Faculty News

has been appointed as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Molecular Targets Program. Dr. Aldrich joins CCR from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research is focused on drug discovery, and a main interest of her lab is the autophagy pathway in the context of basic biology and human disease.  

has been appointed Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology. Dr. Altan-Bonnet develops experimentally validated quantitative models of aspects of immune systems and lymphocyte communications to advance tailored immunotherapies for cancer.  

has been appointed Scientific Director for Clinical Research at CCR. In this role, Dr. Citrin will oversee the vision and scientific management of CCR’s clinical research program, including scientific plans and priorities, identification and implementation of new opportunities, programs and partnerships, recruitment of faculty, and the training and mentorship of early investigators. 

has joined the Cancer Innovation Laboratory as a Senior Investigator and has been named an NIH Distinguished Scholar. She joins CCR from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Cook’s research goal is to identify mechanisms associated with bone metastatic prostate cancer and the underpinnings of the immune-tumor bone environment that contribute to metastatic disease. 

has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Mouse Cancer Genetics Program where he was previously a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator. Dr. Dai is a pioneer in the field of proteomic instability of cancer. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms through which proteomic instability may affect genomic stability, cell invasion and autophagy.

has been appointed Acting Co-Director of CCR. Dr. Gulley also serves as NCI Clinical Director, Co-Director of the Center for Immuno-Oncology and as a Senior Investigator. His research focuses on immunotherapies, particularly in prostate cancer.

has been appointed as NCI Deputy Clinical Director. In this role, Dr. Karzai will lead institutional partnership efforts, drive expanding access and inclusion for participation in clinical trials and collaborate with the NIH Clinical Center to optimize clinical operations and ensure patient safety.

has been appointed Chief of the Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression. Dr. Larson studies gene expression in eukaryotic cells utilizing biophysical, molecular and genomic approaches, including single-molecule microscopy, RNA visualization in fixed and living cells, computational modeling of gene regulation and nascent RNA sequencing. 

has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Women’s Malignancies Branch where she was previously a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Tenure-Track Investigator. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on developing targeted therapies for ovarian carcinoma and emphasizes the collection of patient samples to better understand treatment response and tumor biology in gynecologic malignancies. 

served as Acting Co-Director of CCR until his retirement in June 2024. Dr. Merlino also served as the Scientific Director for Basic Research and as a Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics. His research focused on cutaneous malignant melanoma.

has joined the Surgical Oncology Program as a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. He has also been named an NIH Distinguished Scholar. Dr. Nguyen’s research seeks to uncover the intricate link between metabolism and the tumor immune microenvironment, to enhance the accuracy of pre-clinical head and neck cancer models and to develop novel therapeutics to improve immune checkpoint inhibitor effectiveness.

has joined the Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Niethamer is a cell and developmental biologist, and the goal of her research program is to understand how endothelial cells communicate with other lung cells to build complex three-dimensional structures during development and regeneration. 

has been appointed as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Tenure-Track Investigator in the Surgical Oncology Program where she was previously a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator. Dr. Sadowski’s research focuses on the identification of diagnostic and prognostic markers for endocrine tumors, with a particular focus on pancreatic and small bowel neuroendocrine tumors and developing new therapies for such tumors.  

has been appointed Acting Co-Director of CCR. Dr. Thiele also serves as Deputy Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch and as a Senior Investigator. Her research focuses on molecular and epigenetic regulation of neuroblastoma tumor heterogeneity. 

has been appointed Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology. Dr. Weigert’s research focuses on the basic mechanisms that regulate how materials move in mammalian tissues, with a particular emphasis on membrane remodeling. 

has been awarded tenure at NIH and appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Experimental Immunology Branch where he was previously a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator. Dr. Wu’s laboratory studies intestinal neuroimmune interactions in health and disease to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of interactions between the enteric nervous system and the immune system.