Ramon Sun, Ph.D., a leading biochemist and molecular biologist specializing in metabolism and spatial biology, has been named co-leader of the UF Health Cancer Institute’s Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) research program.
With 74 members across eight UF colleges, the MOO research program aims to understand how normal cells undergo complex changes leading to cancer. It focuses on epigenetics, RNA cancer biology and the biology of solid tumors prevalent in the UF Health Cancer Institute’s catchment area like lung and breast cancer. Sun, a professor in the UF Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, will co-lead the program with Lizi Wu, Ph.D.
“Dr. Sun’s expertise and standing in the field of spatial metabolomics, a rapidly growing research area in cancer and many other human diseases, will extend our highly productive and integrated MOO program,” said Rolf Renne, Ph.D., the institute’s associate director for basic sciences.
Sun said he is looking forward to bringing technologies and innovations in the spatial metabolomics program and beyond into the Cancer Institute and working on a larger scale with many of the investigators to push forward preclinical and translational research programs.
“We have advanced skills in AI-driven single-cell metabolomics and spatial metabolomics techniques in biological research, and we’re the largest center of its kind in North America,” said Sun, who directs the Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research, which serves five UF colleges and over 100 institutions around the world. “We’re going to bring that into the Cancer Institute and expand collaborations in this arena.”
Sun completed his doctorate in biochemistry and cancer biology at the Australian National University in 2010, followed by a postdoc at Stanford in cancer metabolism and a second postdoc in mass spectrometry at the University of Kentucky. Sun started his first lab at Kentucky, then joined UF in 2022.
His multidisciplinary research focuses on understanding physiology, cellular metabolism and signaling, particularly in brain cancer, lung cancer and pediatric sarcomas, as well as neurological diseases. His multidisciplinary research program focuses on spatial biology, spatial metabolomics and AI-driven systems biochemistry, with a central mission of curing human disease through discovery science and novel therapeutic strategies.
“The combination of Drs. Sun and Wu as leaders of this amazing research program will significantly enhance the impact of cancer discoveries and represents the kind of cross-departmental, university-wide research that our Uniquely UF faculty and technologies bring to our Cancer Institute mission,” said Thomas George, M.D., FACP, FASCO, the institute’s interim director.
With Matthew Gentry, Ph.D., Sun recently led the first study of the association between lung cancer and poor diet at an NCI-designated cancer center. He’s also advancing a potential treatment for cancer and dementia using exercise — essentially bottling its benefits in a pill.
Sun already has at least a dozen collaborations with researchers in the MOO program. Along with a leadership role at the McKnight Brain Institute, he aims to continue to drive cross-campus collaborations and work toward interdisciplinary scientific breakthroughs.
“I’m envisioning a lot more collaborations and integration in the metabolism space and bringing unique technologies, expertise and different research perspectives into the Cancer Institute,” Sun said.
Sun takes the leadership position as Weizhou Zhang, Ph.D., transitions to co-leader of the Immuno-Oncology and Microenvironment (IOM) research program. Zhang is filling that role as Christian Jobin, Ph.D., departs UF for another position.
