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Cancer Biology

Cancer Biology

Researchers in the IBMS Cancer Biology cluster study the onset, prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. The cluster draws from a diverse range of complementary biomedical fields, including molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology, structural biology, and chemical biology. Areas of particular expertise include oncogenes and growth factors, cell adhesion and metastasis, the tumor microenvironment, the immune response to cancer, and drug design and development. The newly opened Mike and Josie Harper Cancer Research Institute is a focal point for scientists in this interdisciplinary cluster, fostering translation of findings from the laboratory to the clinic. While students in the cluster are trained in a variety of scientific specialties, their studies share the common goal of aiming to understand and eliminate suffering from cancer.

Image: Breast cancer cells visualized by immunofluorescent staining. Courtesy of the laboratory of Zachary Schafer.

Contact

Cancer Biology

Laurie Littlepage (website>)
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Contact by email
(574) 631-4804

Participating Faculty

Brian Baker

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Structural biology and biophysics of recognition and signaling in immunity, cancer, and antibiotic resistance

Brian Blagg

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Mechanisms of protein folding and their contribution to cancer and/or neurodegeneration

David Boone

Microbiology & Immunology (IUSM-SB) and Biological Sciences (ND)

Genetics, cancer, and intestinal inflammation

Francis Castellino

Chemistry and Biochemistry

In vitro and in vivo relationships between hemostasis and inflammation

Juan Del Valle

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Design, chemical synthesis, biological evaluation of modulators of protein-protein interactions, ER stress response inhibitors, non-ribosomal peptide natural products; cancer, neurodegenerative disease, bacterial infections

Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey

Biological Sciences

Signal integration and cancer progression
 

Bei Hu

Applied & Computational Mathematics & Statistics

Mathematical modeling of tumor growth

Jianneng Li

Biological Sciences

My laboratory focuses on the functions of steroid hormones including their precursors and receptors in prostate cancer as well as related diseases

Laurie Littlepage

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Modeling cancer progression in vivo to develop biomarkers and therapies; contributions of the microenvironment to breast and prostate cancers

Xin Lu

Biological Sciences

Molecular Understanding and Immunotherapy of Metastatic Cancer; Novel Animal Models for Rare Cancers

Shahriar Mobashery

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Bioorganic and biochemistry of antibiotic resistance and cancer metastasis

Brittany Morgan

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Targeting RNA-binding proteins to understand structure, function, and dynamics

Jenifer Prosperi

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUSM-SB) and Biological Sciences (ND)

Breast cancer biology and chemotherapeutic resistance

Zachary Schafer

Biological Sciences

Cancer cell biology and metabolism

Molly Duman Scheel

Medical and Molecular Genetics (IUSM-SB) and Biological Sciences (ND)

Genetic and comparative analysis of invasive cellular growth; vector mosquito developmental genetics

Margaret Schwarz

Pediatrics (IUSM-SB) and Chemistry and Biochemistry (ND)

Anti-angiogenic factors in lung and tumor development

Bradley Smith

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Biooganic and supramolecular chemistry; development of new reagents for biomedical imaging

Sharon Stack

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Proteolysis and adhesion in cancer metastasis

Kevin Vaughan

Biological Sciences

Molecular basis of organelle transport

Matthew Webber

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Engineering improved therapeutics and biomimetic and bio-insprired materials

Katharine White

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Cellular pH dynamics; pH-sensitive mechanisms regulating proteins, pathways, and cancer cell behaviors

Olaf Wiest

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Computational drug design

Jeremiah Zartman

Biological Sciences

systems biology of organ growth and regeneration; reverse-engineering signaling networks and biophysical mechanisms that regulate cell decisions such as differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, as it relates to organogenesis, cancer, and wound healing