New faculty join CCR each year to contribute to our work of making breakthrough scientific discoveries to find cures and treatments for cancer. We also recognize current faculty who have started new roles within CCR.
Brenda Adjei, Ed.D., M.P.A.,
has been appointed as Associate Director of the Office of Healthcare Delivery and Equity Research. In this role, she will direct CCR’s institutional efforts to expand and improve the accessibility, equity and reach of our clinical research program.
Amiran K. Dzutsev, M.D., Ph.D.,
has been appointed as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, where he was previously a Staff Scientist. Dr. Dzutsev’s research focuses on understanding the impact of microbiota on cancer development, cancer progression and responses to therapy.
Shuo Gu, Ph.D.,
has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the RNA Biology Laboratory. Dr. Gu’s lab focuses on mechanisms of RNA interference and microRNA pathways and their applications in cancer treatment.
James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D.,
has been appointed as NCI Clinical Director. In this role, Dr. Gulley will oversee the day-to-day operations of more than 350 active clinical trials as well as the regulatory aspects of CCR’s clinical program. He will also continue to serve as Co-Director of the Center for Immuno-Oncology and as a Senior Investigator.
Stephanie A. Harmon, Ph.D.,
has been appointed as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Molecular Imaging Branch, where she was previously a Staff Scientist. Dr. Harmon’s research centers around the use of integrative biomarkers from various imaging scales to enhance the understanding of disease and expand the role of imaging in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Sri Krishna, Ph.D.,
has been appointed as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Surgery Branch, where he was previously a postdoctoral researcher. Dr. Krishna’s research is focused on discovering and studying antitumor T cells, including those targeting neoantigens, antitumor T-cell receptors, human T-cell differentiation states and immune resistance by human tumors.
Diana C.F. Monteiro, Ph.D.,
has joined the Center for Structural Biology as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator from the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute. She has also been named an NIH Distinguished Scholar. Dr. Monteiro’s group develops and employs new methods to obtain high-resolution structures of medically relevant proteins.
Rosa Nguyen, M.D., Ph.D.,
has been appointed as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Tenure-Track Investigator in the Pediatric Oncology Branch. She has also been named an NIH Distinguished Scholar. The goal of Dr. Nguyen’s research is to translate new and effective immunotherapies from the bench to the bedside and to understand the immunologic mechanisms that underlie tumor response and immune evasion.
Peter A. Pinto, M.D.,
has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Urologic Oncology Branch. Dr. Pinto is an expert urologic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive treatment, laparoscopic and robotic surgery for prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancer. His research focuses on developing novel diagnostic and treatment modalities for localized and locally advanced prostate cancer.
Ramya Ramaswami, M.B.B.S., M.P.H.,
has been named a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Tenure-Track Investigator in the HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch, where she was previously a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator. She has also been named an NIH Distinguished Scholar. Dr. Ramaswami’s research is focused on developing novel diagnostic methods and therapeutic strategies for patients with HIV and cancer.
Arun Rajan, M.D.,
has been named Director of the Medical Oncology Service. He leads the staff and fellows who support patients participating in CCR’s clinical protocols at the NIH Clinical Center. As a clinical researcher, Dr. Rajan focuses on developing new therapies for patients with lung cancer and thymic malignancies.
Nitin Roper, M.D., M.Sc.,
has been appointed as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Tenure-Track Investigator in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch, where he was previously a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator. Dr. Roper’s research focuses on neuroendocrine tumors and aims to understand the relationship between Notch signaling and immunologic, epigenetic and molecular aspects of these tumors, with the goal of translating experimental data to the clinic.
Adam Sowalsky, Ph.D.,
has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch. Dr. Sowalsky’s lab conducts translational research focused on tumor evolution and treatment resistance with an emphasis on developing biomarkers for predicting responses in locally advanced prostate cancers.
Ramaprasad Srinivasan, M.D., Ph.D.,
has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Urologic Oncology Branch. Dr. Srinivasan is investigating a variety of mechanism-based treatment strategies in kidney cancers as well as hereditary kidney cancer syndromes.
Anish Thomas, M.B.B.S., M.D.,
has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch. Dr. Thomas’ lab focuses on small cell lung cancer and understanding and targeting tumor plasticity, metastases and chemoresistance.
Nicholas P. Tschernia, M.D.,
has been appointed as a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator in the Center for Immuno-Oncology. Dr. Tschernia’s research focuses on developing new cellular immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients, including CAR T-cell therapy. His lab is dedicated to identifying new potential targets on solid tumors and ways to improve the quality and fitness of the engineered cells.
Chen Zhao, M.D.,
has been appointed as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch, where he was previously an Assistant Clinical Investigator. Dr. Zhao’s lab specializes in developing novel immunotherapeutics and using advanced tissue imaging techniques to understand the interactions among tumor cells, the immune system and the microbiota in the tumor microenvironment.
Joseph M. Ziegelbauer, Ph.D.,
has been appointed Deputy Chief of the HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch. Dr. Ziegelbauer’s research focuses on networks and pathways redundantly targeted by multiple viral microRNAs and circular RNAs. He is investigating human and viral gene expression patterns in normal tissue, in Kaposi sarcoma and in other Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-infected pathological tissues.
Recently Retired
With appreciation for their service, we recognize these CCR Investigators who have recently retired.
- Richard Hodes, M.D., Senior Investigator, Experimental Immunology Branch
- Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D., CCR Deputy, Chief and Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Genitourinary Cancer Pathogenesis
- Kenneth H. Kraemer, M.D., Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics
- Thomas Ried, M.D., Senior Investigator, Genetics Branch
- William G. Stetler-Stevenson, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Pathology
- Allan M. Weissman, M.D., Senior Investigator, Cancer Innovation Laboratory
In Memoriam
- S. Perwez Hussain, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis