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Lab Members

Current Laboratory Members

Richard D. Wood, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Adele Guerin
Senior Research Assistant

Yuzhen Li, Ph.D.
Instructor

Dorcas Oladapo
Research Assistant II

Mélanie Prodhomme, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Mark Returan
Research Assistant II

Zeba Siddiqui, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Former Trainees and Laboratory Members

The predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees listed below were supported by competitive grants to come to my laboratory. These grants include: the Human Frontiers Science Program, EMBO, Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, the University of Pittsburgh Competitive Medical Research Fund, and NRSA Ruth Kirschstein funding from the NIH.

Predoctoral Trainees

Name, Prior Degree, Years in Lab	Institution	Research Project	Current Position
Sofia Araújo, B.S. 1995–1999	ICRF	Interactions and function of nucleotide excision repair complexes	Associate Professor, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain
Dawn Batty, B.S. 1995–1999	ICRF	The XPC-RAD23B complex and nucleotide excision repair of DNA	Principal Medical Writer, Aspire Scientific, Buxton, UK
Maureen Biggerstaff-Bowles, B.S., M.S. 1995–2002	ICRF	DNA repair defects in ERCC1, ERCC4 and XPF mutants	Senior Research Officer (ret), Francis Crick Institute, UK
Dawn Coverley, B.S. 1987 -1991	ICRF	Proteins involved in human DNA excision repair	Professor, University of York, UK; Chief Scientific Officer, Cizzle Biotech
Gregory Gan, B.S. 2003–2007	University of Pittsburgh	Function of Rev3L	Assistant Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center
Mandira Manandhar, B.S., M.S. 2010–2016	MD Anderson	XPA and DNA crosslink repair	Research Scientist, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jonathan Moggs, B.S. 1993–1997	ICRF	Incision mechanism during human nucleotide excision repair	Head, Mechanistic and Predictive Safety, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
Anne (O'Donovan) Jones, B.S. 1991–1994	ICRF	The xeroderma pigmentosum group G DNA repair protein	President and CEO, G-CON Manufacturing, Inc., College Station, Texas
Mahmud Shivji, B.S 1991–1996	ICRF	Nucleotide excision repair of DNA: Dissection and reconstitution in vitro	Group Research Manager (ret), Hutchinson/MRC Research Center, Cambridge, UK
Matt Yousefzadeh, B.S. 2009–2015	MD Anderson	DNA polymerase POLQ and cellular defense against DNA damage	Assistant Professor, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Sara Martin, B.S. 2015–2020	MD Anderson	DNA polymerase zeta and innate immune responses	Postdoctoral Fellow, Tufts University, Medford MA

Postdoctoral Trainees

Name, Prior Degree, Years in Lab	Institution	Project	Current Position
Abdelilah Aboussekhra, Ph.D. 1992–1996	ICRF	Reconstitution of human NER with purified proteins	Principal Scientist and Chair, Department of Molecular Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Saudi Arabia
Rafael Ariza, Ph.D. 1993–1996	ICRF	Cloning of the human XPF gene	Professor, University of Córdoba, Spain
Hiroshi Asahina, Ph.D. 1997–1999	ICRF	The swi10-rad16 nuclease	Technical Staff, Sales, Cellular Dynamics International, Tokyo, Japan
Denisse Carvajal Maldonado, Ph.D. 2019–2023	MD Anderson	DNA polymerase theta mediated repair	Scientist I, ORIC Pharmaceuticals, South San Francisco
Elizabeth Evans, Ph.D. 1995–1997	ICRF	The pre-incision opening reaction during human NER	Director, Liberal Arts Consortium for Online Learning, Drexel University, Philadelphia
Guido Frosina, Ph.D. 1988–1989	ICRF	Transcription-coupled repair	Mutagenesis & Cancer Prevention Unit, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
Pierre-Henri Gaillard, Ph.D. 1997–2000	ICRF	The ERCC1-XPF nuclease	Group Leader, CNRS, Cancer Research Center of Marseille, France
Daniela Gunz, Ph.D. 1997–1999	ICRF	DNA repair functions of XPG protein	Director of Research Partnerships, Healthbank Innovation AG. Founder & Managing Partner, Hermelin GmbH, Zürich, Switzerland
Johan Hansson, M.D. 1987–1990	ICRF	Nucleotide excision repair of cisplatin-DNA adducts	Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Christopher Jones, Ph.D. 1989–1993	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	Human XPA protein	VP, Scientific at ApotheCom, : A MEDiSTRAVA Company (Medical Division of Huntsworth)
Stephen Keyse, Ph.D. 1989–1991	ICRF	Protein kinase phosphatases and nucleotide excision repair	Professor Emeritus, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, UK
Nayun Kim, Ph.D. 2000–2003	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	A novel human DNA polymerase	Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Beate Köberle, Ph.D. 1998–2006	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	Cisplatin sensitivity and nucleotide excision repair	Institute of Applied Biosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Isao Kuraoka, Ph.D. 1996–2001	ICRF	Repair of DNA crosslinks and cyclopurine adducts	Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Fukuoka University, Japan
Sabine Lange, Ph.D. 2009–2014	MD Anderson	The impact of DNA damage responses on energy metabolism and proteostasis	Chief Toxicologist, Toxicology, Risk Assessment, and Research Division, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Austin, TX
Frederica Marini, Ph.D. 1998–2008	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	New DNA polymerase and helicases for crosslink repair	Research Group Leader, Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Italy
Mineaki Seki, Ph.D. 2000–2008	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	Function of DNA polymerase Q	Associate Professor, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Sciences, Japan
David Szymkowski, Ph.D. 1989–1993	ICRF	Repair of single, specific DNA lesions	Vice President, Cell Biology, Xencor, Monrovia, CA
Kei-ichi Takata, Ph.D. 2004–2009	University of Pittsburgh and MD Anderson	Function of DNA polymerase N and DNA helicase Q	Section Head, Institute for Basic Science, Center for Genomic Integrity, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, S. Korea
Junya Tomida, Ph.D. 2011–2013	MD Anderson	DNA double-strand break repair	Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Biological Sciences
Birgitte Wittschieben, Ph.D. 2001–2007	University of Pittsburgh	Recognition and repair of DNA lesions in chromatin	Vice President R&D Global Assay Development, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark
John Wittschieben, Ph.D. 1997–2008	ICRF & University of Pittsburgh	Function of the mouse Rev3l gene	Senior Executive Officer, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Sabbatical Visitors

Name and Years in Lab	Host Institution	Position at Home Institution
Lawrence Grossman, Ph.D. 1989	ICRF	Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA
Graciela Spivak, Ph.D. 1994	ICRF	Research Associate, Stanford University, USA
Juhani Vilpo, M.D. 1994–1995	ICRF	Professor, Haematology, Tampere University Medical School, Finland
Chikahide Masutani, Ph.D. 2003	University of Pittsburgh	Professor Nagoya University, Japan
Stuart Clarkson, Ph.D. 2005	University of Pittsburgh	Professor, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland

Other Members

Name, Prior Degree, Years in Lab	Institution	Current Position
Karen Boulware, B.S., M.B.A. 2008–2017	University of Pittsburgh/MD Anderson	VWR International, Lubbock, Texas
Vaishali Patil, B.S. 2001–2008	University of Pittsburgh	Retired
K. Leslie Powell, B.S. 2012–2014	MD Anderson	Retired
Shelley Reh, B.S., M.S. 2010–2017	MD Anderson	Proofreader/Editor ProofreadingServices.com
Vera Roginskaya, B.S. 2001–2008	University of Pittsburgh	University of Pittsburgh
David Trono, B.S. 2010–2014	MD Anderson	Retired
Megan Lowery, B.S. 2012–2021	MD Anderson	Retired