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Juan Arroyo Ornelas, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine

Juan Arroyo Ornelas, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine

juan.p.arroyo@vumc.org

Research Program

Have any questions? Contact Us 1-877-936-8422 for more information

RESEARCH THEMES

The Cancer Cell Biology program is organized into four groups with common research interests:

Identifying how changes in key cell cycle proteins help tumor cells escape the typical response of cell death and lead to uncontrollable growth

Finding and developing compounds that inhibit key drivers of cancer formation

Combining ‘big data’ experimental approaches to understand the changes in signaling networks that drive cancer formation

Determining how cancer-initiating stem cells continuously renew and seed distant sites to promote metastasis, and understanding the role of these cells in resistance to chemotherapies

Cancer Cell Biology Research Program

The pathways that send chemical signals from the cell surface to the nucleus are major targets of genotype-driven therapies for cancer. The Cancer Cell Biology Research Program aims to better understand how changes in tumor cells alter these signaling networks, and to identify—or create—molecules that target these pathways as potential new therapies for cancer.

Meet the Program Members

The Cancer Cell Biology program, co-led by Jin Chen, MD, PhD, and Katrin Karbstein, PhD, is an active group of more than 40 basic, translational, and clinical scientists whose goal is to understand how signaling networks control cell proliferation and function, to identify drug leads, and to develop new cancer therapeutics.

Andreana Holowatyj, Ph.D., M.Sc

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine
  • Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology

Phone

615-322-0105

Email

andreana.holowatyj@vumc.org
2525 West End Avenue
Suite 334-G
Nashville, TN 37232

Andreana Holowatyj, Ph.D., M.Sc

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine
  • Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology

615-322-0105

andreana.holowatyj@vumc.org

2525 West End Avenue
Suite 334-G
Nashville, TN 37232

Research Program

Research Description

Have any questions? Contact Us 1-877-936-8422 for more information

Brianna Smith, M.D., M.S.

  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology

Brianna Smith, M.D., M.S.

  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology

brianna.n.smith@vumc.org

Research Program

Have any questions? Contact Us 1-877-936-8422 for more information
This phase III trial compares the effect of usual treatment of chemotherapy and steroids and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) to the same treatment plus blinatumomab. Blinatumomab is a Bi-specific T-Cell Engager (BiTE) that may interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. The information gained from this study may help researchers determine if combination therapy with steroids, TKIs, and blinatumomab work better than the standard of care.

Kaitlyn Ledwitch, PhD

  • Research Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Kaitlyn Ledwitch, PhD

  • Research Assistant Professor of Chemistry

k.ledwitch@vanderbilt.edu

Research Program

Have any questions? Contact Us 1-877-936-8422 for more information
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