The mission of the Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) program at the University of Florida Health Cancer Center (UFHCC) is to understand how normal cells undergo complex changes leading to cancer. The scientific objectives of the MOO program are to elucidate the deregulated genetic and epigenetic events that drive tumor initiation and progression and develop new cancer targeting strategies. The research aims focus on identifying and characterizing genetic and epigenetic alterations, elucidating the role of noncoding RNAs in cancer, studying oncogenic mechanisms of DNA tumor viruses, and translating MOO discovery to novel therapeutic approaches.
Aims
The long-term goal of these aims is to develop rational bases for combining interventions using these targets in a patient-specific, precision medicine manner, and to translate them into novel therapeutic approaches.
Program Co-leaders
Learn more about Drs. Lizi Wu and Rolf Renne.
Program Members
To request an update, please email ResearchAdmin@cancer.ufl.edu.
| Name | myNCBI Link | Research Program | Title | Department | Lab Page | College | Research Interest Topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maria Zajac-Kaye, PhD | myNCBI | Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response (CTHR); Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Angiogenesis; Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; Drug Design; Endocrine; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gene Therapy | |
Piyush Jain, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Chemical Engineering | Lab | Engineering | Cancer Genetics; DNA Damage & Repair; DNA Recombination; DNA Replication; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gene Therapy; Nanotechnology; Noninvasive Imaging/Tomography; RNA Processing; Targeted Cancer Therapy |
Jia Chang, DDS | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Periodontology | Dentistry | Bone & Soft Tissue (Sarcoma); Bioinformatics; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation; Stem Cell; Biostatistics; Angiogenesis | |
Ryan Kolb, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Targeted Cancer Therapy; Vascular Targeting; Breast; Angiogenesis; Drug Resistance; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Immunotherapy; Kidney |
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Jason Brant, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Research Assistant Professor | Biostatistics | Public Health & Health Professions | Bioinformatics; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation | ||
Kethandapatti Balaji, MD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Urology | Medicine | Genital-Urinary/Prostate; Kidney; Nanotechnology; Surgical Oncology | ||
Zsolt Toth, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Oral Biology | Lab | Dentistry | Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Infection Control; Lymphoma; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation; RNA Processing; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions |
Bernadett Papp, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Oral Biology | Lab | Dentistry | Bioinformatics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Stem Cell; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host interactions |
Xin Tang, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Angiogenesis; Breast; Epigenetics & Cancer; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Immunotherapy; Integrative Medicine; Metastasis; Nanotechnology; Noninvasive Imaging/Tomography; Vascular Targeting | ||
Walter Murfee, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Biomedical Engineering | Lab | Engineering | Angiogenesis; Stem Cell; Targeted Cancer Therapy; Vascular Targeting |
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Tamer Kahveci, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Computer & Information Science & Engineering | Lab | Engineering | Bioinformatics | |
Valerie De Crecy Lagard, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Microbiology & Cell Science | Agricultural & Life Sciences | Cell Signaling Pathways |
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Julie Maupin, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Microbiology & Cell Science | Agricultural & Life Sciences | Microbiology; Cell Signaling Pathways | |
Charles Baer, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Biology | Lab | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Evolutionary Biology; Population Genetics; Quantitative Genetics | |
Libin Rong, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Mathematics | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Epidemiology |
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Alberto Perez, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Chemistry | Lab | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Bioinformatics; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation |
Margaret (Peggy) Wallace, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Lab | Medicine | Bone & Soft Tissue Sarcomas; Breast; Cancer Genetics; DNA Damage & Repair; Epigenetics & Cancer; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Head & Neck; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Skin/Melanoma; Vascular Targeting |
Daiqing Liao, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Chemotherapy; Drug Design; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genital-Urinary/Prostate; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | |
Alexander Ishov, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Breast; Prostate; Cancer Genetics; Chemotherapy; Epigenetics & Cancer | |
Rene Opavsky, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Leukemia; Lymphoma | |
Shuang Huang, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Breast; Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Design; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Gynecological; Metastasis; MicroRNAs; RNA Processing | |
Rui Xiao, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Aging & Geriatric Research | Medicine | Transcription Factors; Aging; Cellular Stress Response; Sensory Modulation of Aging; Environmental Factors | |
Jianrong Lu, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Medicine | Angiogenesis; Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Metastasis; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation | |
Jorg Bungert, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Lab | Medicine | Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant |
Michael Kladde, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Lab | Medicine | Cancer Epigenetics; Colorectal & Breast Cancer; Glioblastoma; Cell Signaling Pathways |
Mingyi Xie, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Lab | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; MicroRNAs; RNA Processing; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions |
Patrick Concannon, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine | Lab | Medicine | Medicine; Breast; Diabetes | |
Jonathan Licht, MD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Medicine- Hematology & Oncology | Lab | Medicine | DNA Damage & Repair; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Leukemia; Lymphoma |
Gary Wang, MD, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Medicine-Infectious Disease & Global Medicine | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Gene Therapy; Liver | ||
Richard Bennett, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Research Assistant Professor | Medicine-Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation; RNA Processing; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | ||
David Bloom, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer; Oncolytic Viral Vectors; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | ||
Rolf Renne, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Lab | Medicine | Noncoding RNAs; Cell Signaling Pathways; Lymphoma; Skin/Melanoma; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions |
Scott Tibbetts, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Lab | Medicine | Virology/Virus-Host Interactions; Noncoding RNAs; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunotherapy; Infection Control; Leukemia; Lymphoma; MicroRNAs; Stem Cell; Tumor |
Lizi Wu, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Breast; Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Noncoding RNAs; Drug Design; Epigenetics & Cancer; Gynecological; Leukemia; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | |
Lei Zhou, PhD, BMed | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Apoptosis & Cell Death Pathways; Bioinformatics; Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Radiation Oncology; Senescence; Genetic Cancer animal models | ||
Olga Guryanova, MD, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | 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 | |
Arun Srivastava, PhD, BSc, MSc | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Pediatrics | Lab | Medicine | Gene Therapy; AAV Biology; Liver; Stem Cell; Targeted Cancer Therapy; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions |
Sergei Zolotukhin, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Pediatrics | Lab | Medicine | AAV Biology; Cancer Gene Therapy |
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Nadja Makki, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Lab | Medicine | Epigenetics & Gene Regulation |
Melike Caglayan, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Lab | Medicine | Chemotherapy; DNA Damage & Repair; DNA Replication; Drug Design |
Zhijian Qian, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Medicine- Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Stem Cell | ||
Weizhou Zhang, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Angiogenesis; Breast; Immunoregulation & Suppression; Tumor Immunology & Immunotherapy | |
Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh, MD, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Chief & Associate Professor | Pediatrics- Infectious Diseases | Medicine | Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; DNA Replication; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | ||
Kristianna Fredenburg, MD, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Head & Neck; microRNAs; cancer disparities | ||
Yehia Daaka, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Anatomy & Cell Biology | Medicine | Androgen receptors; Human pathophysiology receptors | |
Thomas Schmittgen, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Chair & Professor | Pharmaceutics | Lab | Pharmacy | Cancer Genetics; Drug Design; Gastro-Intestinal; Head & Neck; Health Disparities; Liver; MicroRNAs; Nanotechnology | |
Chenglong Li, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Medicinal Chemistry | Pharmacy | Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Design; Drug Resistance; Epigenetics & Cancer; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Immunotherapy; Neuro-Oncology; Pediatric Oncology; Stem Cell; Targeted Cancer Therapy | ||
Daohong Zhou, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Pharmacodynamics | Pharmacy | Drug Design; Cell Signaling Pathways |
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Susmita Datta, PhD, MBA, MS | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Biostatistics | Public Health & Health Professions | Bioinformatics; RNA processing | ||
George Michailidis, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Informatics Institute | Public Health & Health Professions | Bioinformatics & Biostatistics |
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Rhonda Bacher, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Biostatistics | Public Health & Health Professions | Bioinformatics; Biostatistics | |
Juan Guan, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Physics | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; DNA Damage & Repair; Drug Design; Nanotechnology | |
Matthew Eddy, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Chemistry | Liberal Arts & Sciences | ||
Zhe Ma, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Lab | Medicine | |
Robert McKenna, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Biochemistry & molecular Biology | Lab | Medicine | Targeted Cancer Therapy; Gene Therapy; Oncolytic Viral Vectors |
Frederic Kaye, MD | Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response (CTHR); Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Medicine- Hematology & Oncology | Medicine | Cancer Genetics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Head & Neck; Lung; Thoracic Oncology; Oncolytic Viral Vectors | ||
Meghan Ferrall-Fairbanks, PhD | myNCBI | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Biomedical Engineering | Engineering | Breast; Drug Resistance; Gynecological; Health Disparities; Hematologic Malignancies/Blood & Marrow Transplant; Kidney; Leukemia; Metastasis | |
Sara Falzarano, MD, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Clinical Associate Professor | Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Cancer; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Genetic Determinants of Cancer; Genital-Urinary/Prostate; Kidney | ||
Kiley Graim, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Computer and Information Science and Engineering | Engineering | Bioinformatics; Genetic Determinants of Cancer |
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Lauren McIntyre, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Professor | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Biostatistics; Cancer Genetics; Epigenetics & Gene Regulation; Nanotechnology; RNA Processing; Structural Virology | ||
Purushottam Dixit, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Physics | Liberal Arts & Sciences | Bioinformatics; Cell Signaling Pathways; Drug Resistance |
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Timothy Garrett, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Associate Professor | Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Bioinformatics; Breast; Cancer Surveillance; Genital-Urinary/Prostate; Kidney; Tumor Virology/Virus-Host Interactions | ||
Oleksandr Kondratov, PhD | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics | Medicine | Epigenetics & Cancer; Gene Therapy | ||
Ernesto Martinez Duarte, MD, MPH | Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) | Clinical Assistant Professor | Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | Medicine | Cancer Susceptibility; Cell Signaling Pathways; Epigenetics & Cancer; Head & Neck |