Career Enhancement Program
Director: Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Director: Elizabeth Jaffee, M.D. (Johns Hopkins)
The Career Enhancement Program (CEP) is designed to identify, recruit and mentor junior scientists, including underrepresented investigators (minorities and women), for performing translational research in pancreatic (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma) and colorectal cancer (colorectal cancer). Fellowship training for physicians in gastrointestinal oncology and gastrointestinal pathology usually emphasizes clinical care and clinical trials. Both clinical and laboratory-based researchers are eligible for funding providing that they are proposing projects that are translational in nature.
Awardees
2023-2024
Michael White, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Colon and Rectal Surgery
Defining and optimizing local control of colorectal carcinomatosis
Yang Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, General Oncology
Single-cell genomics and transgenic mouse models to target collagen-responsive mechanism in pancreatic cancer
Beth Helmink, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology
The influence of the peritoneal immune response in colorectal cancer
Vincent Bernard-Pagan, M.D., Ph.D.
Resident, Radiation Oncology
Modulation of ferroptosis as a mechanism of radioresistance in colorectal cancer
Daniel Zabransky, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cellular Oncology, Johns Hopkins University
The aged pancreas microenvironment drives immune evasion in pancreatic cancer
2022-2023
Benny Johnson, D.O.
Assistant Professor, GI Medical Oncology
SX-682 with Nivolumab for RAS mutated MSS Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Kaysia Ludford, M.D.
Assistant Professor, General Oncology
Assessing and Implementing Universal Germline Testing among Underserved Patients with Young Onset Colorectal Cancer
Fredrik Thege, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Translational Molecular Pathology
Enhanced T-Cell Anti-Tumor Activity in PDAC using CRISPR Activation Screening
Yongkun Wei, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cellular Oncology
Combination of EZH2 Inhibitor with Anti-TIGIT Antibody for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
Erik Christenson, M.D.
Instructor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University
Use of FAK Inhibition to Prevent Pancreatic Cancer Resistance to VS-6766
2021-2022
Timothy Newhook, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology
Risk-Stratified Adjuvant Therapy: ctDNA-Directed Post-Hepatectomy Chemotherapy For Patients With Resectable Colorectal Liver Metastases
Sonja Woermann, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Nutrition
Deciphering treatment vulnerabilities for APOBEC3A high and CIN prone PDACs
Jihye Yun, Ph.D. – Baylor College of Medicine
Assistant Professor, Molecular and Human Genetics
Effects of sugary drinks on gut microbiota and colon tumorigenesis
Jackie Zimmerman, M.D., Ph.D. – Johns Hopkins University
Medical Oncology Fellow, Oncology
MicroRNA-21 as a novel mechanism to intercept pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis and progression
2020–2021
Marina Baretti, M.D. – Johns Hopkins University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Oncology
Harnessing HDAC inhibition to sensitize PDA to immunotherapy
Caleb Bashor, Ph.D. – Rice University
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
Engineering therapeutic sense-and-response behavior to enhance the safety and efficacy of NK cell-based treatment of colorectal cancer
Dadi Jiang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Pharmacological Targeting of the IRE1-XBP1 Pathway for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy
Jason Willis, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor, Clinical Cancer Prevention
Assessment of germline and sporadic molecular profiles of non-Caucasian early onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC)
Jihye Yun, Ph.D. – Baylor College of Medicine
Assistant Professor, Molecular and Human Genetics
Effects of sugary drinks on gut microbiota and colon tumorigenesis
2019-2020
Gretchen Diehl, Ph.D. – Baylor College of Medicine
Assistant Professor, Molecular Virology and Microbiology
Role for microbiota in intestinal tumorigenesis through regulation of tissue macrophage function
Won Jin Ho, Ph.D. – Johns Hopkins University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Oncology
PTPN22 as a novel immunotherapy target in PDACs
Van Morris, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
Humanized patient-derived xenografts; a co-clinical trial for MSS, BRAF V600E CRC
Christine Parseghian, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
Overcoming acquired resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
John Paul Shen, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
Subtype Specific Vulnerabilities in Colorectal Cancer: A Functional Genomic Approach