Cancer Biology Faculty
Meet the faculty members of the Cancer Biology (CB) Major at Moffitt Cancer Center.
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Mark G. Alexandrow, PhD

The Alexandrow Lab studies the mechanisms involved in the assembly and activation of the replicative CMG helicase, how deregulation of this process promotes tumorigenesis, and how the CMG helicase offers innovative targeting for chemotherapeutic drug development.

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Antonio Amelio, PhD

We use an interdisciplinary approach that integrates a combination of bioinformatics, genetically engineered cell line and animal models, pharmacologic and molecular genetic analyses, and synthetic biology approaches to investigate tumor development and progression and identify therapeutic vulnerabilities.

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Jennifer Binning, PhD

The Binning lab uses biochemistry and structural biology to study how oncoviruses such as Human Papillomavirus (HPV) hijack host ubiquitin machinery to support viral replication and drive tumorigenesis. By exploring the link between human disease states and dysregulation of ubiquitin pathways, we aim to identify new pathogenic mechanisms that will guide the development of diagnostics and therapeutics.

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Andrew S. Brohl, MD

Dr. Brohl is a physician scientist with a research interest in rare cancer biology and treatment. I am a firm believer in pursuing research leads initially discovered in rare cancer as there is a long historical track record of rare disease research leading to important insights that are applicable more broadly. My educational and research background is largely in data science, particularly in the analysis and interpretation of "omics" data. I have led seminal genomics efforts in a number of rare cancers including Ewing sarcoma, MPNST, EWSR1-PATZ1 fusion sarcoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, and undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver (UESL).

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Jiandong Chen, PhD

The Chen Lab investigates the function, regulation, and therapeutic targeting of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway.

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John L. Cleveland, PhD

Major research interest in the molecular pathogenesis of cancer, interrogating the regulation and role of oncogenes and tumor suppressors in controlling cancer cell growth and survival, and in defining new targets that play essential roles in the development and maintenance of cancer.

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W. Douglas Cress, PhD

The Cress Lab is interested in the molecular biology of lung adenocarcinoma.

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Gina M. DeNicola, PhD

Dr. DeNicola's research is focused on understanding how cells meet energetic and anabolic needs for growth and proliferation, and the mechanisms governing the regulation of tumor metabolism in vivo. The DeNicola laboratory investigates the influence of both genomic alterations and the microenvironment on cellular metabolism in vivo.

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Derek Duckett, PhD

Research in the Duckett lab is focused on identifying novel anti-cancer targets, developing small molecule probes against these targets and interrogating how their altered signaling drives tumor progression, metastasis and therapy resistance.

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Steven Eschrich, PhD

The Eschrich Lab uses Bioinformatics and Machine Learning methods to answer translational research questions within cancer research, with a focus on Lung Cancer and Radiation Oncology. Methodological work includes reproducible research pipelines, normalization techniques and machine learning models from molecular data.

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Elsa R. Flores, PhD

The Flores Lab utilizes mouse models to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities of the p53 pathway in cancer.

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Robert Gatenby, MD

The Gatenby lab studies theoretical and experimental models of evolutionary dynamics in cancer and cancer drug resistance and how tumor populations interact with the local environment.

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Anna R. Giuliano, PhD

Her work focuses on the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer in women, which has evolved over the past several decades to encompass HPV and penile, anal, and oral cancers in men. Research includes the rate at which HPV infections are acquired and cleared, the proportion that progress to disease, and also to HPV vaccine protection against multiple diseases in women and men.

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Ana Gomes, PhD

The Gomes Laboratory studies how age-driven metabolic and epigenetic changes drive tumor progression and metastasis formation. Active areas of research currently include defining the mechanisms by which aging (1) promotes aggressive properties of cancer cells and reprograms the cellular components of the tumor microenvironment, (2) promotes resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and targeted therapies, and (3) deregulates the immune system to promote immune evasion and resistance to immunotherapies. Ultimately the goal of the Gomes Lab is the discovery of novel and physiologically relevant pathways that can be leveraged for the development of more efficacious therapeutic strategies for aggressive cancers.

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Eric B. Haura, MD

Our lab uses proteomic tools to characterize kinase pathways and networks in cancer cells to discover novel therapeutic strategies using kinase inhibitors.

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Alex M. Jaeger, PhD

The Jaeger Laboratory investigates mechanisms that regulate tumor antigen presentation. Major research interests include: (1) identification of cancer-specific peptides presented by MHC-I and MHC-II, (2) characterization of cellular pathways that influence antigen presentation, and (3) development of high throughput screening tools to evaluate peptide immunogenicity. Using both biochemical techniques and sophisticated mouse models, our group aims to uncover the full spectrum of antigens that can be used to design and develop novel immunotherapies for cancer.

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Chang Jiang, PhD

Research in in the Jiang lab sits at the interface of redox biology, metabolism and signaling, and focuses on understanding the role of antioxidant systems in oxidative stress response and cancer therapy resistance. We combine frontier molecular, genomic, metabolomic, and proteomic approaches to address these questions.

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Aleksandra Karolak, PhD - Assistant Member, Machine Learning

We use various computational approaches led by machine learning to enhance our understanding of cancer development, phenotypic progression, and variability in the response to treatment. Particularly, we are interested in how epigenetics, DNA structure, mutagenesis, protein modifications and interactomes can inform and support diagnosis, clinical decisions, as well as drug discovery and treatment optimization.

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Florian A. Karreth, PhD

The Karreth Lab creates mouse models to elucidate the functions of cancer-associated proteins and non-coding RNAs in melanoma and ovarian cancer.

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John M. Koomen, PhD

The Koomen Lab uses mass spectrometry-based techniques to better understand cancer biology, evaluate hypotheses derived from basic science experiments in human tumors, and contribute to the development of novel strategies for patient assessment and treatment.

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Eric K. Lau, PhD

The Lau laboratory studies how the modification of cellular proteins by the dietary sugar L-fucose (a.k.a., fucosylation) regulates signaling and cell:cell interactions. Active investigations currently include how specific fucosylated proteins regulate (i) RNA biology and (ii) tumor:immune cell interactions and efficacy of immunotherapies in melanoma, and (iii) integrin signaling in breast cancer. Ultimately, our goal is to use our newfound knowledge to improve patient stratification and efficacy of therapeutic modalities.

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Conor Lynch, PhD - Major Director

The goal of our laboratory is to understand how metastatic prostate cancer cells interact with the bone microenvironment to establish and grow as secondary cancers using in vivo and in vitro techniques. The lab has made major inroads into defining how matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute the prostate cancer progression in bone.

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Karen M. Mann, PhD

The Karen Mann Lab aims to define and characterize cooperating molecular events driving cancer progression, metastasis and drug resistance, with a focus on pancreatic cancer and myeloid leukemia.

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Andriy Marusyk, PhD

Our mission is to understand the development of therapy resistance from eco-evolutionary angle, considering both changes occurring in tumor cells, as well as influences of tumor microenvironment. Then, we aim use this knowledge to design new therapeutic approaches, aimed at forestalling the ability of tumors to evolve resistance.

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Stuart Maudsley, PhD

The Maudsley Lab focuses on the investigation of how receptor systems, including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and other receptor systems, can be therapeutically manipulated to regulate cell pathophysiology. We deploy high-dimensionality analysis (including AI/Deep Learning/Natural Language Processing) of mass data (proteomics, RNA-Seq) coupled to molecular biological research to define the most important and tractable aspects of cell pathology that underpin oncogenesis and further tumor development.

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Alvaro Monteiro, PhD

The main theme of the Monteiro lab is the integration of epidemiological, genomic, and proteomics datasets to explore the role of genetic variation on cancer predisposition, development, and treatment.

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David Morse, PhD

Our research projects are focused on the identification and validation of cell-surface markers for cancer, discovery of ligands or antibodies specific for binding validated markers, and the development of cancer targeted conjugates for imaging and therapy. Recent work has focused on the development of fluorescence molecular imaging agents for intraoperative guidance during fluorescence-guided surgery and the development of targeted alpha-particle emitting radiopharmaceuticals for therapy. The ultimate goal is to translate novel cancer-targeted conjugates into the clinic for use in cancer diagnosis and staging, intraoperative margin detection and the targeted delivery of therapy.

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Thordur Oskarsson, PhD

Research in the Oskarsson lab is focused on cancer metastasis. Particularly, we study the molecular crosstalk between metastatic cancer cells and the microenvironment in secondary organs. Our aim is to determine how these interactions promote progression of metastasis and resistance to therapy.

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Eric Padron, MD

Our research interests focus on understanding the molecular and genetic pathway of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia to better design targeted agents for study in the clinic.

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Jong Park, PhD

Dr. Park and his laboratory team are interested in genetic and epigenetic variations associated with prostate cancer recurrence. In addition, Dr. Park is also interested in health disparity on risk for prostate cancer, among African American men.

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Sanjay Premi, PhD

Dr. Premi's team explores the pathophysiology of melanin-chemiexcitation pathway in skin cancer development, progression, and drug-resistance. One of their immediate goals is to characterize stress mediated, non-classical regulation of gene expression, protein modifications, and resistance against targeted therapy in melanoma.

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Gary W. Reuther, PhD

The Reuther Lab utilizes molecular, cellular, and genetic approaches to identify novel therapies that could improve the lives of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

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W. Gregory Sawyer, PhD

Dr. Sawyer’s research is focused on Cancer Engineering, which is following a transdisciplinary approach that links the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics and simulation, with pharmacology, oncology, gene therapy and biomedicine all with a focus on cancer. Just as the treatment of cancer in the hospital setting involves a multidisciplinary team of oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, and surgeons, the research of cancer in the laboratory setting must adopt a modern convergent approach. The Cancer Engineering Laboratory designs and builds 3D printers to fabricate microtissues, instruments for in situ studies immuno-oncology, devices for high-throughput drug screening, and infrastructure for in vitro culture, maturation, and drug studies with patient-derived microtumors.

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Kenneth H. Shain, MD, PhD

Dr. Shain’s translational research has focused on the mechanisms by which components of the bone marrow microenvironment influence myeloma biology, survival, and drug response.

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Ariosto S. Silva, PhD

During my research career, I have focused on how to improve the survival of cancer patients through optimization of therapy. Through a long-term collaboration with the Moffitt Myeloma Working Group (MMWG), I have developed a combination of ex vivo chemosensitivity assay and computational model of therapy response, capable of extrapolating six days of experimental data into months of clinical response using fresh bone marrow samples from standard-of-care biopsies. As such, we have created patient/drug-specific mathematical models that, when parameterized by drug-specific pharmacokinetics and dosing schedule, yield predictions of clinical response. In addition, we have developed a systems biology pipeline to integrate these findings with multi-omics molecular data to infer mechanisms driving disease progression and the emergence of drug resistance.

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Inna Smalley, PhD

Our lab studies the roles of tumor heterogeneity and the microenvironment in metastasis and drug resistance. We have a big interest in melanoma biology and central nervous system metastases from melanoma, lymphoma, and breast cancer.

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Keiran S. Smalley, PhD

The focus of the Smalley lab is upon melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. We use advanced proteomics, single cell RNA-seq and mouse models to develop novel melanoma therapies which we then translate into the clinic. Current projects in the lab are focused upon immunotherapy/targeted therapy sequencing, melanoma brain metastases, acral melanoma and uveal melanoma.

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Jamie Teer, PhD

Dr. Teer's research interests are focused on developing methods to analyze, interpret and visualize massively-parallel sequencing information in cancer genetics. This includes developing and applying computational methods and graphical tools to better detect genetic variations from sequencing data, understand the functional context of sequence changes, and visualize the results of large-scale genomics studies.

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Kenneth Y. Tsai, MD, PhD

The Tsai Lab has the collective goals of identifying, testing, and validating novel targets for the targeted chemoprevention and treatment of skin cancer.

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Lixin Wan, PhD

The Wan Lab is dedicated to understanding how cancer cells hijack protein post-translational modification machinery to rewire the central signaling pathways for proliferation advantage and drug resistance.

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Liang Wang, PhD

My personal interest has been to apply genetics and genomics approach to identifying new biomarkers that may serve as novel diagnostic or prognostic tools of cancer status, that may be used as disease surrogates to track the efficacy of novel treatment strategies or that may provide new targets for the treatment of human cancers. Specifically, my laboratory is focusing on two major projects: Blood-based Genomic Biomarkers for Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis (Liquid Biopsy) and Germline Genetic Variants Responsible for Aggressive Prostate Cancer.