Fred Sanfilippo Visiting Lectureship Program Award Recipients

Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Physiology
Center for Translational Cancer Research
School of Medicine
Texas A&M Health
Bryan, TX

Dr. Chakraborty’s research program is focused on the central theme of inflammation as a prime modulator of pathologies associated with the lymphatic system. The lymphatics have emerged as central players in the regulation of inflammation and immunity yet the precise mechanisms remain undefined. Dr. Chakraborty’s research interests primarily lie in elucidating a number of these inflammatory signaling mechanisms maintaining the balance between normal and disease states using cutting edge molecular biology techniques, cellular, physiological and biochemical tools and ex vivo and in vivo approaches.

Learn more here: https://medicine.tamu.edu/faculty-listings/chakraborty.html

Assistant Professor
Human Biology Division
Clinical Research Division
Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Department of Pathology
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, WA

Dr. Michael Haffner is a physician-scientist who specializes in genitourinary cancers. Dr. Haffner’s research is focused on the cellular changes that allow tumor cells, particularly prostate tumor cells, to metastasize, or spread through the body. Dr. Haffner’s research group studies the cytoskeleton, the protein network that gives cells their shape and size and is involved in nearly every cellular process, from cell division to cell movement. The shape and size of cancer cells often differs from normal cells and these changes may be due to changes in how cells build and organize their cytoskeletons. But how cytoskeletal changes promote tumor progression, including metastasis, remain unclear. Through understanding the connection between the cytoskeleton and cancer, Dr. Haffner aims to identify new targets for future therapies designed to halt advanced prostate cancer.

Learn more here: https://www.fredhutch.org/en/faculty-lab-directory/haffner-michael.html

Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
Harvard Medical School
Associate Pathologist
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Member
The Broad Institute
Boston, MA

Dr. Schaefer’s translational research is focused on the biology, genetics, and molecular mechanisms of sarcomas with the goal to develop novel therapeutics. Dr. Schaefer’s research group employs a combination of genomic, structural, functional, and multiplexed imaging studies to uncover the biologic mechanisms driving sarcoma oncogenesis. A major focus of current research efforts is to decipher the mechanisms of cell cycle perturbation in sarcoma, enabling discovery of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Learn more here: https://schaeferlab.bwh.harvard.edu/

Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, LA

Dr. Yan has a broad background in liver diseases, with specific training and expertise in hepatotoxicity, fatty liver diseases, gut-liver interaction, and laboratory medicine. Dr. Yan’s research includes basic and translational research in alcoholic fatty liver diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, drug-induced liver injury, obesity, and environmental hepatotoxicity. Dr. Yan’s research group has developed effective in vivo animal models and in vitro models, and applies novel techniques including single-cell RNA sequencing, bulk RNA sequencing, metabolome analysis, miRNA array, proteomic analysis, 16S sequencing analysis, and other molecular biology technologies.

Learn more here: https://medicine.tulane.edu/departments/pathology-laboratory-medicine/faculty/shengmin-yan-phd