunotherapy and targeted therapy for hematologic malignancies
Richard Price, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Focused ultrasound and drug delivery
Benjamin Purow, MD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Neurology
Molecular basis of Notch signaling; potential therapeutic targets for malignant gliomas
Daniel Reed, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials in leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes
Matthew Reilley, MD
Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical trials in GI cancers
Kara Romano, MD
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Radiation oncology clinical trials
David Schiff, MD
Professor, Neurology
Clinical trials in brain tumors
Natasha Diba Sheybani, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Targeted drug and gene delivery, cancer immunotherapy, biomedical and molecular imaging, biomedical data sciences, precision medicine
Lale Kostakoglu Shields, MD, MPH
Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging
Imaging studies to track T cell homing after adoptive cell therapy and other immune therapies
Shayna Showalter, MD
Associate Professor, Surgery
Precision Breast – Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (PB-IORT) Clinical Trials
Jeffrey Siebers, PhD
Professor, Radiation Oncology
Clinical effects of delineation and geometric uncertainties in conformal radiation therapy
William Paul Skelton, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Clinical trials and research in genitourinary malignancies
Craig Slingluff, MD
Professor, Surgery
Cancer vaccines and combination immunotherapy for melanoma, with evaluation of the cellular immune response and the tumor microenvironment
Jie Sun, PhD
Professor, Infectious Diseases and International Health
Developing novel ideas and methods for the induction of strong respiratory antiviral and anti-tumor immunity, and to target host immune regulatory networks for the control of acute and/or chronic disease
Nathan Swami, PhD
Professor, Electrical and Chemical Engineering
Signal and image processing
Allan Tsung, MD
Professor, Surgery
Clinical and translational research of innate immunity in injury-induced inflammation and tumorigenesis of primary and metastatic liver cancer
Justin Taylor, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine
B-cell immunology, B-cell responses during Merkel cell carcinoma
Indumathy Varadarajan, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Bone marrow transplant and cellular immunotherapy
Arthi Venkat, MD
Assistant Professor, Opthalmology
Anti-neoplastic uveitis
Paul Viscuse, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical and translational research in prostate cancer
Krishni Wijesooriya, PhD
Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
Radiation therapy contribution to the generation of anti-tumor T cells and the negative effects of radiation therapy on circulating immune cells
Luke Wilkins, MD
Associate Professor, Radiology and Medical Imaging
Development of novel cancer therapeutics
Michael Williams, MD
Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Clinical and translational research of novel therapeutics and prognostic biomarkers in hematologic malignancies, with a focus in non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Russell Witt, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor, Surgery
Management of cutaneous malignancies and soft tissue sarcoma
Steven Zeichner, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Pathogenesis of infectious diseases and the development of new therapies and vaccines for infectious diseases and cancers
Hongji Zhang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Surgery
Tumor immune microenvironment, Kupffer cells, pre-operative exercise therapy, NASH-HCC
Roger Anderson, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Health services research and cancer health disparities in low-income and rural populations
Siddhartha Angadi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology
Mitigation strategies for chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity in patients
Laura Barnes, PhD
Associate Professor, Systems and Information
Health information technology, with a focus on creating new tools that aid in patient disease management and education, as well as healthcare delivery
Jeffrey Blume, PhD
Professor, Data Science
Cancer diagnosis and prediction research
Phil Chow, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences
Use of mobile health technology interventions to address health behaviors, mental distress, anxiety, and mood
Wendy Cohn, MEd, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Evaluation research, cancer risk assessment, control, and survivorship
Pamela DeGuzman, PhD, MBA, RN, CNL
Nurse Scientist, UVA Health
Nursing interventions to relieve cancer-related distress in rural survivors; implementation research
Tracy M. Downs, MD, FACS
Professor, Urologic Oncology
Health disparities in bladder and prostate cancer with a focus on intravesical therapy treatment
Katarine Egressy, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Lung cancer screening, cancer survivorship, healthcare delivery
Trevin Glasgow, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Lifestyle behaviors related to cancer risk; cancer beliefs; cancer prevention
Traci Hedrick, MD
Professor, Surgery
Improving clinical outcomes in the immediate postoperative period, surgical infections, prevention of surgical site infections and surgical education
Scott Hollenbeck, MD, FACS
Professor and Chair, Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery
Social aspects of obesity and cancer; disparities in breast reconstruction
Nao Hagiwara, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Racial cancer health and healthcare disparities; Provider implicit and explicit bias; patient-provider communication; discrimination as a chronic stressor
Xin Hu, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Health economics, health policy, health services research in cancer; population-based cancer outcomes research; organizational structures and cancer care delivery; Medicare payment policy
Christine Ibilibor, MD
Assistant Professor, Urology
Development of preoperative interventions in urologic oncology, particularly in populations prone to postoperative complications; Health disparities in prostate cancer clinical trial representation
Lee Johnson, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor, Nursing
Palliative and end-of-life care outcomes in individuals with advanced lung cancer; stigma associated with the diagnosis
Randy Jones, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor, Acute and Specialty Care
Health disparities and decision making in chronic illness and prostate cancer
Robert Klesges, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Health promotion, disease prevention, tobacco cessation, and substance use
Becca Krukowski, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Use of technology to increase access to evidence-based behavioral interventions for adults to reduce cancer risk with a focus on weight management, self-monitoring behaviors, health equity, and increasing access to rural communities
Tracey Krupski, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Urology
Development and deployment of tele-cystoscopy for bladder cancer surveillance in underserved areas
Virginia LeBaron, PhD, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP
Associate Professor, Nursing
Palliative care for advanced cancers, including reducing disparities in access to pain relief and support for oncology nurses
Li Li, MD, PhD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Family Medicine
Molecular and genetic epidemiology and disease prevention, integrating genome and behavior cancer etiology, particularly with colon cancer
Melissa Little, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Design, evaluation, and dissemination of health promotion and disease prevention programs, particularly in military populations
Jennifer Lobo, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Decision analysis, Markov decision processes, Markov models, Monte Carlo simulation models, discrete event simulation
Jessica Malpass, PhD, RN
Associate Professor, Acute and Specialty Care
Hematology-oncology and other life-limiting and life-threatening conditions for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult health
Emma Mitchell, PhD, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor, Family, Community and Mental Health Systems
Feasibility and acceptability of at-home, self-screening HPV tests as a route to increasing detection of cervical cancer in underserved, rural areas
Kathleen Porter, PhD
Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based programs and behavior change techniques in community settings
Kari Ring, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Hereditary cancer syndromes
Lee Ritterband, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences
Mobile and electronic health interventions to deliver treatments and assessments for behavioral health issues, including cancer and insomnia
Jie Shen, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Molecular cancer epidemiology, cancer racial disparities, cancer biomarkers
Kelly Shaffer, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences
Developing and disseminating accessible interventions to improve patient and caregiver mental and physical health and well-being
Timothy Showalter, MD
Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
Comparative effectiveness in cervical cancer; novel technology for brachytherapy, intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT); comparative effectiveness in cervical cancer
Gerald Talcott, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Development and delivery of interventions for the management of health risk behaviors, particularly tobacco use, in military populations
Marquita Taylor, PhD, MPH, MBA
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Cancer epidemiology, health equity and health justice, CBPR, digital health literacy and healthcare informatics, and the intersection of community-level health intervention and community engagement
Tania Thomas, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases and International Health
Access to anal cancer screening
Rupa Valdez, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Impact of environment, community, and information technology on patient experiences in underserved populations
Catherine Varney, DO
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
Obesity medicine and cancer risk research with a focus on weight management programs
Kara Wiseman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Leveraging technology to create scalable behavior change interventions for cancer prevention and control
Yaohua Yang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences
Use of microbiome and host multi-omics data to identify microbial features, genetic variants, genes, and molecular biomarkers, including DNA methylation marks, proteins, and metabolites, for risk and prognosis of cancers
Wen You, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Applied health economist with expertise in the areas of health economics, behavioral and information economics, treatment effect analysis, economic evaluation, and microeconometrics
Hong Zhu, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Comparative effectiveness research and observational studies using large healthcare databases, pragmatic clinical trials, analysis of complex survival data, cancer control, risk prediction, health outcomes research
Hua Zhao, PhD
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Cancer epidemiology; molecular epidemiology; health disparity
Jamie Zoellner, PhD, RD
Program Co-Lead
Professor, Public Health Sciences
Community-based participatory research in underserved areas on health literacy and lifestyle risk factors relevant to obesity and cancer