What happened to summer?!

At least, that is what I thought after purchasing school supplies and sending my kids to school this month. Many of you recently returned from dropping your adult children off at college. Some of you are starting classes either as an instructor or student. Whatever your “back to school” situation, good luck achieving your goals in the months ahead!

Kim Dahlman

Please welcome our new graduate students to the program!

• Samantha Beik– MSTP   (Vito Quaranta/Carlos Lopez Lab)
• Courtney Edwards-MSTP  (Rachelle Johnson Lab)
• Paula Smith, MD   (Dan Beauchamp Lab)
• Jess Roetman  (Mary Philip Lab)
• David Taylor  (Young Kim Lab)

The Cancer Biology Program is hosting a Town Hall Meeting for faculty on Wednesday (8/22) at 4 pm in PRB 898J. Please make every effort to attend.

 Getting to know you…

Faculty Spotlight

Carlos F. Lopez, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology, and Biomedical Informatics

Dr. Lopez’s work employs novel computational modeling tools in combination with experimental data to explain and predict how intracellular molecular interactions give rise to cell-decision processes and cell-community behaviors. The overall goal of his work is to attain a mechanistic and predictive understanding of dynamic cellular systems, how they are regulated in healthy cells, dysregulated in diseases such as cancer, and leverage this knowledge to guide experiments toward novel therapies. To this end he develops novel theories and numerical methods to explain how systems-level biochemical interaction networks process biochemical signals and lead to a phenotypic outcome. Dr. Lopez is a member of the VICC, Center for Quantitative Sciences, Center for Structural Biology, Institute for Chemical Biology, and Quantitative Systems Biology Center. In 2017, he was appointed as the VU Liaison to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he sits in the ORNL steering committee to guide the interactions between the national lab and VU. Recently, he became a member of the Cancer Systems Biology Consortium as part of his research activities with NIH/NCI.

Graduate Student Spotlight

Merrida Childress, PhD
Graduate Student (Lovly Lab)-newly minted PhD!

After her first IGP year Merrida was selected for placement in the Micro-environment Cancer Training Program (MICTP). At the end of her appointment in the MICTP, she was awarded a Ruth Kirschstein NRSA pre-doctoral fellowship. Merrida has a great passion for pediatric cancer research. Her current work focuses on determining the biological implications of different  ALK  rearrangements involved in many cancers including Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor, a rare pediatric malignancy. These rearrangements result in oncogenic fusion proteins. In her most recent publication, she was able to show that the protein fused to the kinase domain of ALK plays an important biological role that affects sensitivity to ALK inhibitors currently used in the clinic.

Staff Spotlight

Jamye O’Neal, BS, MLI
Laboratory Manager, Innovative Translational Research Shared Resource (ITR)

Prior to joining the ITR in 2011, Jamye managed the TherapeUTex preclinical core in the Drug Dynamics Institute at the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Pharmacy from 2009-2011. She was also a research assistant in the Allergy, Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine division at VUMC in 2000, before moving to the University of Texas at Austin to work as a research scientist in 2006. Jamye received her B.S. Biology degree from Lipscomb University and graduated this past May with a Masters of Laboratory Investigation (MLI) degree from Vanderbilt. In addition to translational cancer research, she is very much interested in operational process improvements and best practices to improve clinical trial outcomes. She received a VUMC Credo Award in February 2017.

2018-2019 Cancer Biology Student Association,
Newly Elected Board Members:

Executive Chair- David Elion
Executive Co-Chair- Zach Sandusky
Financial Chair- Tolu Omokehinde
Academic Co-Chair- Courtney Edwards
Academic Co-Chair- Jennifer Pilat
Philanthropy Chair- Rachel Brown
Communication Chair- Vera Mayhew
Social Chair- Ariana von Lersner
Graduate Student Representative- Verra Ngwa

The Cancer Biology Student Association (CBSA) is a service organization designed to aid students in the Department of Cancer Biology by fostering scientific interactions and enhancing career development. We strive to provide a network that allows graduate students to voice their opinions,while enjoying the company of peers.

Welcome!

Michelle Martin-Pozo, PhD
Has been named Director of Research and Education Administration for VICC. In the newly created VICC post, she will oversee and manage research and education administration priorities and operations, and deploy new strategic directions.

Vivian Weiss MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr Weiss was just approved by the committee to join the Program in Cancer Biology.

Send Us Your News

Have a suggestion for a Cancer Biology newsletter item? Do you have an announcement or an upcoming event you want to share with the Cancer Biology community?
E-mail:  kerry.w.vazquez@vanderbilt.edu

Newsletter header photo credit to Dr. Anna Vilgelm, “DNA Comets”.
“Back to School” image from ABC News 4, Charleston, SC
“Town Hall” image from Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
Staff and student photo credit to Vanderbilt University