Program 1: Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer
Suzanne D. Conzen, MD, is a professor of medicine with a secondary appointment in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research. Dr. Conzen directs a multidisciplinary laboratory incorporating genomics, bioinformatics, traditional molecular biology, and animal models of breast cancer with the goal of identifying novel cell survival signaling pathways as therapeutic targets for treating breast and ovarian cancer. For example, Dr. Conzen's laboratory has shown that activation of the glucocorticoid receptor in breast and ovarian tumor cells inhibits chemotherapy-induced cell death. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Conzen's work is focused on clinically testing novel approaches for treating estrogen-independent breast cancer. She is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a member of the Breast Committee of CALGB and is the immediate past chair of the Cancer Etiology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.
Kay F. Macleod, PhD, is a tenured associate professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research with an established record of excellence in basic research into the function of the RB tumor suppressor, including its role in regulating cell death in response to genotoxic agents and oxidative stress. Through the use of genetically engineered mouse models, Dr. Macleod's research has shown that cell death linked to loss of pRB can occur by both p53-dependent and independent mechanisms, such as elevated activity of PARP-1. More recently, Dr. Macleod's research has focused on the role of autophagy induced by hypoxia and other stresses contribute to tumor progression and metastasis in both pre-clinical mouse models and in primary human breast cancer. She is a member of the following UChicago committees: Cancer Biology, Developmental Biology, Immunology, and Molecular Metabolism & Nutrition. Dr. Macleod is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, British Association for Cancer Research, and American Society for Hematology.
As program leaders, both Drs. Conzen and Macleod are mutually committed to fostering Program 1 members' groundbreaking basic and translational research, which is expected to further strengthen the interdisciplinary interactions and cancer relevancy of the program.
Program 2: Hematopoiesis and Hematological Malignances
Wendy Stock, MD, is a professor of medicine. She directs the Leukemia Program at UChicago and is a core member of the Leukemia Treatment and Correlative Sciences Committees in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB). She is currently the principal investigator of a CALGB study for treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and her laboratory serves as the national CALGB reference laboratory for correlative studies of molecular genetic prognostic factors and minimal residual disease studies in leukemia. Dr. Stock has been involved in the expansion of the experimental therapeutics efforts in Program 2, focusing on development of novel Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for hematologic (blood) malignancies along with other members of the Program 2 team.
Michael Thirman, MD, is an associate professor of medicine and renowned clinician scientist whose work focuses on transcriptional regulation in human leukemias. Dr. Thirman collaborates with several Program 2 members focused on mouse models and pathogenesis of leukemia and lymphoma. He also is the principal investigator of the recent award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society designating the UCCCC as a Specialized Center of Research (SCOR). In this SCOR grant, Dr. Thirman has brought together many of the other members in Program 2, as well as other investigators in the UCCCC and investigators from two other NCI-designated Cancer Centers. Dr. Thirman is the chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Leukemia Research Foundation, and directs their grant review program.
Program 3: Immunology and Cancer
Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD, is a professor of pathology and medicine. He has research interests in T-cell regulation and anti-tumor immunity. As a board certified medical oncologist, he also actively carries out clinical trials in melanoma and cancer immunotherapy and, therefore, works directly at the interface between immunology and cancer biology. He has made significant contributions in the areas of T-cell differentiation and negative regulation, understanding the molecular and cellular components of antitumor immunology, characterizing the melanoma tumor environment, and clinical translation of immunotherapy approaches.
Program 4: Pharmacogenomics and Experimental Therapeutics
M. Eileen Dolan, PhD, is a professor of medicine and has many years of expertise in the area of preclinical and clinical drug development as exemplified by over 150 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of anticancer drug development, including research in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenetics. Dr. Dolan, with collaborators, designed and developed O6 -benzylguanine, a drug currently in Phase III clinical development. Additionally, she is co-inventor on 31 patents related to anticancer agents and modulators of DNA repair. She also is a leader in building cell-based models used for discovering genetic markers related to chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity that are being evaluated in clinical trials.
Walter Stadler, MD, is a professor of medicine, director of the genitourinary program, and associate dean for clinical research. He is an expert in prostate, kidney, bladder, and testicular cancers and concentrates on developing novel chemotherapy, immunotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy, and molecularly targeted therapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease. His research further focuses on the development of novel clinical trial designs as well as molecular and imaging predictive biomarkers.
Program 5: Advanced Imaging
Greg Karczmar, PhD, is a professor of radiology and co-director of the Florsheim Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Facility. Since he became a member of the UCCCC in 1991, Dr. Karczmar's research has focused on the development of improved MRI methods for early detection of cancer, noninvasive spatially resolved measurements of tumor oxygenation, and evaluation of tumor response therapy. Dr. Karczmar works with animal models of cancer, as well as translating these efforts to patient care. He leads the program's efforts in making MR imaging and other imaging technologies more available to UCCCC members.
Heber MacMahon, MB, BCh, became co-leader of the Advanced Imaging Program in 2005. He is a professor of radiology and director of thoracic imaging at UChicago. For more than 20 years, he has been involved in clinical and basic research relating to image quality, digital image processing, and computer-aided diagnosis. As a thoracic radiologist, Dr. MacMahon's research has focused on applications of computer-enhanced imaging in the chest, including projection radiography and computed tomography (CT).
Program 6: Cancer Prevention and Control
Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMEDSc, is a professor of health studies, medicine, and human genetics. He is also the associate director for population research and director of the Center for Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. Dr. Ahsan's primary research interests focus on the interplay between environmental and genetic factors in cancer and exploiting this information in cancer prevention in humans. He has published extensively on the molecular epidemiology of carcinogenic effects of arsenic exposure and on the molecular and genetic epidemiology of hormonal etiology of breast cancer. His research projects include a genome-wide association study to identify novel genes for early onset breast cancer among 6,000 breast cancer cases and population/sister controls; a prospective cohort study of 15,000 men and women in Bangladesh to investigate the intermediate- and long-term carcinogenic effects of environmental arsenic exposure from drinking water; genetic susceptibility to arsenic-induced pre-malignant skin lesions and skin cancers among 3,000 cases and controls; and a randomized clinical trial of vitamin E and selenium among 6,000 individuals with pre-malignant skin lesions for the prevention of cancers and deaths.
Andrea King, PhD, is an associate professor of psychiatry. She has performed extensive research and clinical work in the area of addiction research (tobacco and alcohol), behavioral medicine, and health psychology. In addition, Dr. King has broad administrative experience within UChicago and The University of Chicago Medicine Center as director of the Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory and the Substance Abuse Clinic in Outpatient Psychiatry. Dr. King has maintained an externally funded laboratory and clinical research program in alcohol and tobacco/smoking cessation for over 10 years, and she is nationally recognized in her field for her research on treatment and prevention of substance use disorders. Her research includes pre-clinical studies of substance comorbidity (concurrent alcohol and tobacco use) and risk factors for the development of alcohol use disorders (laboratory and longitudinal studies of binge drinkers), clinical treatment trials of pharmacological adjuncts, behavioral treatment (naltrexone in smoking cessation), and culturally-tailored treatments for addictions (African American community-based treatment of smoking).
