WVON Dr. in the House with Dr. Terry Mason Ft Ankur Saxena, PhD
University of Illinois Cancer Center member Ankur Saxena, PhD, part of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Biology research program, is the guest on “Dr. in the House with Dr. Terry Mason” where they will talk about pediatric cancer.
Saxena and his lab are among the inaugural recipients of the Cancer Center’s Hope Leaders Fellowships, a program dedicated to building bidirectional relationships between scientists and community organizations. Two community organizations, Advocates for Community Wellness and Equal Hope, alomg with Cancer Center member Ekrem Emrah Er, PhD, are the other recipients.
Saxena received his PhD in Genetics and Development at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and did postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Since 2015, the Saxena Lab at UIC has worked to reveal new details of how stem cells and cancer cells behave in their natural environments. The goal is to better understand causes of birth defects, neuronal loss, and pediatric cancer progression, with a focus on revealing connections between these seemingly disparate topics that, in fact, have a surprising amount in common.