Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO)
Mission
The mission of the Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) program is to define the molecular pathways by which normal cells transform to neoplasia in order to identify new methods of cancer prevention and treatment.
Aims
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Elucidate the origins of neoplastic genomic and epigenomic instability
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Define the role of regulatory RNAs in oncogenisis
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Illuminate the aberrant cell signaling pathways leading to neoplastic transformation
Interim Program Leader
Rolf Renne, Ph.D.
Rolf Renne, Ph.D., is the interim program leader of the Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) program.
For nearly 13 years, Dr. Renne has served as a professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of molecular genetics and microbiology, studying the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus — which has been his research focus since 1995. His laboratory uses genomics, genetics and ribonomics approaches to study how virally-encoded genes and microRNAs contribute to KSHV biology and tumorigenesis.
Dr. Renne received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany. He performed most of his Ph.D. thesis work at UC Davis with Dr. Paul Luciw in the field of retrovirology. Next, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Don Ganem at UCSF where he contributed to early work on establishing tissue culture models for KSHV, which had recently been identified as the causative pathogen for Kaposi sarcoma in patients with AIDS.
In 1999, he joined the faculty at Case Western Reserve University, where he focused on molecular aspects such as the role of the KSHV latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) in DNA binding and latent DNA replication. He established the only available Kaposi sarcoma xenograft model. In 2004, he moved to UF where his laboratory was one of four worldwide to sequence and identify KSHV-encoded microRNAs.
The unifying goal of Dr. Renne’s research has been to achieve a deeper understanding of how latent gamma-herpesvirus gene products, including microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, contribute to viral tumorigenesis of AIDS malignancies. His current focus is on epigenetic regulation of viral latency, and the role of long and small non-coding RNAs in viral biology.
Dr. Renne has been continuously funded by multiple NCI grants since 2004. In 2017, he was awarded a multi-investigator NCI Program Project together with Scott Tibbetts, Ph.D., an associate professor at UF, and Erik Flemington, Ph.D., a professor at Tulane University.
He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Virology and Virology and has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles. In 2009, Dr. Renne co-chaired the 11th International Workshop on KSHV and related agents as well as the 40th International Herpesvirus Workshop in Boise, Idaho in 2015. He serves on multiple NIH special emphasis panels.
Program Members
To request an update, please email ResearchAdmin@cancer.ufl.edu.
| Last Name | Degree(s) | Title | Department | College | Research Interest Topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baer, Charles F. | Ph.D | Assistant Professor | Biology | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Evolutionary Biology; Population Genetics; Quantitative Genetics; Mutation |
Bennett, Richard L. | Ph.D | Research Assistant Professor | Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Leukemia; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation; RNA Processing; and Tumor. |
Berglund, J. Andy | Ph.D | Professor | NeuroGenetics | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Post-Transcriptional; RNA Processing. |
Bloom, David C. | Ph.D | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gene Therapy; miRNAs Oncolytic Viral Vectors; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions |
Brown, Kevin D. | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | |
Bungert, Jorg | Ph.D | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; and Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant. |
Concannon, Patrick | Ph.D | Professor | Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Medicine |
Datta, Susmita | Ph.D | Professor | Biostatistics | Public Health & Health Professions | |
Frost, Susan | Ph.D | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Breast; Chemotherapy; Environment |
Guryanova, Olga | Ph.D, M.D. | Assistant Professor | Pharmacology & Therapeutics | Medicine | Cancer genetics; Cancer Susceptibility; Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Cancer; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Leukemia; Stem Cell. |
Huang, Shuang | Ph.D | Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Breast; Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Design; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gynecological; Metastasis; MicroRNAs; and RNA Processing. |
Ishov, Alexander M. | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Breast; Cancer Genetics; Chemotherapy; Epigenetics & Cancer; Functions of Histone Variants in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer; Chemoresistance in Breast Cancer; Nuclear Structure and Function; Epigenetic Regulation of Gene Expression; Tumor Suppression. |
Jiang, Qiu-Xing | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Microbiology & Cell Science | Agriculture & Life Sciences | Endocrine; Neuroendocrine Cancers; Cancer Genetics; MicroRNAs; Nanotechnology; Structural Biology |
Kaye, Frederic J. | M.D. | Professor | Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Head & Neck; Lung; and Thoracic Oncology. |
Kilberg, Michael S. | Ph.D | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Leukemia; Liver; and Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation. |
Kladde, Michael P. | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Breast; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer. |
Lele, Tanmay P. | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering | Engineering | Angiogenesis; Breast; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; MicroRNAs; Nanotechnology; RNA Processing. |
Li, Chenglong | Ph.D | Professor | Medicinal Chemistry | Pharmacy | Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Design; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Cancer; Hematolog Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunotherapy; Neuro-Oncology; Pediatric Oncology; Stem Cell; Targeted Cancer Therapy. |
Liao, Diaqing | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cancer Metabolism; Cell Signaling Pathways; Chemotherapy; Drug Design; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genital-Urinary/Prostate; Immunoregulation & Suppression; and Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Licht, Jonathan D. | M.D. | Professor | Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | DNA Damage & Repair; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Leukemia; Lymphoma. |
Ling, Chen | Ph.D | Research Assistant Professor | Pediatric Research | Medicine | Gene Therapy |
Lu, Jianrong | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Angiogenesis; Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gene Determinants of Cancer; Metastasis; and Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation. |
Michailidis, George | Ph.D | Professor | Informatics Institute | Public Health & Health Professions | |
Opavsky, Rene | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Leukemia; Lymphoma |
Papp, Bernadett | Ph.D | Research Assistant Professor | Oral Biology | Dentistry | Bioinformatics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Stem Cell; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host interactions |
Qiu, Yi | Ph.D | Assistant Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer |
Renne, Rolf F. | Ph.D | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; Lymphoma; Skin/Melanoma; and Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Srivastava, Arun | Ph.D, BSc, MSc | Professor | Pediatric Research | Medicine | Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Liver; Stem Cell; Targeted Cancer Therapy; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Terada, Naohiro | Ph.D, M.D. | Professor | Pathology | Medicine | Angiogenesis; Cell Signaling Pathways; and Stem Cell. |
Tibbetts, Scott | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gener Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunotherapy; Infection Control; Leukemia; Lymphoma; MicroRNAs; Stem Cell; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Toth, Zsolt | Ph.D | Assistant Professor | Oral Biology | Dentistry | Angiogenesis; Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Infection Control; Lymphoma; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation; RNA Processing; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Wang, Gary P. | Ph.D, M.D. | Associate Professor | Infectious Disease | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Gene Therapy; Liver |
Wu, Lizi | Ph.D | Associate Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; Drug Design; Epigenetics & Cancer; Gynecological; Leukemia; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Xiao, Rui  | PhD | Assistant Professor | Aging & Geriatric Research | Medicine | Transcription Factors; Aging; Cellular Stress Response; Sensory Modulation of Aging; Environmental Factors |
Xie, Mingyi | Ph.D | Assistant Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; MicroRNAs; RNA Processing; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions. |
Yang, Thomas P. | Ph.D | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | |
Zajac-Kaye, Maria | Ph.D | Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Oncogenes & Tumor Suppressor Genes; Pancreatic Cancer; DNA Replication and Repair; Oncolytic Viral Therapy; Lung Cancer; Genetically Engineered Mice Models. |
Zhou, Lei | Ph.D, BMed | Associate Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Bioinformatics; Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Cancer; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Radiation Oncology; Senescence. |
Zolotukhin, Sergei | Ph.D | Professor | Pediatric Research | Medicine | Gene Therapy |
Tang, Xin | Ph.D | Assistant Professor | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Angiogenesis; Breast; Epigenetics & Cancer; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Immunotherapy; Integrative Medicine; Metastasis; Nanotechnology; Noninvasive Imaging/Tomography; Vascular Targeting |