Experimental Therapeutics

Program Members

Adair, James, Ph.D.
Professor of Material Sciences, Director of Particulate Materials Center, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, UP
Expertise: Inorganic particle synthesis for drug delivery and imaging
jadair@psu.edu

Andrews, Genevieve, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Head and neck cancer
gandrews@hmc.psu.edu

Belani, Chandra, M.D.
Miriam Beckner Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Deputy Director, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute; College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Clinical Investigations and Early Phase Drug Development
cbelani@psu.edu

Broach, James, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Signal transduction pathways using Saccharomyces as a model system
jbroach@hmc.psu.edu

Chau, Vincent, Ph.D.
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Mechanisms and functions of Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in cancer
vchau@psu.edu

Cheng, Keith, M.D., Ph.D
Distinguished Professor of Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Pharmacology, Chief, Division of Experimental Pathology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Genetic dissection of Genomic instability and cellular differentiation in Zebrafish
kcheng@psu.edu

Clawson, Gary, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Early Changes in Carcinogenesis
gac4@psu.edu

Claxton, David, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Immunotherapy of Leukemia
dclaxton@psu.edu

Connor, James, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice-Chair of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Regulation of expression of iron bonding proteins in brain cancer
jrc3@psu.edu

Dolloff, Nathan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Identification and validation of new molecular drug targets and therapeutics for the treatment of cancer
ndolloff@hmc.psu.edu

Dong, Cheng, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, UP
Expertise: Tumor micro- environment and regulation of cancer development
cxd23@psu.edu

Dovat, Sinisa, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: childhood leukemia, epigenomic changes that control cellular immortalization/senescence and drug discovery
sdovat@hmc.psu.edu

El-Deiry, Wafik, M.D., Ph.D. - Program Leader
Professor of Medicine;
Chief, Division of Hematology & Oncology, College of Medicine; Associate Director for Translational Research, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, HY
Expertise: Cancer signaling and therapeutic agent development
weldeiry@hmc.psu.edu

Feith, David, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: The role of Polyamines in cancer and therapeutic development
dfeith@psu.edu

Finnberg, Niklas, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: cell cycle checkpoint kinase 2 (checks) and toxicity of chemotherapeutics, novel cell-targeted therapies for colorectal cancer
nfinnberg@hmc.psu.edu

Flanagan, John, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: X-ray Crystalography of proteins and interacting drugs
jflanagan@psu.edu

Goldenberg, David, M.D.
Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Malignant conditions of the upper aerodigestive tract.
dgoldenberg@psu.edu

Grigoryev, Sergei, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Structure-functional relationship of chromatin in cancer
sag17@psu.edu

Gunther, Edward, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Mouse models of human breast cancer development
ejg12@psu.edu

Higgins, William, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, UP
Expertise: Image-guided bronchoscopy for peripheral lung lesions
weh2@psu.edu

Keating, Christine, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry, Eberly College of Science, UP
Expertise: Imaging technology for cancer detection and drug delivery
keating@chem.psu.edu

Kester, Mark, Ph.D. Co-Program Leader
G. Thomas Passananti Professor of Pharmacology;
Director of Penn State University Center for Nanomedicine and Materials, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Lipid biology in cancer
mkester@psu.edu

Liao, Jason, Ph.D.
Professor of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Biostatistics
jliao@hes.hmc.psu.edu

Lipton, Allan, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Signaling and therapeutic agent development for breast cancer
alipton@psu.edu

Liu, David, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neural and Behavioral Sciences College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Survival and death regulation of neurons and cancer cells
dxl39@psu.edu

Loughran, Thomas, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine; Director, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, HY
Expertise: Signaling and therapies for large granular lymphocyte leukemia
tloughran@psu.edu

Madhunapantula, Subbarao, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Melanoma signaling and therapeutic development
svm12@psu.edu

McLaughlin, Patricia, Ph.D.
Professor of Neural and Behavioral Sciences; Director, Graduate Program in Anatomy, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Biology of the OGF-OGFr Axis in pancreatic cancer
pxm9@psu.edu

Miller, Barbara, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics; Division Chief, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Calcium Channels, Erythroid Differentiation
bmiller3@psu.edu

Moldovan, George-Lucian, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Control of DNA repair by the replication factor PCNA and its post-translational modifications
gmoldovan@hmc.psu.edu

Moyer, Matthew, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Medicine; College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Pancreatic cancer, cancer-targeted nanoliposomes
mmoyer@hmc.psu.edu

Mulder, Kathleen, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: TGFß signaling and therapeutic development
kmm15@psu.edu

Reed, Michael, M.D.
Associate Professor, Surgery; College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Thoracic surgeon, malignant and benign deseases of the chest, lung cancer, esophageal cancer
mreed@psu.edu

Robertson, Gavin, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology, Pathology, Dermatology and Surgery, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Experimental Therapeutics and Nanotechnology development for treatment of melanoma
gprobertson@psu.edu

Rybka, Witold, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Clinical trials and hematologic malignancies
wrybka@psu.edu

Santy, Lorraine, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eberly College of Science, UP
Expertise: Cell motility mediated by GTPase and ARF6
lcsanty@psu.edu

Shantz, Lisa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: The Ras oncogene and non-melanoma skin cancers
lshantz@psu.edu

Sharma, Arati, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Target identification, drug development and delivery systems for the treatment of melanoma
aks12@psu.edu

Sheehan, Jonas, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Novel approaches to treat brain cancer
jms76@psu.edu

Siedlecki, Christopher, Ph.D.
Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Interactions of proteins with biomaterial surfaces for cancer-related applications
csiedlecki@psu.edu

Stairs, Douglas, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pathology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Molecular biology and genetics of esophageal cancer, both squamous and adenocarcinoma
dstairs@hmc.psu.edu

Takahashi, Yoshinori, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Molecular mechanisms of autophagy and apoptosis
ytakahashi@hmc.psu.edu

Tamburro, Robert, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Pediatric oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplant
rtamburro@hmc.psu.edu

Verderame, Michael, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine; Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine; Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, HY
Expertise: The role of protein tyrosine kinases and polyamine metabolism in cancer
mverdera@psu.edu

Vrana, Kent, Ph.D.
Elliot S. Vesell Professor and Chair of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Drug development in cancer
kvrana@psu.edu

Wagner, Henry, M.D.
Professor of Radiology, College of Medicine; Director of Radiation Oncology, PSHCI, HY
Expertise: Lung cancer treatment
hwagner@psu.edu

Wang, Hong-Gang, Ph.D.
Lois High Berstler Professor of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Autophagy and drug development in cancer
hwang3@hmc.psu.edu

Wang, Shuwen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Telomerase
sqw10@psu.edu

Wang, Yanming, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eberly College of Science, UP
Expertise: Epigenetic mechanisms underlying repression of tumor suppressor genes
yuw12@psu.edu

Yang, Jin-Ming, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Mechanisms of cancer drug resistance
jyang2@hmc.psu.edu

Yee, Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Mechanism-based personalized therapies in pancreatic adenocarcinoma; zebrafish
nyee@hmc.psu.edu

Yun, Jong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Targeting sphingosine kinase signaling in cancer
jky1@psu.edu

Zagon, Ian, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Anatomy, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: OGF and cancer
isz1@psu.edu

Zaino, Richard, M.D.
Professor of Pathology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Identification of prognostic factors and therapeutic intervention in endometrial adenocarcinoma
rzaino@psu.edu

Zheng, Siyang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, UP
Expertise: BioMEMS technology development for circulating tumor cell enrichment and analysis
sxz10@psu.edu

Zhu, Jiyue, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, College of Medicine, HY
Expertise: Telomerase and cancer
joz1@psu.edu