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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Signal Transduction and Cancer

The Training Program in Signal Transduction and Cancer enables four postdoctoral fellows per year to receive state-of-the-art training in signal transduction pathways and the role of aberrant signaling pathways in human cancer. Trainees receive two years of funding to conduct research to investigate the mechanism by which cytokines, growth factors and receptors control cell fate, transformation, metastasis and cell growth. This training program's preceptors are well-established Northwestern University investigators with NIH-funded research programs on either the Evanston or Chicago campuses.

In addition to laboratory research, the program includes an educational curriculum:

  • Mini Series on Signaling in Cancer
  • Core Competencies in Presentation Skills, Communication, Grant Writing
  • Cancer Research Journal Club
  • Annual presentations
  • Responsible Conduct of Research
The Training Program in Signal Transduction and Cancer is funded by the National Cancer Institute as an Institutional National Research Award (NRSA T32). In addition to the NRSA stipend, trainees receive an allocation for supplies, travel and health insurance. For information, contact Robin Leikin, PhD.

Program Directors

Leonidas C. Platanias, MD, PhD
Program Director
Professor, Department of Medicine
Director, Lurie Cancer Center
Signal transduction molecules

Marcus Peter, PhD
Co-Director
Professor, Department of Medicine
Micro RNAs in cancer progression

Robin Leikin, PhD
Administrative Director
Research Assistant Professor, Lurie Cancer Center

Program Faculty

Sarki Abdulkadir, MD, PhD
Professor of Urology
Molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer progression

Atique Ahmed, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery
Therapy resistance and recurrence in brain tumors 

Irina Balyasnikova, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery
Engineered antibodies for therapy of brain tumors 

Serdar Bulun, MD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Estrogen receptor action in breast cancer tissue

Debabrata Chakravarti, PhD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Transcriptional regulation of hormone signaling

Navdeep Chandel, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Mitochondria signaling and cancer

Shi-Yuan Cheng, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology
Signaling pathways in brain tumors

Elizabeth Eklund, MD
Professor of Medicine
Signaling pathways in myeloid leukemias

Kathleen Green, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology
Cell adhesion molecules

 

Amy Heimberger, MD
Professor of Neurosurgery
Signaling pathways in glioblastoma

Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Neurological Surgery
Molecular alterations in glioblastoma

Peng Ji, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology
Signaling pathways in erythroid cells

Maciej Lesniak, MD
Professor and Chair, Neurological Surgery
Novel approaches for treating brain tumors

Daniela Matei, MD
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ovarian cancer metastasis

Richard Morimoto, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular Bioscience
Heat shock proteins

Hidayatullah Munshi, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Tumor cell invasion and matrix metalloproteinases

Ali Shilatifard, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Molecular mechanisms of leukemogenesis

Jennifer Wu, PhD
Professor of Urology
Mechanisms of prostate cancer immune evasion

Feng Yue, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
AI and impact of genetic variants in human cancers

 

Junior Preceptors

Jason Miska, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery
Metabolism and immune suppression in glioblastoma

Adam Sonabend, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery
Signaling pathways and novel immunotherapy for brain tumors

Marie Pier Tetreault, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Inflammatory signaling pathways in esophageal cancer

Current Trainees

othman

Ahmad Othman, PhD

Swaroop

Alok Swaroop, MD, PhD

Billingham

Leah Billingham, PhD