Spatial Approaches to Understand Molecular Basis of Hormone-Dependent Cancer Disparities

Zeynep Madak-Erdogan, PhD

Associate Director for Education

Cancer Center at Illinois

Associate Professor

Food Science & Human Nutrition

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Madak-Erdogan is Sylvia D. Stroup Scholar of Nutrition and Cancer, Associate Dean of Graduate College, and Associate Director of Cancer Research Education and Training Coordination at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She received her Ph.D. and undertook postdoctoral studies on mechanisms of nuclear receptor action at UIUC. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition since 2014. Her lab uses advanced computational analysis of –OMICs data from patient samples and in vivo and in vitro models to understand how hormones and the environment impact disparities associated with metabolic health and cancer outcomes. She has built a strong and diverse laboratory and mentors high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and early career faculty. Madak-Erdogan teaches courses in Health Disparities, Cancer Metabolism, Basic Toxicology, Diet, Nutrition and Cancer, and Women’s Health. She delivers workshops for faculty focusing on equitable graduate education, inclusive mentoring, conflict resolution and setting expectations, recruitment and admission strategies for increasing student diversity after the SCOTUS decision, and the essentials of mentoring. She has received several awards, including a Postdoctoral Fellowship from a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Training Grant in Endocrine Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology, a fellowship from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Women in Endocrinology Young Investigator Award from the Endocrine Society, the Mary Swartz Rose Young Investigator Award, the Bio-Serv Experimental Nutrition Award from the American Society for Nutrition, Michael B. Kastan Award for Research Excellence from American Association of Cancer Research and she was named a Future Research Leader and a Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar by NIH. Dr. Madak-Erdogan is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Endocrine Society and a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science Magazine.