Principal Investigator

John Blenis, Ph.D.

Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Professor in Cancer Research

Associate Director of Basic Science, The Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center

Professor of Pharmacology

Director, Pharmacology Ph.D. Program

job2064@med.cornell.edu

 

 

Instructors &

Post-Doctoral Associates

 

Bethany Schaffer, Ph.D.

Research Associate

bes2032@med.cornell.edu

 

Bobak Parang, MD, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Division of Hematology and Oncology

bop9014@med.cornell.edu

As a member of the Weill Cornell Medicine faculty, Dr. Parang is a physician-scientist whose clinical and scientific research interests are focused on lung cancer drug resistance and metastases. In particular, he is working on overcoming drug resistance in EGFR-driven lung cancers.  He received a K08 Career Development award in 2024 to continue his work on lung cancer.

 

Guillermo Burgos Barragan, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Associate

gbb4001@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Barragan’s research focuses on understanding and exploiting the connection between metabolism and DNA stability in cancer. He is developing a novel therapeutic strategy that uses high doses of vitamins to selectively eliminate cancer cells by generating metabolic genotoxins. Additionally, Guillermo is investigating how vitamin deficiencies contribute to cancer development. In 2024, he was awarded the Idea Development Award from the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program and an R03 grant from the National Cancer Institute to support his work. 

 

Jacob Cecil, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Associate

jhc4005@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Cecil's research focuses on the fundamental processes regulating cell growth through mitogenic signaling, specifically via the mTORC1 pathway. In particular, his project seeks to explore new roles for kinase signaling in the process of ribosome biogenesis.


 

Long He, Ph.D.

 

Nikos Koundouros, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Associate

nik4009@med.cornell.edu

As a Charles H. Revson Fellow in the Blenis Lab, Dr. Koundouros work focuses on delineating the mechanisms through which breast cancer cells sense and utilize dietary essential fatty acids to fuel their growth and proliferation. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop personalized therapeutic strategies that combine nutritional and pharmacological interventions to exploit these genetic and metabolic interactions.

 

Shuchen Liu

Post-Doctoral Associate

shl2044@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Liu is a postdoctoral researcher who focuses on steroidogenesis during cancer metastasis, with a particular interest on breast cancer. Her research aims to investigate glucocorticoids regulation, androgenic and estrogenic the conversion in cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and to uncover the underlying mechanisms and downstream pathways involved.

 

Michal Nagiec, Ph.D.

Instructor

min2015@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Nagiec is a cell biologist with training in pharmacology that is interested in the fundamental questions of how cells process information and produce appropriate responses. He is particularly interested in how metastatic cancer cells balance proliferation with the ability to migrate and how these cells adapt to stresses associated with tumor spread. The goal of his research is to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in processes unique to metastatic cells for therapeutic benefit.

 

Sungyun Cho, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Associate

sch2004@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Cho is a postdoctoral researcher focused on understanding how cellular signaling regulates RNA biogenesis, including processes such as RNA splicing and epitranscriptomic modification. His work specifically investigates the roles of mTORC1 and SRPK2 signaling pathways, which are highly active in cancers, and how they influence RNA splicing to mediate resistance to immuno- and chemotherapy in cancer treatment.

 

Zhongchi Li, Ph.D.

Instructor

zhl4003@med.cornell.edu

With comprehensive training in aging biology and physiology, Dr. Li is focused on understanding how age-related metabolic dysfunction contributes to cancer progression. In particular, his research explores how propionate metabolism influences both tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment, driving therapy resistance and metastasis. Dr. Li has been recognized for his work with the Glenn Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship and a K99/R00 Career Development Award from the NIA.