At UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, we are honored to continue our collaboration with the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to decrease the cancer burden throughout western Pennsylvania and beyond. To accomplish this task, we invested the generous gift bestowed by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to support innovative research and education through faculty recruitment and retention, pilot projects, and trainee programs.
2024-2025 Hillman Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research Program
The Hillman Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research for the award period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 are as follows:
Hillman Senior Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research
Marija Balic, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology and the new Co-Director of the Women’s Cancer Research Center, Director of the Breast Center, and Director of the NSABP Foundation Translational Research Program. Using her expertise in breast clinical science and care, she will provide overall direction for the breast cancer program. She will also develop an active research program focusing on clinical and translational research in breast cancers.
Radhakrishnan Ramchandren, MD is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology as well as Section Chief and Clinical Co-Leader of Malignant Hematology. As a Clinical Co-Leader, he will work closely with his clinical colleagues to provide a high level of care. Dr. Ramchandren’s research interests include novel therapeutics for the treatment of lymphoma, and as such he has been involved in the clinical development of a number of agents for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.
Orlando Scharer, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. His research focuses on the mechanisms of DNA repair and the relationship of these processes to carcinogenesis and anti-tumor therapy. In particular, he is interested in the molecular mechanisms by which DNA repair pathways prevent carcinogenesis and how to selectively inhibit DNA repair pathways in tumor cells to counteract resistance to treatment with agents such as cisplatin or nitrogen mustards.
Devanjan Sikder, DVM, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology, Director of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Lab, and Director of the Immune Monitoring and Cellular Products Laboratory. His main areas of interest are cell and gene therapy clinical development, immune monitoring, and hematopoietic stem cells.
Hillman Early-Career Fellows for Innovative Cancer Research
Anthony (Tony) Cillo, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and member of the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program. He received his postdoctoral training at HCC in the laboratory of Dr. Dario Vignali, during which time he was awarded a Hillman Postdoctoral Fellowship for Innovative Cancer Research. Dr. Cillo is developing an active research program focusing on cancer immunology, immunotherapy, and systems immunology. He is particularily interested in unraveling the complex interplay of various components of the immune system within the tumor microenvironment, and recently recieved a team science grant from the Department of Defense to evaluate immune cell interactions in melanoma progression and immune checkpoint blockade.
Tatiana Moiseeva, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, is a member of the Genome Stability Program. Dr. Moiseeva is primarily interested deciphering the mechanisms of the initiation of DNA replication in human cells and how these change in cancer using cell biology approaches and inhibitors.
Adam Mueller, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology. A physician scientist, Dr. Mueller’s research is focused on the pancreatic cancer tumor microenvironment and how stromal interactions can alter resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. His clinical focus is on treatment of genitourinary and gastrointestinal/abdominal malignancies with radiation therapy.
Logan Myler, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. He was the recipient of the prestigious F99/K00 Fellowship that supports the transition from graduate to postdoctoral studies. Dr. Myler studies the mechanisms of DNA double-strand break repair and telomere maintenance using a combination of biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology.
Melanie Potiaumpai, PhD, MPH, an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology and member of Biobehavioral Cancer Control Program, focuses on using exercise in cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. Dr. Potiaumpai is currently concentrating on developing pre-surgical exercise interventions, or “prehab”, that integrate into the clinical workflow to help ensure patient adherence and healthcare provider support.
Saad Sheikh, MD is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and member of the Genome Stability Program. His clinical interests center on treating pediatric and central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. His research seeks to understand how oncogenes and alterations in the metabolome of pediatric CNS malignancies impact the response to DNA damage agents with the ultimate goal of identifying novel therapies.
Michelle Williams, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. Her research seeks to better understand the impact of tumor cell heme metabolism on immune suppression in breast cancer liver metastasis.
Hillman Fellows for Innovative Developmental Cancer Research
Kalil Abdullah, MD: Defining Circulating Metabolic Biomarkers for Glioma
Glioblastoma is malignant brain tumor with a poor prognosis. After treatment with surgery and chemotherapy, tumors recur at an average of 9 months. Dr. Abdullah and his team have identified a metabolite that is present in the blood of patients with glioblastoma that may help us diagnosis or monitor glioblastoma by using a blood sample. This liquid biopsy would allow diagnosis and treatment without the need for an invasive surgery.
Aditi Gurkar, PhD: Role of SERCA1 in Cancer Therapy-Induced Skeletal Muscle Aging and Frailty
Cancer detection and treatment tools have significantly increased the survival of patients. Unfortunately, these treatments come with major side-effects, driving accelerated frailty and aging in survivors. Frailty and loss of muscle mass are prognostic, not only for rapid functional decline, but also associated with a higher risk of comorbidities including diabetes, falls, cognitive decline, and disability. Deeper analysis of the underlying etiology of cancer therapy-induced frailty is critical given the socioeconomic burden this challenge posits. Dr. Gurkar’s project is guided by cross-disciplinary collaboration to test muscle activation by electric stimulation and underlying biology in maintaining muscle health in cancer survivors.
Jing Li, PhD: Targeting Regulatory CD8+ T Cells for Immunotherapy-Resistant Lung Cancers
Lung cancer is one of the most common and deadly cancers. While a new treatment targeting PD-1/PD-L1 has been a major advance, its efficacy remains inconsistent across lung cancer patients. We hypothesize that resistance to this therapy might stem from regulatory CD8+ T cells within the immune system. Dr. Li and colleagues will use novel mouse lung cancer models to study whether eliminating these regulatory CD8+ T cells, coupled with PD-1 blockade, could offer better anti-cancer effects. The goal of this project is to glean insights into potential development of therapies targeting these specific immune cells, with the overarching goal of enhancing lung cancer treatment outcomes.
Steffi Oesterreich, PhD & Adrian Lee, PhD: Understanding Acquired Aromatase Inhibitor Resistance in Older Patients Who Omit Surgery: A Translational Ancillary Analysis of HCC 22-088
Estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer is the most common type of breast cancer, and the majority of patients are diagnosed above the age of 65. Older patients who are diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer may opt to forego upfront surgery in favor of primary endocrine therapy with an aromatase inhibitor (AI), which often controls the tumor for the duration of the patient’s life. However, in some cases, tumors may develop acquired resistance to the AI, prompting additional therapies to control the tumor, which may decrease the patient’s quality of life. In this proposal, Drs. Oesterreich and Lee aim to better understand AI-resistant tumors with access to a unique cohort of patient specimens from an ongoing community-focused, prospective, clinical trial. With better understanding of AI-resistant disease, they hope to optimize management of older patients with ER+ breast cancer, especially those that opt to not undergo surgery.
Lindsay Sabik, PhD: Policy- and System-Level Factors Impacting Hospice Use and End-of-life Care for Patients with Cancer in Pennsylvania
Hospice is intended to support patients near the end of life but the current structure of hospice care often does not meet the needs of patients with cancer near the end of life. This study will examine the availability, quality, and characteristics of hospice services for patients with cancer in the HCC catchment area and to examine whether for-profit hospice is associated with barriers to hospice use. Findings will inform policies to improve availability of high-quality hospice and efforts to help patients and clinicians navigate the complexity of hospice options.
Teresa Hagan Thomas, PhD: Addressing the Needs of Underserved Patients with Cancer: A Self-Advocacy Lay Navigation Intervention Across the Hillman Catchment Area
Patient self-advocacy interventions focus on giving participants skills to overcome challenges in their care and ensure their needs and priorities are met. Two impediments to patient self-advocacy interventions are their (1) lack of focus on addressing cancer disparities related to patients’ rurality and socioeconomic status and (2) reliance on technology-based delivery mode without personalization from a trained support person. This project aims to address these gaps by using in-depth qualitative interviews to adapt our team’s self-advocacy framework to focus on underserved patient populations (rural and/or low socioeconomic status) and integrate these findings to train lay navigators to deliver self-advocacy training.
Jian-Min Yuan, MD, PhD: Impact of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists on Cancer Disparity and Risk
Obesity is a major contributor to many types of cancer. Weight reduction by recently FDA approved anti-obesity drugs may reduce cancer occurrence in people with obesity. Due to the limitation of supply and high cost, however, these drugs may disproportionally be less likely to reach blacks and people living in poorer neighborhoods, who, in turn, may derive less health benefits from these new drugs. The proposed pilot study will measure if black obese patients receive disproportionally lower amounts and frequencies of anti-obesity drugs, and if the use of the anti-obesity drugs is associated with cancer risk.
