Taking aim at cancer
“Our Cancer Center is committed to performing impactful translational multi-disciplinary research that addresses unmet clinical needs relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.”
– Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D., Center Director

Achieving our goals through collaboration
Our scientists are always looking for novel ideas, partners and new ways of doing groundbreaking research to target cancer.
Programs
Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program
Understanding the cells that give rise to tumors and the signals allowing them to expand uncontrollably will help us learn how to defeat cancer.
Cell and Molecular Biology of Cancer Program
Insights into the complex system of networks and mechanisms that tumors use to survive and proliferate will lead us to tumor-specific, less toxic therapies.
Aging, Cancer and Immuno-oncology Program
We are studying the interplay among cancer cells, immune cells and their environment to put the brakes on cancer.
Publications
PRMT5 control of cGAS/STING and NLRC5 pathways defines melanoma response to antitumor immunity.
Kim H, Kim H, Feng Y, Li Y, Tamiya H, Tocci S, Ronai ZA
Sci Transl Med 2020 Jul 8 ;12(551)
Inhibition of Nuclear Pore Complex Formation Selectively Induces Cancer Cell Death.
Sakuma S, Raices M, Borlido J, Guglielmi V, Zhu EYS, D'Angelo MA
Cancer Discov 2021 Jan ;11(1):176-193
Golgi Acidification by NHE7 Regulates Cytosolic pH Homeostasis in Pancreatic Cancer Cells.
Galenkamp KMO, Sosicka P, Jung M, Recouvreux MV, Zhang Y, Moldenhauer MR, Brandi G, Freeze HH, Commisso C
Cancer Discov 2020 Jun ;10(6):822-835
Induction of the activating transcription factor-4 in the intratumoral CD8+ T cells sustains their viability and anti-tumor activities.
Lu Z, Bae EA, Verginadis II, Zhang H, Cho C, McBrearty N, George SS, Diehl JA, Koumenis C, Bradley LM, Fuchs SY
Cancer Immunol Immunother 2022 Sep 5 ;
"A novel serum extracellular vesicle protein signature to monitor glioblastoma tumor progression".
Tzaridis T, Weller J, Bachurski D, Shakeri F, Schaub C, Hau P, Buness A, Schlegel U, Steinbach JP, Seidel C, Goldbrunner R, Schäfer N, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Hallek M, Scheffler B, Glas M, Haeberle L, Herrlinger U, Coch C, Reiners KS, Hartmann G
Int J Cancer 2022 Aug 27 ;
Origin of cytoplasmic GDP-fucose determines its contribution to glycosylation reactions.
Sosicka P, Ng BG, Pepi LE, Shajahan A, Wong M, Scott DA, Matsumoto K, Xia ZJ, Lebrilla CB, Haltiwanger RS, Azadi P, Freeze HH
J Cell Biol 2022 Oct 3 ;221(10)
NRF2 mediates melanoma addiction to GCDH by modulating apoptotic signalling.
Verma S, Crawford D, Khateb A, Feng Y, Sergienko E, Pathria G, Ma CT, Olson SH, Scott D, Murad R, Ruppin E, Jackson M, Ronai ZA
Nat Cell Biol 2022 Sep 1 ;
Redirecting the Neo-Substrate Specificity of Cereblon-Targeting PROTACs to Helios.
Verano AL, You I, Donovan KA, Mageed N, Yue H, Nowak RP, Fischer ES, Wang ES, Gray NS
ACS Chem Biol 2022 Aug 25 ;
Subgroup-Enriched Pathways and Kinase Signatures in Medulloblastoma Patient-Derived Xenografts.
Leskoske KL, Garcia-Mansfield K, Sharma R, Krishnan A, Rusert JM, Mesirov JP, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Pirrotte P
J Proteome Res 2022 Sep 2 ;21(9):2124-2136