Director
Associate Director for Administration
Co-Deputy Directors
Associate Directors
Staff Leadership
Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor of Medicine, was appointed director of the UCCCC in April 2004. Dr. Le Beau is particularly well qualified to enhance translational and interdisciplinary research at the UCCCC, in view of her impressive record of converting fundamental laboratory findings into highly relevant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with hematological malignant diseases.
Dr. Le Beau received her PhD in pathology and genetics in 1981 at the University of Illinois. She subsequently obtained post-doctoral training at The University of Chicago under the mentorship of Janet D. Rowley, MD, DSc, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, and was appointed to the faculty in 1986, rising to tenured professor in 1997. In her capacity as director of the Cancer Cytogenetics Laboratory, Dr. Le Beau directs a cancer diagnostics laboratory, which performs cytogenetic analysis of leukemias, lymphomas, and solid tumors. She is board-certified in clinical cytogenetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics.
Dr. Le Beau has been a leader in identifying the recurring cytogenetic abnormalities in hematological malignant diseases, in defining the clinical, morphological, and cytogenetic subsets of leukemias and lymphomas, and in identifying the genetic pathways that lead to myeloid leukemias. Much of her work has focused on therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML), and she is the principal investigator of a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored Program Project (P01) grant examining the etiology of t-AML. Dr. Le Beau has a distinguished record of achievement in basic and translational research. Her entire career has focused on cancer research, and she has extensive experience in building interdisciplinary research programs, developing the careers of young scientists, and overseeing the administration of large peer-reviewed grants amongst other responsibilities.
In 2008, she received the American Cancer Society Distinguished Service Award, the society's top national honor for research achievements.
Associate Director for Administration
Marcy A. List, PhD, leads the UCCCC administrative unit. She has served in this capacity for a decade and brings extensive experience in cancer center administration and population research.
She joined UChicago faculty in 1992 as a research associate (then called associate professor) in the Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, where, for over a decade she was involved in cancer control research, specifically quality of life in head and neck cancer.
As associate director for administration, Dr. List has broad oversight for administrative and fiscal management of the UCCCC, including accounting and financial transactions, personnel, IT infrastructure to support clinical trials operations, pre- and post-awards for the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) and multiple interdepartmental grants, cancer center public relations and publications, and philanthropic activities. She is the scientific director for the Cancer Clinical Trials Office (CCTO) and oversees the Protocol Reviewing and Monitoring System (PRMS). In addition, she participates in strategic planning activities and implementation of plans for programmatic growth.
Marsha Rosner, PhD, is the Charles B. Huggins Professor and chair of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research. She is also co-deputy director of the UCCCC.
Dr. Rosner is an internationally recognized authority in the field of signal transduction and has had a longstanding interest in elucidating the mechanisms by which growth factors promote the growth, differentiation or death of cells.
Dr. Rosner is a member of the UCCCC Executive Committee and, as co-deputy director, assists and advises the director with strategic planning, general administration of the UCCCC, and implementation of specific programs. She also participates in the preparation of long-range planning as a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the Dean of the Biological Sciences Division, and maintains contact with members of the External and Internal Advisory Committees. As chair of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research, Dr. Rosner is involved in many of the recruiting efforts aimed at attracting leaders in different aspects of cancer research to UChicago.
Richard L. Schilsky, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine, is an international expert in gastrointestinal malignancies and cancer drug development.
Dr. Schilsky has held several local and national positions throughout his tenure at UChicago. He is currently co-deputy director for the UCCCC, co-leader of the Clinical Trials Cluster for the Institute for Translational Medicine, chair of the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors, and a member of the NCI Clinical and Translational Research Advisory Committee.
He is a former UCCCC director and associate dean for clinical research in the Biological Sciences Division. From 1995 to 2010, Dr. Schilsky chaired the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, an NCI-funded national cancer clinical trials network. During 2008-2009, he served as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and remains a member of the ASCO Cancer Foundation board of directors.
Dr. Schilsky specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. He works with cancer drug development programs to evaluate and develop novel agents for the treatment of digestive cancers, including colorectal and pancreatic cancers.
Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMedSc, professor of health studies, medicine, and human genetics, is the associate director for population research at the UCCCC and senior co-leader of Program 6: Cancer Prevention and Control.
He works closely with the director and the other program leaders in shaping and refining the population research programmatic goals and activities within the context of the overall cancer center mission. Specifically, Dr. Ahsan leads the faculty recruitment and pilot research programs for the population research division to augment the existing programmatic strengths and bridge both intra- and inter-programmatic interactions.
Dr. Ahsan also serves on the Cancer Advisory Committee of the UCCCC where he participates in broader strategic discussions with other senior leaders. His research focus is on the effects of environmental agents and their interplay with genetic and other host factors in the development of cancer and other disorders.
Dr. Ahsan has been conducting a series of large epidemiological and clinical studies in Bangladesh to examine the health effects of arsenic exposure and evaluating strategies for their prevention. He also led a number of studies in the U.S. examining the role of genetic susceptibility and its interactions with environmental factors in the development of breast and other cancers.
Ezra Cohen, MD, is an associate professor of medicine and UCCCC associate director for education.
As associate director for education, Dr. Cohen is expanding, integrating, and coordinating all cancer-related educational efforts across the UChicago campus. He is also working on a plan to expose more high school students to the fields of cancer research and cancer therapeutics.
Dr. Cohen’s expertise is in cancers of the head and neck, thyroid, and salivary glands. His research has focused on combining radiotherapy with novel agents and on discovering how cancers become resistant to existing treatments so that ways to overcome these mechanisms can be developed.
Geoffrey Greene, PhD, is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor, vice chair of The Ben May Department for Cancer Research, co-director of the Ludwig Center for Metastasis, and associate director for basic sciences at the UCCCC.
He is a member of the Cancer Advisory Committee and, as associate director for basic sciences, oversees the implementation, organization, and activities of the research programs and core facilities that support these programs. Dr. Greene assists and advises the UCCCC director on strategic and operational decisions and participates in philanthropic fundraising efforts, especially with the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation (UCCRF).
Dr. Greene is internationally recognized for his many contributions to the field of steroid hormone action and breast cancer. His contributions have improved not only our understanding of the nature and function of steroid receptors, but also their measurement and utility in cancer. In addition, his ongoing structural studies have helped define novel selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) that may be suitable for breast and uterine cancer prevention in women, as well as for use in promoting many of the desirable effects of estrogen, such as maintenance of bone density and cardiovascular function, while reducing undesirable side effects.
Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, vice chair for translational research for the Department of Medicine (DOM), is the associate director for translational sciences, responsible for overseeing and promoting translational research within the UCCCC and across all UChicago cancer programs.
As vice chair for translational research, Dr. Salgia helps recruit scientific and translational researchers, is responsible for promoting translational research across the DOM, and helps facilitate the development of new scientific programs.
His expertise is in the areas of thoracic oncology, translational research, and basic science research. His main research interest is in the development of novel, targeted therapeutics to enhance the quality of life and survival for cancer patients. Dr. Salgia and his lab have recently identified several novel receptor tyrosine kinases that are abnormal in lung cancer. He is an expert in signal transduction, as related to growth factor receptors and oncogenes/tumor suppressor genes, and is developing novel inhibitors based on these pathways. He is also an expert in tumor and body fluid biomarkers, and is applying this knowledge to develop new serum/tumor tissue tests for thoracic oncology.
Mark Ratain, MD, Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Personalized Therapeutics, is associate director for clinical sciences at the UCCCC and leader of the Pharmacology Core Facility.
Dr. Ratain is a member of the Cancer Advisory Committee and oversees the implementation, organization, and activities of the programs and core facilities that support clinical research. He advises the UCCCC director on strategic planning and operational and budgetary issues in the area of clinical research. Dr. Ratain also serves as chair of the Clinical Research Advisory Committee (CRAC), which meets quarterly to review operations and policy related to clinical research, including the CCTO and PRMS. In addition, Dr. Ratain established and chairs the UCCCC Marketing Advisory Committee.
Dr. Ratain's research interests are in the pharmacogenetics of anticancer agents and Phase I and Phase II drug studies. Pharmacogenetics is the study of how genetic variation among individuals contributes to differences in the way they respond to medicine. Dr. Ratain's research is focused on the metabolism of specific anticancer agents. He has demonstrated the critical importance of genetic variants in determining variability in the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of certain anticancer drugs. His research has become a model for understanding variability in response to newer targeted drugs.
Natalie Olinger Boden, MBA, is the director for communications and public relations. She joined the UCCCC in May 2010 after having served for 30 years as a news reporter in Chicago and as a marketing and communications professional with national and international for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
Boden is responsible for UCCCC print and electronic publications, marketing and promotional materials, social media, strategic communications, and networking with marketing and communications teams at UChicago, as well as cancer centers throughout the nation. She is a member of the NCI Public Affairs and Marketing Network (PAN).
Mary Ellen Connellan, MA, is the executive director for The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation (UCCRF). Connellan has more than 25 years experience in fundraising. She began her professional career in sales for a national telecommunication company. She also served for 16 years as a volunteer participating in all aspects of event-based fundraising. Since September 2000, she has overseen the numerous philanthropic activities of the UCCRF.
As the executive director, she works with individuals, foundations, corporations, and the boards of the foundation in their efforts to support basic and clinical research programs related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer at the UCCCC. Connellan is a member of the National Association of Cancer Center Development Officers (NACCDO) Network.
Rajan Gopalakrishnan, MS, is the director for informatics and information technology (IT) at the UCCCC. Rajan joined in May 2011 with 16 years experience in healthcare and public health IT consulting where he worked with several large regional hospital systems and state and public health organizations.
As Director for Informatics, Rajan is responsible for the design, maintenance, upkeep of all informatics and IT capabilities within the Cancer Center. In addition, Rajan participates in setting future strategy and the roadmap for cancer informatics functions that will provide cutting-edge support for UCCCC researchers and staff. Rajan is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and likes to pursue interesting developments in public health informatics within the cancer domain.
Christine Miller, MA, is the director for finance at the UCCCC. She is a seasoned healthcare administrator who has been associated with the Biological Sciences Division for over 10 years during which she held various roles including clinical section administrator, executive administrator, and consultant. Most recently, Christine worked for the Institute of Translational Medicine as a financial operations manager. Her experience includes clinical operations, financial management (pre- and post-award), human resources, and facilities management. Christine received her undergraduate degree from the College of St. Catherine in business administration with a concentration in Finance. She has attended The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration, Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy, and Chicago Management Institute Executive Program at the Booth School of Business.
Consuelo Skosey, RN, CCRP, is the director for clinical research operations and technical director for the UCCCC Cancer Clinical Trials Office (CCTO). She has 30 years of cancer clinical research experience beginning as a research nurse for the Lung Cancer Program at The University of Chicago in 1980. She was promoted to director of clinical oncology research data management in 1986 and was responsible for the administration, coordination, and organization of cancer trials in the Section of Hematology Oncology and its clinical network. After serving for 4 years at another institution, Skosey returned to UChicago in 2000 to establish and lead the Clinical Trials Office for the Biological Sciences Division. In 2005, she assumed her current position with the UCCCC.
Her professional activities include serving as member of The University of Chicago’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Clinical Trials Review Committee, as a scientific member of the Central Institutional Review Board—a pilot project of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—and as consultant to the Pentagon on the Department of Defense Breast Care Assessment Project-National. She has served as chair of the Oncology Nursing Committee, as vice chair of the Data Management Committee, and as a member of the Audit Committee for the Cancer and Leukemia Group-B (CALGB), a cooperative group funded by the NCI. She was the first nurse to author a scientific research protocol that was conducted nationally through the CALGB. Currently, she is a member of the Operational Efficiency Working Group for the NCI and is the IRB mentor for the University’s Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics.
Skosey has authored or coauthored a number of articles. She has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Biotherapeutics and Cancer and was an editor of the book, Outline of Oncology Therapeutic.
