Cancer Biology Training Program


	Simmons Cancer Center
	Mission, Vision, Leadership
	Simmons in the News
	Simmons Faculty Member Labs
	Faculty Positions Available
	Cancer Research Programs
		Scientific Research Programs
		Disease Oriented Teams
		Simmons Shared Resources
		Clinical Research Office
		Find a Clinical Trial (FaCT)
	Education and Training
		Fellowship Opportunities
	Cancer Center Members
		Grant and Funding Opportunities
	Simmons Contact Information
	Maps and Directions

	Internal Links:
	INTRAnet Web Site

Mission:

The Cancer Biology Training Track of the Genetics and Development Program provides multidisciplinary training for the student interested in pursuing a research career in any aspect of Cancer Biology, including mammalian biology, but also including the study of genes and processes in other eukaryotic organisms. The program provides doctoral students with the most up-to-date knowledge and research training in molecular and cellular aspects of Cancer Biology. The broad range of interests and expertise of faculty members in the Cancer Biology Training Program enables students to specifically concentrate in one of several areas of Cancer Biology, such as apoptosis, senescence, cancer genetics, cell cycle, chromosome damage/repair, drug resistance, metastatic progression, signal transduction, and tumor biology, among others.

The formal coursework for Ph.D. students provides them with several levels of education. Other courses are taken as necessary to provide sufficient background in the biological sciences to permit the development of 'breadth of knowledge' before specializing in a particular area of cancer research. Since cancer research as a discipline is unusually broad - encompassing a wide variety of approaches to the biology, biochemistry, and genetics of various diseases that make up cancer - the curriculum requirements are designed to be flexible and provide students with a maximal opportunity for specialization within this multidisciplinary field.

Requirements:
Courses:

All students within the Genetics and Development Program are required to take 9 units of classes by the end of their second year in the Division of Basic Science (DBS), which is their first year in the Program. This includes three requisite Cancer Biology Track courses (Cancer Biology I,II and III), as well as two additional courses from the requisite four courses offered by the Genetics and Development Program (each 1.5 units). These are: Genetics I, Genetics II, Gene Transcription, Topics in Developmental Biology. For current class descriptions of the Cancer Biology track courses please click here.

Works-in-Progress (WIPs)/ Journal Club (5097-01):

Works-in-Progress meets weekly except once a month when Cancer Center Grand Rounds is scheduled. Works-in-Progress is designed to provide a format in which students are encouraged to think critically about their own research and how it relates to a broader area of biology. Faculty within the track are strongly encouraged to attend. Journal Club is student run with the objective to familiarize students with the lecture subject of the upcoming visiting Cancer Center Grand Rounds outside speaker. All students within the Cancer Biology Training Track are expected to participate in a weekly WIPs/Journal Club, and will present their on-going research once a year. Students are required to attend WIPs, Journal Club, and Cancer Center Grand Rounds each year.

Qualifying Exam:

Students in the Cancer Biology Training Track will follow the same qualifying examination guidelines as the rest of the Genetics and Development Program students. Students are required to enroll in Cancer Biology III. Students submit their Qualifying Exam abstract on or around mid February of their second year. Oral defense of the proposal will be scheduled for that May. The Genetics and Development Student Handbook outlines the process, key milestones, and expected timeline.

Dissertation Committees:

The Cancer Biology Training Track follows the Genetics and Development process and time frame for the dissertation process. Complete information is available in the Genetics and Development Student Handbook.

Back to Top

Faculty:

Track Chair: Jerry Shay


John M. Abrams	-	Molecular genetics of cell death in cancer
James Amatruda	-	Defining novel cancer genes and understanding the developmental biology of tumors using the zebrafish system
Robert Bachoo	-	Neuro-Oncology
David Boothman	-	Low dose radiation and cancer
Rolf A. Brekken	-	Tumor-host interactions in pancreatic cancer
James Brugarolas	-	Mechanisms of tumor development; hypoxia signaling; molecularly targeted cancer therapies; research translation; tuberous sclerosis complex and mTOR pathways; renal cell carcinoma
Richard Bruick	-	Regulation of the mammalian hypoxic response pathway in cancer
Sandeep Burma	-	Recognition, signaling, and repair responses mounted by DNA-PK and ATM upon DNA damage inflicted by terrestrial radiation (X-rays and gamma rays) as well as by radiation in outer space (HZE particles)
Scott Cameron	-	lineages and programmed cell death
Diego Castrillon	-	PI3K / PTEN / AKT / FoxO pathways in cancer biology
David Chen	-	Radiation biology and DNA damage signaling
Melanie H. Cobb	-	Function and regulation of protein kinases in signal transduction pathways in breast cancer
David R. Corey	-	Cancer therapeutics: Engineering proteins and nucleic acids for novel function
Jef De Brabander	-	Synthesis of natural products and other molecular architectures and interrogation of their mode-of-action using molecular pharmacology and biochemistry for the development of novel cancer therapeutics
Errol C. Friedberg	-	Cellular responses to DNA damage in eukaryotic cells with emphasis on cancer-prone human hereditary diseases
Jinming Gao	-	Cancer nanomedicine; targeted drug/siRNA delivery; cancer molecular imaging
Harold R. (Skip) Garner, Jr.	-	Automation and instrumentation for genomics research; DNA sequence analysis; computational biology
Robert E. Hammer	-	Transforming growth factor beta signaling
Jer-Tsong (J.T.) Hsieh	-	Human cancer gene therapy; signaling defects in urogenital cancers
Lily Huang	-	Cytokine receptor; signal transduction; hematopoiesis; structure-function analysis of protein; cancer
Jin Jiang	-	Signal-transduction pathways in development and human disease; genetic control of organ growth and patterning; tumor suppressor genes
Beth Levine	-	Role of autophagy in tumor suppression
Qing Richard Lu	-	Differentiation mechanisms in the mammalian central nervous system: gliogenesis as a model
Lawrence Lum	-	How information from multiple signaling molecules, including Hh and Wg, integrate in developmental and cancer
Ralph Mason	-	Animal imaging in cancer
Steven McKnight	-	Molecular genetics and biochemical studies of mammalian gene regulation.
John Minna	-	Molecular genetics of human cancer; development of molecular assays for early detection, prediction of response to therapy, and new targeted therapies for human cancer; growth factors and signal transduction in human tumors
Jerry Y. Niederkorn	-	Immune surveillance of intraocular tumors; immune modulation of cancer metastases
Luis F. Parada	-	Mechanisms of neural development; trk receptors and neurotrophins; mouse models of neurological tumors
Alexander Pertsemlidis	-	microRNA regulation of cell proliferation, cell death and tumorigenesis
Matthew Porteus	-	Regulation of DNA double-stranded break repair; regulation of homologous recombination in cancer
Michael Roth	-	High throughput screening for novel cancer therapeutics. Recognition and sorting of cell-surface glycoproteins
Pier Paolo Scaglioni	-	Characterization of the function of the PML tumor suppressor, mechanisms of K-RAS induced tumorigenesis, role of oncogene induced replicative senescence in tumor suppression, mouse models of lung cancer
Richard H. Scheuermann	-	Regulation of immunoglobulin gene expression; regulation of lymphocyte growth, development and apoptosis; lymphocyte receptor signal transduction; technology development; novel approaches to cancer therapy
Roger A. Schultz	-	Human genome instability, including Bloom and Roberts syndromes, centromere structure and function, and molecular evolution chromosome structure
Jerry Shay	-	Molecular mechanisms of human cellular aging and immortalization; the role of telomeres and telomerase in cancer
Michael Story	-	Radiation biology of cancer, genomics
Philip Thorpe	-	Development of novel angiogenesis inhibitors and agents for inducing thrombosis of tumor blood vessels for cancer treatment
Jonathan Uhr	-	Improving cancer treatment through: diagnosis at an earlier stage; analysis of cancer dormancy at the cellular and molecular levels; and targeted killing of human cancer cells in SCID mice by treatment with cell reactive monoclonal antibodies
Ellen S. Vitetta	-	The targeting of cytotoxic reagents to lymphoid cancers
Xiaodong Wang	-	Biochemistry of mammalian apoptosis, chemical synthesis of inhibitors of apoptosis for cancer therapy
Michael White	-	Molecular mechanisms for control of cell growth and differentiation
Woodring E. Wright	-	The role of telomeres and telomerase in cellular senescence and cancer
Hongtao Yu	-	Study of cell division cycle
Yingming Zhao	-	Functional proteomics and mass spectrometry in cancer
Hui Zou	-	Misregulation of chromatid cohesion and separation in cancer

Back to Top		Contact the webmaster with questions or concerns.