Welcome
The overarching mission of the OHSU Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology is to advance the understanding of problems relevant to human health and disease. To accomplish this mission, research groups in the department have historically focused on questions regarding cell structure, organelles, life cycle, differentiation, and regulated communication between cells and extracellular signals and cues. An ultimate application of knowledge gained from these studies has been to understand important cell physiologic processes that effect human biology. These issues directly link to problems of interest to developmental biologists, including molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating tissue morphogenesis, tissue polarity and patterning. Read full welcome message here.
Featured stories and photos
The Center for Experimental Therapeutics organized the first Oregon Drug Discovery Symposium (ODDS). The participants included people from academia, pharma/biotech industries and investors. Over 350 people registered for this event.
Dr. Missy Wong has been appointment as the Knight Cancer Institute's associate director of basic science. She steps into this role formerly held by Dr. Lisa Coussens who was named a co-deputy director in the KCI. After conducting a national search for this position, the search committee selected Dr. Wong from a strong slate of internal and external candidates. Missy has been at OHSU and a member of the Knight Cancer Institute for over 20 years. She currently serves as vice chair for the Department of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology in the OHSU School of Medicine, and has served as co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program for three competitive renewals of the KCI P30 grant from the National Cancer Institute, with three different co-leaders. Missy’s accomplishments as a scientist are well-recognized, particularly her laboratory’s research on the physiologic impact of cell fusion hybrids between circulating bone marrow-derived and intestinal tumor epithelial cells in advancing tumorigenesis.
Her history of collaborative team science and mentoring are notable, and her commitment to Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) and DEI add to our confidence in her success in this next chapter of her scientific leadership. In this new role, she will collaborate with Dr. Coussens, as well as Dr. Eneida Nemecek, associate director of clinical research, and Dr. Shelley Tworoger, associate director of population science, to guide the development of innovative policies and programs to further discovery-based science across all four research programs.
Knight Cancer Institute leadership changes
Drs. Shivaani Kummar and Lisa Coussens led a KCI Town Hall this past Thursday, April 17th to discuss their respective appointments to interim Chief Executive and interim Director of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and to cascade their plans for the Knight moving forward. If you were not able to attend the town hall, you can view the recording at the link below.
KCI Trainee Travel Awards
Travel awards are available for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows conducting cancer-focused research with Knight-affiliated faculty. Up to $1500 in funding will be awarded to selected trainees who will present their research at a national meeting but may not have sufficient funds available.
Remaining deadlines for applications in 2025 are:
- July 15, 2025
- October 15, 2025
Learn more about the awards and apply here.
Questions? Email knightedu@ohsu.edu
T32 in Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer - Applications now open!
The Center for Experimental Therapeutics received a T32 training program grant from NIH (PIs: Sanjay Malhotra and Shivaani Kummar). This T32 training program is focused on Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer and bridges basic and clinical research to train future translational oncology scientists in therapeutic development. The deadline for postdoctoral applications is May 1, 2025. Learn more about the program.
Recent Accolades & Funding
Exciting news out of the Zimmers lab: Dr. Omnia Gaafer successfully defended her thesis this month, July 2025 - Congratulations, Dr. Gaafer!
The Burger lab has several accolades to announce this month:
- Dr. Megan Burger has received a Collins Medical Trust grant for her project "The effects of long-term immune checkpoint blockade treatment”.
- Dr. Megan Burger has received a BCCPC pilot grant with co-investigator Dr. Kate Byrne titled "Establishing a preclinical PDAC model for evaluating neoantigen-targeted cancer vaccines”.
- Alyssa Granados, graduate student in the lab, has been awarded a 2nd year appointment in the PBMS T32 training program.
Omnia Gaafer, graduate student in the Zimmers lab, will be defending her thesis on July 15, 2025 - titled "Characterizing PDK4 and PKC-theta in Pancreatic Cancer and Cachexia". Please reach out if you would like the info to watch. Good luck, Omnia!
There are two important announcements for Dr. Ted Braun that we would like to highlight this month:
- Dr. Braun has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine. Congratulations on this recognition of your academic contributions to our department, school, university, and community, and thank you for your service!
- Dr. Braun has been appointed Associate Program Director for Research for the OHSU Internal Medicine Residency Program starting July 1st.
The Frohnmayer Hicks Sciarretta Research Scholars Endowment has announced the five pre-doctoral students in Ph.D. programs who have been named 2025 Frohnmayer Hicks Sciarretta Research Scholars. 3 of the 5 named scholars are students working with CDCB faculty: Jackie Phipps (Schedin and Byrne), Matthew Stern (Shree) and, Peter Matulich (Burger). Congratulations!
Tess Kelly, graduate student in the Schedin lab, has been awarded an appointment on the PBMS T32 training grant for her project titled, "Breast Milk as a Non-Invasive Tool for Risk Assessment and Early Detection of Young-Onset Postpartum Breast Cancer". Congratulations!
Drs. Sanjay Malhotra and Samantha Powell (Chemist with PNNL), have been selected for the PMedIC Innovation Award for their project titled, "Precision Targeting of Cancer Associated ENO1 Modifications Using Nanobodies”. Read more on OHSU Now.
Congratulations to Amanda Zucker, graduate student in the Wong lab, who passed her qualifying exam!
Recent Publications
Dr. Molly Thomas has a new first author publication on microscopic colitis that recently came out in Nature Communications titled “Single-cell transcriptomic characterization of microscopic colitis.”
Dr. Michelle Ozaki, former graduate student in the Schedin lab, has had an article published in PNAS, titled "Reproductive state controls transcription in the murine liver, with implications for breast cancer liver metastasis".
Dr. Megan Ruhland recently published an editorial in Frontiers in Immunology, titled "Antigen presentation in cancer immune responses."
The Malhotra lab has two publications to announce:
- "Designing Cyclic Nitrogen-Bridged Sulfonamides with Anti-Cancer Activity" in Chemistry Europe.
- "Exosome-Mediated Cellular Communication in the Tumor Microenvironment Imparts Drug Resistance in Breast Cancer" in Cancers.
Dr. Pepper Schedin, along with expert colleagues from 23 institutions across 7 countries, contributed to an opinion piece on BrCa, titled "Unraveling complexity and leveraging opportunities in uncommon breast cancer subtypes" published in Nature's npj Breast Cancer journal.
View all CDCB news and recognitions.
CDCB labs recruiting
Careers with an emphasis on preclinical and translational science
CDCB welcomes
CDCB is pleased to welcome Jevon Cutler, Ph.D., who will have a secondary appointment in CDCB along with his primary appointment in Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Working in the disease setting of leukemia, Cr. Cutler's lab aims to better understand therapeutic strategies and drug resistance involving epigenetic-modifying small molecules. Through these efforts we strive to both improve upon these strategies and understand the mechanisms of chromatin-bound protein complex regulation that drive disease. Welcome, Dr. Cutler!
CDCB is excited to welcome Angelina Vaseva, Ph.D. who has joined OHSU as an Assistant Professor with a primary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics and a joint appointment with us in the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology. Dr. Vaseva's research program will focus on targeting oncogenic RAS in pediatric cancers. Welcome, Dr. Vaseva!
CDCB is pleased to announce that Molly Thomas, M.D., Ph.D., will be joining us as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology, with a joint appointment in the Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Thomas is an inflammatory bowel disease specialist and mucosal immunologist. Her lab will focus on understanding gastrointestinal and hepatic complications of immune checkpoint blockade and how these immune related adverse events inform our understanding of tissue-resident memory T cells in these organ systems. Welcome, Dr. Thomas!