Research Fellows
Elisa Aquilanti, MD
Clinical Fellow
2017-
MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
I am a clinical fellow interested in developing novel therapies for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor with 5-year survival rates of less than 5%. Telomerase reactivation, occurring as TERT promoter mutations, was found to happen in over 85% of glioblastoma tumor samples and was identified as a “clonal”, or early event in gliomagenesis. My work is focused on validating telomerase as a therapeutic target and generating novel biochemical tools for a telomerase drug discovery effort.
Clinical Fellow
2017-
MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
I am a clinical fellow interested in developing novel therapies for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor with 5-year survival rates of less than 5%. Telomerase reactivation, occurring as TERT promoter mutations, was found to happen in over 85% of glioblastoma tumor samples and was identified as a “clonal”, or early event in gliomagenesis. My work is focused on validating telomerase as a therapeutic target and generating novel biochemical tools for a telomerase drug discovery effort.
Anders Dohlman, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2022-
PhD, Duke University
I am interested in deploying computational and genomic tools to understand the ways in which microorganisms influence human cancer.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2022-
PhD, Duke University
I am interested in deploying computational and genomic tools to understand the ways in which microorganisms influence human cancer.
Will Gibson, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
MD, Harvard Medical School
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Email|LinkedIn
I hope to leverage emerging technologies from chemical biology to develop novel platforms for drugging some of the most intractable cancer driver genes.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
MD, Harvard Medical School
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Email|LinkedIn
I hope to leverage emerging technologies from chemical biology to develop novel platforms for drugging some of the most intractable cancer driver genes.
Lior Golomb, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2017-
PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science
Email|LinkedIn
I am interested in understanding how tumors develop resistance to target therapy and specifically lung cancer tumors that harbor hotspot mutations in EGFR. I apply genome wide screening and genome engineering to study how genomic alterations drive resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple” - Oscar Wilde
Postdoctoral Fellow
2017-
PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science
Email|LinkedIn
I am interested in understanding how tumors develop resistance to target therapy and specifically lung cancer tumors that harbor hotspot mutations in EGFR. I apply genome wide screening and genome engineering to study how genomic alterations drive resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple” - Oscar Wilde
Mitchell Leibowitz, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2021-
PhD, Harvard University
I am working with emerging technologies to develop methods to selectively treat cancers and to learn new aspects biology along the way.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2021-
PhD, Harvard University
I am working with emerging technologies to develop methods to selectively treat cancers and to learn new aspects biology along the way.
Netta Mäkinen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2019-
PhD, University of Helsinki
Email|LinkedIn
I utilize various high-throughput sequencing technologies, such as whole genome and single-cell DNA sequencing, to better understand molecular mechanisms underlying the early phases of cancer development. My current research focuses especially on lung cancer and small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors.
“What is now proved was once only imagined.” -William Blake
Postdoctoral Fellow
2019-
PhD, University of Helsinki
Email|LinkedIn
I utilize various high-throughput sequencing technologies, such as whole genome and single-cell DNA sequencing, to better understand molecular mechanisms underlying the early phases of cancer development. My current research focuses especially on lung cancer and small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors.
“What is now proved was once only imagined.” -William Blake
Guanxi Qiao, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2021-
PhD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the State University of New York at Buffalo
I have a background in cancer immunology. I am interested in understanding the impact of Fusobacterium nucleatum on immune contexture in colorectal cancer.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2021-
PhD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the State University of New York at Buffalo
I have a background in cancer immunology. I am interested in understanding the impact of Fusobacterium nucleatum on immune contexture in colorectal cancer.
Blake Sanders, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
PhD, Virginia Tech
My research focuses on understanding the impact of the microbiome in colorectal cancer. I am most interested in investigating the host-microbe interactions of Fusobacterium nucleatum.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
PhD, Virginia Tech
My research focuses on understanding the impact of the microbiome in colorectal cancer. I am most interested in investigating the host-microbe interactions of Fusobacterium nucleatum.
Kar-Tong Tan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2023-
PhD, Harvard University
I am interested in applying long-read sequencing technologies to the study of telomeric regions in the cancer genome, and also have an emerging interest in the role of somatic alterations in aging normal tissues. More generally, I am also interested in the development of new computational approaches to derive interesting biological insights from large existing genomics datasets.
"Just do your work." - Matt Damon
Postdoctoral Fellow
2023-
PhD, Harvard University
I am interested in applying long-read sequencing technologies to the study of telomeric regions in the cancer genome, and also have an emerging interest in the role of somatic alterations in aging normal tissues. More generally, I am also interested in the development of new computational approaches to derive interesting biological insights from large existing genomics datasets.
"Just do your work." - Matt Damon
David Walter, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
I have a background in mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma, a disease which has an extremely high mutational burden. I’m interested in understanding how many re-occurring, but understudied, mutations in the disease modulate tumor progression and metastasis, and how these changes might be exploited therapeutically.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
I have a background in mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma, a disease which has an extremely high mutational burden. I’m interested in understanding how many re-occurring, but understudied, mutations in the disease modulate tumor progression and metastasis, and how these changes might be exploited therapeutically.
Doug Wheeler, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-
PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Phone|Email|LinkedIn
I am interested in identifying genes that are altered in cancer that have not yet been previously identified as involved in tumorigenesis. I would like to use in vivo screening approaches in mice to find lung cancer genes that can drive tumor formation in the physiological context of the lung.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." -Marie Curie
Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-
PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Phone|Email|LinkedIn
I am interested in identifying genes that are altered in cancer that have not yet been previously identified as involved in tumorigenesis. I would like to use in vivo screening approaches in mice to find lung cancer genes that can drive tumor formation in the physiological context of the lung.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." -Marie Curie
Alena Yermalovich, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
2018-
PhD, Harvard University
Email|LinkedIn
I study molecular pathogenesis of lung cancer by interrogating the FTSJD1 gene, which is subject to recurrent loss of function mutations in lung adenocarcinoma. I hope to discern new insights into the molecular pathways causing lung cancer to expose new potential targets for effective diagnosis and therapy.
Postdoctoral Fellow
2018-
PhD, Harvard University
Email|LinkedIn
I study molecular pathogenesis of lung cancer by interrogating the FTSJD1 gene, which is subject to recurrent loss of function mutations in lung adenocarcinoma. I hope to discern new insights into the molecular pathways causing lung cancer to expose new potential targets for effective diagnosis and therapy.
Tao Zou, MD, PhD
Clinical Fellow
2017-
MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
I am interested in innate immune signaling in cancer cells and cancer immunotherapy.
Clinical Fellow
2017-
MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
I am interested in innate immune signaling in cancer cells and cancer immunotherapy.
Graduate Students
John Pulice
Graduate Student, HMS Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program
2018-
Email|LinkedIn|Google Scholar
I am interested in understanding how genetic alterations to gene regulatory networks drive lung cancer. My work combines molecular biology and computational approaches to understand how these genetic events affect lineage commitment and drive oncogenic transcription.
Graduate Student, HMS Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program
2018-
Email|LinkedIn|Google Scholar
I am interested in understanding how genetic alterations to gene regulatory networks drive lung cancer. My work combines molecular biology and computational approaches to understand how these genetic events affect lineage commitment and drive oncogenic transcription.
Undergraduate Researchers
Ananthan Sadagopan
2021-
MIT, BS in Chemistry & Biology expected 2024
2021-
MIT, BS in Chemistry & Biology expected 2024