People

Katherine Aird, PhD

The Aird Lab studies the bidirectional interplay between cellular metabolism and the cell cycle in cancer. Learn more about the Aird Lab.

Chris Bakkenist, PhD

The Bakkenist Lab studies DNA damage signaling and DNA replication in cancer and immune cells. Learn more about the Bakkenist Lab.

Timothy Burns, MD, PhD

Dr. Burns’ research and clinical interests revolve around the development of targeted therapies for oncogene driven NSCLC as well as novel strategies to overcome resistance to targeted therapies in NSCLC. Learn more about Dr. Burns’ work in the Department of Medicine and at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

Yuan Chang, MD

Our work (a joint laboratory between Patrick Moore and Yuan Chang) is focused on discovering new human cancer viruses and examining viral genes to learn how they contribute to the molecular pathology of cancer. Learn more about the Chang Moore Lab.

Lan Coffman, MD, PhD

Dr. Coffman’s research focuses on understanding how the stromal microenvironment impacts ovarian cancer initiation, growth and spread and to develop new therapies to target the stromal support of ovarian cancer to improve the lives of women at risk for and living with this deadly disease. Learn more about Dr. Coffman’s work.

Greg Delgoffe, PhD

The Delgoffe Lab studies how metabolites shape the function of immune cells, with a focus on immune activity within the tumor microenvironment. Learn more about the Delgoffe Lab.

Elise Fouquerel, PhD

The Fouquerel Laboratory is interested in deciphering the roles of DNA-dependent ADP Ribose Transferase enzymes PARPs in the repair of oxidative DNA damage and resolution of secondary DNA structures at telomeres and centromeres. Learn more about the Fouquerel Lab.

Shou-Jiang Gao, PhD

The Gao Lab researches viral oncogenesis with focus on Kaposi’s sarcoma-associate herpesvirus (KSHV) and AIDS-related malignancies. Learn more about the Gao Lab.

Yi-Nan Gong, PhD

The Gong Lab studies the plasma membrane dynamics during cell death and its immune consequences in cancer. Learn more about the Gong Lab.

Haitao Guo, PhD

Dr. Guo’s research is focused on hepatitis B virus (HBV) molecular biology, pathogenesis, antiviral development, and oncogenesis of HBV-related liver cancer. Learn more about Dr. Guo’s work.

Larry Kane, PhD

Dr. Kane’s research focuses on mechanisms that regulate T cell activation and exhaustion, including within the tumor microenvironment. Current projects are investigating the function of two proteins – Tim-3 and Pik3ip1. Learn more about Dr. Kane’s work.

Adrian Lee, PhD

Dr. Lee’s research focuses on systems biology translational research into breast cancer using genomics approaches. Learn more about Dr. Lee’s work.

Renfeng Li, PhD

The Li Lab is focusing on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which viral and host factors control the transition of EBV from latency to reactivation with a goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies to eradicate EBV-associated cancer. Learn more about the Li Lab.

Patrick Moore, MD, MPH

Dr. Moore’s research — a joint laboratory between Patrick Moore and Yuan Chang — is focused on discovering new human cancer viruses and examining viral genes to learn how they contribute to the molecular pathology of cancer. Learn more about Dr. Moore’s work.

Patricia Opresko, PhD

The Opresko Lab studies how genetic and environmental factors, including oxidative stress, cause telomere instability, and roles for telomere maintenance in genome preservation, cancer and aging. Learn more about the Opresko Lab.

Hatice Osmanbeyoglu, PhD

Our group’s primary focus is on developing integrative machine learning approaches for extracting therapeutic and biological insights from highly heterogeneous omic datasets, clinical and drug response data, with the purpose of advancing precision medicine. Learn more about the Osmanbeyoglu Lab.

Abigail Overacre, PhD

The Overacre Lab seeks to understand the complex relationship between the immune system and the microbiome to determine how this relationship shapes response to cancer immunotherapy in both mouse models and patient samples. Learn more about the Overacre Lab.

Jeremy Rich, MD, MHS, MBA

The goals of the Rich Lab are to identify novel therapeutic paradigms in the treatment of advanced cancers, primarily malignant brain tumors, through the prism of stem cell biology to identify core regulatory pathways amenable to pharmacologic targeting. Learn more about the Rich Lab.

Saumendra Sarkar, PhD

The focus of Dr. Sarkar’s research is innate immunity, particularly in the interferon response during virus infection and cancer. Learn more about Dr. Sarkar’s work.

Nicole Scheff, PhD

The Scheff Lab studies interactions between the peripheral nervous system, cancer cells, and immune cells that can modulate anti-cancer immunity and cancer progression. Learn more about the Scheff Lab.

Wayne Stallaert, PhD

We use quantitative imaging approaches to study the mechanisms of tumor proliferation and dormancy. Learn more about Dr. Stallaert’s work.

Shikhar Uttam, PhD

Our lab uses multi-scale spatial systems biology approaches to study the heterocellular complexity of tumor microenvironments. Learn more about the Uttam Lab.

Dario Vignali, PhD

Our research focuses on gaining a better understanding of the inhibitory mechanisms, including inhibitory receptors and regulatory T cells, that limit anti-tumor immunity by using a combination of systems immunology approaches, sophisticated mouse models and samples from cancer patients. Learn more about the Vignali Lab.

Sophia Cosentino Pezzuti

Program Coordinator
oncologygradprogram@pitt.edu