Overview
The Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program promotes collaborative science focused on the interplay between metabolic and proliferative signaling networks, genetic and epigenetic regulations, and the tumor microenvironment.
Spanning basic and clinical science, the program's research outcomes include identifying new markers and targets to improve cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
The program has four primary themes:
- Cancer Cell Metabolism
- Cell Survival and Death Mechanisms
- Mechanisms of lnvasion and Metastasis
- Gene Regulation
Training Tomorrow's Cancer Researchers
Many members of the Cell and Molecular Biology Research program mentor students admitted to Emory University's Cancer Biology Graduate Program, providing outstanding training opportunities in every aspect of cancer research, from basic to translational.
Publications
Cancer Molecular Biology program members continuously publish high-quality research in premier scientific journals.
Publications | Publication Date |
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Program Leaders

Wei Zhou, PhD
- Leader, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
- Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Dr. Zhou's research focuses on molecular genetics of human cancer.

Cheng-Kui Qu, MD, PhD
- Co-Leader, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
- Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Dr. Qu's research focus includes cell signaling and metabolic regulation of normal hematopoietic stem cells and leukemic stem cells.
All Program Members
- Di (Andy) Ai, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Malak Abed AlThgafi, MD, MBA
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Rebecca S. Arnold, PhD, MS
- Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Waitmann K. Aumann, MD, MS
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Julia Babensee, PhD
- Associate Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Sunil S. Badve, MD, FRCPath
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Kim Baek, PhD, MS
- Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Armita Bahrami, MD
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Benjamin G. Barwick, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Charlie Garnett Benson, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Georgia State University
- Lawrence Boise, PhD
- Associate Director for Education and Training, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Kevin Bunting, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Jaideep Chaudhary, PhD
- Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Clark Atlanta University
- Inyeong Choi, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Anita H. Corbett, PhD
- Samuel C. Dobbs Professor, Department of Biology, Emory College of Arts and Sciences
- Victor Corces, PhD
- Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Ahmet F. Coskun, PhD
- Bernie-Marcus Early-Career Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Sayantan Datta, MSc, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine
- George Deeb, MD
- William S. Dynan, PhD
- Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Yue Feng, MD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Laura Finzi, PhD
- Professor, Department of Physics, Emory College of Arts & Sciences
- Jatin S. Gandhi, MBBS, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Homa Ghalei, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine
- Melissa Gilbert-Ross, PhD
- Scientific Director, Cancer Animal Models Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Sandra Gjorgova Gjeorgjievski, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Adam D. Gracz, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Karmella A. Haynes, PhD
- Associate Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Peijian He, PhD, MS
- Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Cimona V. Hinton, PhD
- Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development, Clark Atlanta University
- Andrew L. Hong, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics , Emory University School of Medicine
- Takahiro Ito, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia
- Shu Jia, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Yi Jiang, PhD
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Emory University
- Peng Jin, PhD
- Professor and Chair, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Dean Jones, PhD
- Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine , Emory University School of Medicine
- Richard A. Kahn, PhD, MS
- Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine
- Daniel Kalman, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Stefan Kaluz, PhD
- Instructor, Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine
- Sumin Kang, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- David J. Katz, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- William G. Kelly, PhD
- Professor, Department of Biology, Emory University
- Melissa Lambeth Kemp, PhD
- Carol Ann and David D. Flanagan Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Anna M. Kenney, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Aparna Kesarwala, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Shafiq Khan, PhD
- Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Clark Atlanta University
- Alyssa M. Krasinskas, MD
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Sandeep Kumar, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Joseph Lachance, PhD
- Assistant Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
- J. David Lambeth, MD, PhD
- Professor Emeritus, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Soojung Lee, PhD
- Research Scientist II, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University School of Medicine
- Dorothy A. Lerit, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Xiaoxian (Bill) Li, MD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Kirill S. Lobachev, PhD, MS
- Associate Professor, School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Daniel Lubin, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Tobey J. MacDonald, MD
- Director, Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program, Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
- Zixu Mao, MD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Adam Marcus, PhD
- Deputy Director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Morgan L. McLemore, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Haider A. Mejbel, MD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Kenneth H. Moberg, PhD
- Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Edward S. Mocarski, PhD
- Robert W. Woodruff Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Carlos S. Moreno, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Rita Nahta, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Nawazish Naqvi, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Stewart G. Neill, MD, MS
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Ilya Nemenman, PhD, MS
- Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Emory University
- John M. Nickerson, PhD
- Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Shoichiro Ono, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Alexandre Orthwein, PhD, MSc
- Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- David C. Pallas, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine
- Mihir R. Patel, MD
- Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Deniz Peker, MD
- Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Christopher C. Porter, MD
- Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Maureen A. Powers, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Zhaohui "Steve" Qin, PhD, MS
- Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- Cheng-Kui Qu, MD, PhD
- Co-Leader, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Renee Read, PhD
- Assistant Director for Basic Research and Shared Resources, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Leila Rieder, PhD, MA
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Emory College of Arts and Sciences
- Brian S. Robinson, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Khalid Salaita, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Emory University
- Lindsey Seldin, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Vahid Serpooshan, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Nicholas T. Seyfried, PhD
- Director, Emory Integrated Proteomics Core, Emory University School of Medicine
- Suma Shankar, MD, PhD
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Malathy Shanmugam, PhD, MS
- Associate Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Qiuying Shi, MD, MS
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Steven Sloan, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Jennifer M. Spangle, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Ryan J. Summers, MD
- Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Shi-Yong Sun, PhD
- Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Daniel Sussman, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Emory College of Arts & Sciences
- Yong Teng, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Denis Tsygankov, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Gulisa Turashvili, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Yong Wan, PhD
- Director for Basic Research, Glenn Family Breast Center, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Zhengqi Wang, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Qun Wang, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Erica Werner, PhD
- Assistant Research Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- William R. Wilcox, MD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Hao Wu, PhD, MHS, MS
- Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Chunhui Xu, PhD
- Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Bing Yao, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
- David Yu, MD, PhD
- Jerome Landry MD Chair of Cancer Biology and Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Jindan Yu, MD, PhD
- Scientific Director, Prostate and GU Cancer Research, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Chang-Hyon Chris Yun, PhD
- Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Digestive Diseases , Emory University School of Medicine
- Linsheng Zhang, MD, PhD
- Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Wei Zheng, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
- Wei Zhou, PhD
- Leader, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Muxiang Zhou , MD
- Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
- Cheng Zhu, PhD, MS
- J. Erskine Love Jr. Endowed Chair in Engineering Regents' Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
- Yueming Zhu, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
- Dan Zhu, PhD
- Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine