Faculty & Staff
Professor and Chair
R.E. Bob Smith Chair for Cancer Research
Director, Metastasis Research Center
CPRIT Established Investigator
- Cancer biology and metastasis
- Tumor microenvironment
- Tissue injury and regeneration
- Biology of exosomes in health and disease
Faculty
Director, Cancer Biology Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Co-Director, Metastasis Research Center
- Melanoma growth and metastasis
- AP-2α and CREB in melanoma
- Human antibodies to IL-8 and MUC18 in melanoma inhibition
- ADAR1 in RNA editing of mRNAs and miRNAs
Professor and Harry Graves Burkhart III Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Biology
Past President, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Tumor biology and immunity
- Telomeres in cancer and aging
- Genetically engineered mouse models of cancer and age-related disorders
- Target discovery for cancer and aging therapy
Natividad Robert Fuentes, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile | Fuentes Laboratory
Assistant Professor
- Membrane spatial dynamics and cellular signaling
- Cellular architecture of the tumor microenvironment
- Role of environmental factors (diet/exposure) in tumorigenesis
- Hypoxia and immunosuppression
Assistant Professor
- Functional genomics and the skin epithelia
- The non-coding regulatory landscape of stem cell plasticity
- Mechanistic understanding of squamous cell carcinomas and wound repair
- Molecular insights of aging
Eyal Gottlieb, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile | Gottlieb Laboratory
Professor
Vice President, Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Cancer metabolism, oxidative stress and DNA damage response
- Metabolic adaptions in cancer progression
- Metabolic control of fatty liver disease
- Metabolic vulnerabilities as novel cancer therapeutic targets
Associate Professor
- Stem cells and glial biology in the central nervous system (CNS)
- Glioma and neurodegenerative diseases
- Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis
- Chemotherapy-induced neurological defects
Randy Johnson, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Professor
- Genetic mechanisms of development and congenital birth defects
- Dorsal-ventral limb patterning
- Ocular development and disease
- Tumor suppressor pathway
- Hippo pathway
Rita Allen Foundation Fellow
Associate Professor
- Molecular mechanisms of DNA replication fork stability
- Genome instability gene functions in mitochondria
- Fanconi anemia and hereditary hematological malignancies
- BRCA/p53 collaborations at the DNA replication fork
Shabnam Shalapour, Ph.D.
Graduate School Faculty Profile
Assistant Professor
- Chronic inflammation-induced immunosuppression
- B cells and humoral immunity
- Intrinsic MHC-1 antigen processing and presentation in cancer cells
- Regulation of adaptive immunity by obesity, alcohol, microbiome and aging
Joint Appointments
Chair, Immunology
Chair, Experimental Radiation Oncology
Professor, Surgical Oncology
Chair, Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Professor, Pathology
Chair, Cancer Systems Imaging
John A. Tainer, Ph.D.
Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Assistant Professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology