Our People

This is the team whose tireless efforts make the research possible. Are you interested in learning more and helping us fight cancer? Contact us today to join our team.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Ritu Aneja, PhD
  • Professor of Cancer Biology
  • Distinguished University Professor
  • Director, Graduate Studies in Biology
  • Director, The MBD (Molecular Basis of Disease) Program
“I eat, sleep, breathe, live and love what I do.”
—Dr. Aneja

RESEARCH SCIENTISTS

Padmashree C. G. Rida, PhD
Padmashree C. G. Rida, PhD
  • risk assessment and modeling
  • translating biomarker discovery into clinical applications
  • biomarkers for patient stratification and personalized medicine
  • mechanisms of chemoresistance and disease recurrence and relapse
  • ethnic health disparity in cancer
  • molecular centrosome biology
  • centrosome amplification in solid cancers
“I love my research here because our team's work is going to eventually impact cancer patients' lives.”
—Rida

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS

Karuna Goel
Karuna Mittal
  • centrosome amplification in solid cancers
  • centrosome declustering drugs
  • mechanisms of chemoresistance
  • disease recurrence and relapse
“I love this work because it keeps me motivated intrinsically which is the utmost requirement for success.”
—Karuna
Komal Arora
  • Characterization of the oncolytic properties of ZIKA virus (ZIKV) for treatment of breast cancer
  • Test effectiveness of attenuated ZIKV/ZIKV vaccine candidates against Triple or Quadruple negative breast cancers.
"I am intrigued by the fact that my research will take us to the treatment of cancer one step closer!"
—Komal

PhD STUDENTS

Bikram Sahoo
  • Cancer signaling pathways
  • Machine learning
  • OMICS data analysis
  • Automating pipelines for data analysis
"I enjoy working with OMICS data by applying machine learning, cancer biology, and programming concepts to discover novel biomarker in TNBC."
—Bikram
Chakravarthy Garlapati
Chakravarthy Garlapati
  • cancer signaling pathways for discovery of novel targets
  • molecular centrosome biology
"Since I started working here, I have found it to be true that in science theory guides, but it is the experiment that decides.”
—Chakri
Ishita Choudhary
  • prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative breast cancer
“I find cancer research very interesting and intriguing. The fact that the research work in our lab may help cancer patients keeps me motivated.”
—Ishita
Jaspreet Kaur
  • obesity and breast cancer
"I love participating in cutting-edge research because I get to play a role in saving lives everyday."
—Jaspreet
Lihan Zhao
    • Therapeutic method for breast cancer
    • Anticancer natural products
    • Pharmacokinetics and drug-drug interaction
 
"This journey of learning and doing research here is fantastic, not only because it makes me progressed, but also because the ultimate goal to save cancer patients life."
—Lihan
Nikita Wright
  • prognostic and predictive biomarkers in breast cancer
  • racial health disparity
I enjoy inquiring and answering pertinent questions in molecular cell biology and stumbling upon exciting discoveries that can make a major impact in cancer research.
—Nikita
Sergey Klimov
Sergey Klimov
  • risk assessment
  • statistical modeling
  • translating biomarker discovery into clinical applications
  • biomarkers for patient stratification
“I have a passion for integrating mathematics, statistics, and biology to advance cancer research, through the use of novel cell cycle kinetics and tumor microenviornment biomarkers.”
—Sergey
Shristi Bhattarai
Shristi Bhattarai
  • biomarkers of in vivo growth kinetics
  • determinants of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in breast cancer
“What drives me is the question of how to cure cancer, which for so many years has gone unanswered.”
—Shristi
Shriya Joshi
  • Cancer signalling pathways
  • Molecular mechanism in cancer
"Research is an organized method that keeps you dissatisfied with what you have and this dissatisfaction is what drives more and more discoveries."
—Shriya
Timothy Fisher
  • Bioinformatic analysis of cancer data
  • Integration of cancer biological data
  • Cancer signaling pathways
  • Cancer health disparities
"I have a passion for integrating molecular biology, computer science, and translational research to bridge the gap in cancer health disparities."
—Timothy Fisher

MASTERS & UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Deepika Wali
  • Differential expression of exosomal miRNA and poathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherpay in Triple negative breast cancer
Differential expression of exosomal miRNA and poathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherpay in Triple negative breast cancer
Lucy(Yoonji) Eum
  • I'm interested in studying the interactions between AR and the pathway of EGFR and the effects of EGFR TKI treatment with PD-1 blockade in TNBC
I'm interested in studying the interactions between AR and the pathway of EGFR and the effects of EGFR TKI treatment with PD-1 blockade in TNBC
Precious Imhansi-Jacob (PTOD)
  • Role of tumor microenvironment in multiple cancers
"Doing research gives me an understanding just how impactful the efforts we put in here makes a difference in saving lives out there. "
—PTOD
Riri Hamid
  • Therapeutic method for Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Therapeutic method for Triple Negative Breast Cancer

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Former Research Scientists
Prasanthi Karna: Research Scientist, Fred Hutchison Cancer Center
Former Post-Doctoral Fellows
Ram Mishra: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, UGA
Former PhD Candidates
Sushma Gundala: Clinical Trial Associate, Eli Lilly
Vaishali Pannu: Postdoctoral Scientist, Caris Life Sciences
Mohamed O. Abdalla: Assistant Professor, Tuskegee University
Former Masters Students
Richard Stanton: PhD Candidate at Emory University
Meera Brahmabhatt: Pursuing medical degree at Morehouse School of Medicine
David Choi: Pursuing MD at Morehouse School of Medicine - MSM
Former Undergraduate Students
Hope Robinson: PhD candidate at Emory University
Other Alumni
Alice Cheng, MS Betul Çelik, MS Dillon Livecche, BS Michelle McBride, MS Niknaz Letafat Rutuganda Paranjpe, MS Sanam Dharma, MS Shashi Donthamsetty, PhD Simran Sharma, MS