Dr. Aakrosh Ratan is an Associate Professor at the Genome Sciences, Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia. He received a Master of Science in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore, and a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering, from Pennsylvania State University. His group’s primary research focus is cancer genomics. With his team, Aakrosh develops and applies statistical and computational solutions to understand the mutations that contribute to the pathogenesis of various cancers. His research entwines genetics and genomics techniques with computer science to develop new ways of gaining insight into genome biology, the genetic basis of traits, and evolution.
Dr. Bodour Salhia is a translational genomics scientist with extensive knowledge and expertise in mechanisms that underlie tumorigenesis and tumor biology. She merges cutting-edge genomics/epigenomics analyses with cell biological and functional studies to investigate clinically relevant problems in human cancer. During her graduate training, she focused on understanding the molecular and cellular determinants of glioma invasion. Her post-doctoral work focused on the genomics and epigenomics of breast cancer metastasis and multiple myeloma. She also characterized the function of AKT1(E17K) in breast cancer and performed an immunophenotypic analysis of breast cancer in North Africa. She has led and continues to lead numerous DNA methylation studies using a plethora of both array and sequencing-based technologies to measure whole genome and targeted CpG methylation changes in a variety of cancer types. Dr. Salhia utilizes these data to develop DNA methylation liquid biopsies. Her lab is in the process of validating a DNA methylation liquid biopsy for breast cancer recurrence which would indicate patients with evidence of micrometastatic residual disease that are therefore likely to experience a recurrence. Dr. Salhia’s lab also has research efforts in experimental therapeutics of brain metastasis by utilizing patient-derived xenografts and cell lines to identify novel treatment methods for this dismal disease.
Dr. Bryce M. Paschal is the Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia. He received his PhD in Medical Science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and his Postdoc in Cell Biology at The Scripps Research Institute. His research interests include Nuclear Transport, Signaling, and Cancer. His laboratory studies how nuclear transport and signal transduction control the compartmentalization and activity of transcription factors, particularly in the context of prostate cancer. A major focus of these studies is the androgen receptor (AR), a steroid hormone receptor critical for prostate cell growth. Translocation of AR through the nuclear pore complex (NPC) relies on features common to most nuclear transport pathways: (i) the use of nuclear import or export signals; (ii) the recognition of these signals by receptors that mediate translocation through the NPC; and (iii) RanGTPase-dependent assembly and disassembly of transport complexes.
