Researchers & Clinicians

The Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Program goal is to identify cancer risk factors, prevent cancer, and reduce cancer morbidity and mortality — by supporting optimal cancer treatment, adherence, and survivorship — to improve health outcomes. The focus is on tackling persisting cancer outcome disparities in populations served by the Cancer Center.

The CPC Program strives to achieve this goal through innovative, transdisciplinary, collaborative research and effective partnering with the UI Health Mile Square Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and communities in the catchment area.

Specific aims of the CPC Program are:

• Identify and characterize multilevel determinants of cancer risk, etiology, and outcomes in diverse populations: Program members investigate the relationship of multilevel and multifaceted factors, (e.g., lifestyle and screening behaviors, biological processes, neighborhood social and environmental context, and health policies) on cancer risk, etiology, and survival outcomes in Cancer Center catchment communities, which are predominantly resilient but underresourced communities.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate interventions to lower risk and improve outcomes to achieve cancer health equity across the cancer continuum: Program members test interventions to improve lifestyle behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, diet quality), reduce risk exposure (e.g., environmental toxicants, social stressors), reduce access barriers (e.g., healthcare, healthy foods), and support cancer screenings and treatments (e.g., uptake, adherence) across the cancer continuum.

Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program Co-Leaders

Lisa Tussing-Humphreys, PhD, MS, RD
Professor, Kinesiology and Nutrition
College of Applied Health Sciences

Kristen Malecki, PhD, MPH
Professor and Division Director, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
School of Public Health

The scientific goal of the Cancer Biology (CB) Program is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. 

CB investigators focus on how cancer cell behavior is mediated by signaling and metabolic pathways that impact the expression of genes and the interactions between the cancer cell and the tissue environment. 

One of the main objectives of the CB program is to make discoveries related to the drivers of cancer growth and spread, with the important goal of identifying cancer vulnerabilities and new therapeutic targets.

Specific aims of the CB Program are: 

• Determine the roles of cancer metabolism and signaling pathways in cancer development to identify novel therapeutic approaches: Program members are working at the interface of oncogenic signaling and tumor metabolism to identify mechanisms that drive tumor growth and to identify novel therapeutic approaches to treating cancer.
• Understand how signaling is relayed to transcriptional control through direct and epigenetic mechanisms and how genome integrity is compromised to drive the cancer phenotype: Program members study how transcriptional regulation and genomic alterations contribute to the development and progression of cancer, with the ultimate goal of developing strategies for targeting genome regulation as novel cancer therapies.
• Identify mechanisms by which cancer cells interact with the tumor microenvironment to allow cancer development, progression and metastasis: Program members develop new tools to characterize how the tumor microenvironment impacts tumor progression. This work includes a comprehensive characterization of cancer-specific extracellular matrix proteins, understanding the regulation of endothelial cell biology in inflammation and angiogenesis, and the development of new approaches to target the immune system for cancer therapy.

Cancer Biology Research Program Co-Leaders

Joanna Burdette, PhD
Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Retzky College of Pharmacy

Jonathan Coloff, PhD
Associate Professor, Physiology and Biophysics
College of Medicine

The Translational Oncology (TO) Program brings together teams of investigators who conduct research along the translational continuum, ranging from mechanistic studies, validation of therapeutic targets and disease biomarkers for cancer therapy and chemoprevention, to clinical trials that explore opportunities for personalized medicine.

The TO Program represents a group of investigators connected by the common interest of translating laboratory research discoveries into clinical trials with the potential to impact cancer outcomes within the Cancer Center catchment area and beyond.

Specific aims of the TO Program are:

• Define the Molecular Underpinnings of Cancer Health Disparity and Survivorship: Characterize the molecular signatures that determine heterogenous trajectories of disease progression, disparities of outcomes, and survivorship.
• Advance a Pipeline of Diagnostics and Therapeutic Targets Which Improve Health and Survivorship in Diverse Cancer Patient Populations: Identify and validate diagnostic biomarkers of disease and treatment responses in the catchment patient populations. Leverage computational, structural, and chemical analyses in cells and animal models to identify novel small molecules and biologics that target malignancies associated with the most significant outcome disparities in the catchment patient populations.
• Implement Tailored Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches for Cancer Through Early-Stage Clinical Trials Designed to Maximize Benefits to Catchment Area Patients: Continue active engagement with communities to build a momentum of community trust and create an infrastructure that facilitates the initiation of early-stage clinical trials designed to maximize benefits to catchment area patients.

Translational Oncology Research Program Co-Leaders 

Ajay Rana, PhD
Endowed Professor
Department of Surgery, College of Medicine

Jalees Rehman, MD
Department Head and Benjamin Goldberg Professor,
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
College of Medicine