Dr. Notario is a professor in the departments of Radiation Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology at Georgetown University, Washington. He is also director of the division of Radiation Research in the department of Radiation Medicine. Dr. Vicente Notario graduated with a B.Sc. degree from the University of Salamanca, Spain (1974).  He received his Ph.D. in biology from the same institution in 1977. Dr. Notario has been Leader of the Radiation Biology & DNA repair program and also molecular targets & therapeutic resistance program of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the Georgetown University Medical center for over twenty years. In addition, Dr. Notario has been invited to act as an ad hoc expert reviewer for over 50 specialized U.S. national and international scientific journals. His service to Georgetown University included terms in the G.U.M.C. Research Committee and is currently serving as Chairman of the Georgetown Institutional Biosafety Committee. Dr. Notario has authored over 140 publications and has been continuously funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute since 1986.

Dr. Notario’s research interests include understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer initiation and progression as well as those involved in the acquisition of resistance to anti-cancer therapy, with emphasis on pathways that may be exploited to improve the treatment of metastatic cancers and to sensitize human tumours to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapies, role of the mt-PCPH oncoprotein, radiotherapy of Ewing’s sarcoma, and the anti-tumorigenic activity of the PEDF protein using various experimental systems for experimental carcinogenesis as well as the possible anti-cancer actions of human dietary components.

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Professor Graham Packham is a professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Southampton. Dr. Packham got his first class honours degree in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds, UK. He completed his PhD from the University of London (1992), following studies on regulation of Epstein-Barr virus gene expression at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at St Mary’s Hospital, London. Professor Packham carried out his postdoctoral research at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, USA (1992-1995). Where he was the recipient of the Martin Morrison Fellowship, investigating mechanisms of action of the c-Myc oncoprotein in the laboratory of Dr John Cleveland. He returned to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in 1995 to establish an independent research group studying the molecular regulation of apoptotic in cancer cells. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and has patents.Graham Packham is also a cofounder of Karus Therapeutics, a University spin-out company which involved in the development of novel therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory disease.

Professor Packham research interest includes molecular mechanisms controlling proliferation and survival in malignant lymphocytes, the development of novel chemical compounds to interfere with cancer promoting pathways.

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Dr. Wen G. Jiang is a professor in Metastasis and Angiogenesis Research Group in the Institute of Cancer and Genetics at Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff. He received his M.B., BCh. (Hon) from Beijing medical university (1984). He got his M.D. from Cardiff University (1995). Dr. Jiang’s some of professional appointments are senior lecturer and group leader, university department of surgery, Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK (1997 to 2003). Reader in Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University (then UWCM) (2003 to 2004). He is the Director of International, Innovation and engagement at Institute of Cancer and Genetics from Cardiff University School of Medicine (2011 to present) and academic director of International Operations, Cardiff University (2012 to present).

Dr. Wen G. Jiang’s main research interests include molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer invasion and metastasis and the clinical implication, tumour induced angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis and intervention, targeting invasion and metastasis inducing molecules, molecular screening and profiling of tumour metastasis related genes, development of new anti-angiogenesis and anti-metastasis agents and molecular and cellular events in tissue repair and wound healing, protein kinases and phosphotases in tissue repair and cancer metastasis. His team is interested in the development of therapeutic tools in combating metastasis. His primary focus is on breast and prostate cancer.

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Dr. Dennis K. Watson is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at The James E. Clyburn Research Center in Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. He graduated with a B.S in Biology from University of Southern California, USA (1972). He received his Ph.D. in Cell biology/ Biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University, USA (1980). He was Director of Molecular Core Laboratory, general clinical research center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1996-1999). He received many awards and honours and many research grants. Dr. Dennis is serving as editor and reviewer for 73 international journals. He has published more than 200 research articles.

Dr. Dennis K. Watson’s research interests are Molecular biology of gene regulation. To define the functional role of the ETS gene family of transcription factors during cellular proliferation and differentiation and transformation. Molecular genetics of cancer. To identify and functionally characterize genes critical for carcinogenic transformation, metastasis, and progression.

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Dr. Q. Ping Dou is a professor of Oncology, pharmacology and pathology at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI. He obtained his B.S. degree in chemistry from Shandong University in 1981, Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Rutgers University in 1988, and postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School from 1988 to 1993 (Mentor: Arthur B. Pardee). Dr. Dou has extensive experience in the fields of drug discovery, chemoprevention, natural products, proteasome inhibitors, cell cycle and apoptosis. He has published 200 peer-reviewed research and review articles, many of those in journals of the highest quality, and also holds 10 patents. He has extensive experience in professional service, including various study sections, several advisory and editorial boards, and committees. He has mentored numerous graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty.

The main objective of Dr. Dou’s laboratory is discovering molecular targets of natural products in pre-clinical studies, followed by validation in targeted cancer intervention clinical trials. Dr. Dou's laboratory is one of the first to report that proteasome inhibitors rapidly induce tumor cell apoptosis, selectively activate the cell death program in oncogene-transformed, but not normal or untransformed cells, and are able to trigger apoptotic death in human cancer cells that are resistant to various anticancer agents. Recently, Dr. Dou and collaborators have reported that (i) some old copper-binding drugs could convert the pro-angiogenic copper to a specific cancer cell death inducer, (ii) Disulfiram also promotes the conversion of carcinogenic cadmium to a proteasome inhibitor with pro-apoptotic activity in human cancer cells, and (iii) environmental toxic organotins target the proteasome in human cells.

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Dr. R. Curtis Bird is a professor of Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics in the department of pathobiology at Auburn since 1985. He earned B.Sc.(Honors) in biology at McMaster University, Canada (1977). He got his Ph.D. in Cellular Biology and Molecular Genetics from the department of zoology from the University of Toronto, Canada (1982). His doctoral research is focused on the molecular and cellular biology of the cell cycle and the regulation of tubulin synthesis. He was awarded with a Medical Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, in 1981, and continued his post-doctoral training in Molecular Biology and Genetics/Microbiology, at the University of Guelph till 1983. His post-doctoral research focused on the regulation of mRNA transcription and degradation mechanisms during myoblast development. He has published many research articles.

Dr. R. Curtis Bird’s laboratory investigates the regulatory mechanisms that control the expression and function of genes that control the cell's ability to proliferate. They are applying the knowledge gained from these investigations to better understand the mechanisms by which cancer cells evade the normal restrictions on proliferation that limit the growth of normal cells. These investigations have allowed them to design strategies for the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation through direct suppression of oncogene expression, induction of tumor suppressor gene expression and through gene therapy and modification of the immune response by recombinant autologous hybriddendritic cell fusion vaccine development.

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Dr. Avraham Raz is a professor of Oncology, professor of pathology, professor of Radiation Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Raz is graduated with B.Sc. in biology & M.Sc. (with distinction) in physiology from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel and received his Ph.D from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel in 1978. Dr. Raz previously held positions include Director of cancer metastasis program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute (Michigan Cancer Foundation), Detroit, Michigan (1987 – 1990), Adjunct Professor in department of Radiation Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan (1988-1992). Director of tumor progression and metastasis, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, (Michigan Cancer Foundation) Meyer L. Prentis Comprehensive Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan (1990-present). Dr. Raz has published over 300 articles.

Dr. Avraham Raz’s established various experimental systems in order to determine common processes shared by metastasizing cells and determined that cell adhesiveness and migration play a role in normal morphogenesis and homeostasis as well as pathogenesis of various diseases including the behavior of malignant cells. Dr. Raz’s research on tumor cells heterogeneity and on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which nonmetastatic tumor cells adhere to each other and to extracellular substrates, and migrate throughout the body. Closed and characterized the genes responsible for these functions in metastatic cells and developed antimetastatic drugs in the lab which are in clinical trials and antibodies against metastatic—related genes for tumor diagnosis. Dr. Raz got “MERIT Award” in 2007 in the division of Cancer Biology.

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Dr. Frank Berthold is currently Chairman of department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Hospital of Cologne, Chairman of the German Cooperative Neuroblastoma Trials (GPOH),chairman of the national neuroblastoma tumor bank, chairman of the Liason group “neuroblastoma” of the center for molecular medicine in the University of Cologne, Kerpener Germany. He was the Chairman of Advances of Neuroblastoma Research Association (2006-2008) . Dr. Berthold got his MD from University of Gießen in 1977 and his Doctorate degree from the same institution in 1986. Dr. Berthold was appointed as a professor of Pediatrics at University of Gießen.

Dr. Berthold’s main research interest is Pediatric Oncology and in particular neuroblastoma (clinical research, experimental research, epidemiology).

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Dr. Philip Agop Philip is a tenured professor in medicine and oncology, leader of Gastrointestinal & Neuroendocrine Tumors Multidisciplinary Team. Vice President of Medical Affairs, and attending physician in the Department of Oncology at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Dr Philip received his medical degree from the University of Baghdad, College of Medicine in Iraq and his PhD in clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenetics from the University of London. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Baghdad followed by a clinical fellowship at the Oxford University in the United Kingdom and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Dr Philip has published numerous original and review articles, meeting abstracts, book chapters, and educational modules on oncology.

Dr. Philip Agop Philip’s research focuses on new drug development for gastrointestinal cancers, clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents and therapeutic combinations on patients with pancreatic, gastro-oesophageal, liver, and colorectal cancer. He is actively involved in Phase I and II clinical trials.

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Dr. Wen-Hwa Lee is a pioneer researcher in the field of tumor suppressor in cancer biology. He identified and cloned the first human tumor suppressor gene, retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (RB), and has demonstrated that re-introduction of the wild-type RB gene suppressed tumor growth. His innovative contribution has provided a potential to treat cancer by tumor suppressor genes. Dr. Lee graduated with a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 and became a full professor at UC San Diego in 1990. He was later recruited to be the founding director of the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio in 1991 and managed to establish a premiere scientific center for the next twelve years. In 2003, he was honor to accept a position as Donald Bren Professor of Biomedicine at the University of California, Irvine; and in 2005, he became Chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry. In 2007, Dr. Lee came back to Taiwan to set up a laboratory at Genomics Research Center of Academia Sinica. He currently serves as the Chancellor at China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan since he took over the role in 2014.

Dr. Wen-Hwa Lee is renowned for identifying the first human tumor-suppressor gene, retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (RB), which plays a vital role in the cellular battle against cancer. Dr. Lee started with his first Science publication (Lee et. al, Science 1987) on the cloning, identification and sequence of the RB gene. He brought tumor suppressors into the forefront of cutting edge research among scientists as they were given a powerful tool that led to a multitude of opportunities and opened the flood gates to cancer genetics. Being one of the pioneers to clone the RB gene, Dr. Lee demonstrated that alternations and mutations in the RB gene caused functional loss and consequently leading the cell down the path to carcinogenesis. More importantly, Dr. Lee has demonstrated that re-introduction of the RB gene suppressed neoplastic phenotype in human cancer cells (Huang et. al, Science 1988) and later proved that adenovirus-mediated RB gene therapy suppresses tumors in Rb +/- mice (Riley et. al, Nature Medicine 1996). He successfully showed that it is possible to suppress neoplasm by re-introduction of the wild-type RB gene, shedding light on the development of the next generation of cancer therapeutics. Dr. Lee’s later studies showed that the mutated RB gene is not only in Retinoblastoma, but also in several cancer cells including breast cancer (Lee et al., Science 1989). This was the first finding that the tumor suppressor gene is inactivated in breast cancer.

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Dr. David J. MacEwan is the Chair of Molecular Pharmacology at the department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool. After graduating in Pharmacology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, David MacEwan did his PhD at the University of Edinburgh working at the MRC Brain Metabolism Unit. His postdoctoral experience started at Stanford University and Syntex Research, Inc in Palo Alto, California. He then did further postdoctoral work back in Glasgow with Professor Graeme Milligan before his independent academic career started at the University of Aberdeen. There he progressed to senior lecturer and then reader, before moving to the University of East Anglia, Norwich as the professor of pharmaceutical cell biology and head of pharmacology in the school of pharmacy. Since 2013, he is the Chair of Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool.

Professor David J. MacEwan’s major scientific interests include signal transduction control of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic mechanisms in human cancer cells. Transcription factor control in leukemia and myeloma cell biology and drug-resistance mechanisms.

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Dr. Michael A. Lea is a professor at department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMDNJ New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Lea earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from university of Birmingham, England in 1961 and his doctorate degree in Biochemistry from the same institution in 1964. Dr. Lea’s honors and awards are Scholarship from the Medical Research Council of Great Britain (1961 1964),teaching award from the Foundation of CMDNJ (1981).Biochemistry teaching award for New Jersey Medical School (1984), Golden apple award, New Jersey Medical School Student Council (1998, 1999),Golden ,apple award New Jersey Medical School Student Council (2004) and Excellence in teaching award from the Foundation of UMDNJ (2006).

Dr. Michael A. Lea research has been directed to the understanding of cancer growth and differentiation and has focused particularly on cancer of the liver and colon. In recent years Dr. Lea has investigated actions of dietary derived natural products on cancer cell proliferation and differentiation. The compounds that were studied included short-chain fatty acids, isothiocyanates, allyl sulfur compounds and polyphenolic molecules. These compounds can act through a variety of mechanisms including modification of histone side-chains, inhibition of protein kinases and anti-oxidant effects. These effects can be exerted by a number of molecules derived from fruits and vegetables.

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Dr. Marek Malecki is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin and President of the Phoenix Biomolecular Engineering Foundation. Dr. Malecki earned his MD in Molecular Medicine from Medical Academy, Poznan in 1977 and his PhD in Molecular Biology from Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw in 1981. He strengthened his expertise in molecular medicine during the fellowships at the leading European hospitals, followed by the postgraduate studies in the EMBO sponsored laboratories. He is the inventor of the patents pertinent to molecular diagnosis and personalized therapy, which are currently streamlined to clinics. Dr. Malecki’s some of professional appointments are Director, Molecular Imaging Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Warsaw, Poland (1982-1987); Professor, Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Holland (2001-2005) and Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Gene Therapy, Western University, Pomona, CA, USA (2008-2012).

Dr. Marek Malecki’s primary research interests are methods for detection, Diagnosis and selective eradication of neoplasms in vivo; Molecular death tags and methods of their use;. Multidomain biotags and antibodies for cancer detection; Ovarian cancers; Cancer stem cells for clinical diagnoses; Intracellular antibodies against anti-oxidative enzymes; Clones of pluripotent cells in the patients; Clinical Implications of circulating tumor cells analysis. Dr. Malecki’s laboratory work aim is to reveal molecular profiles of these most deadly cancers in new and relapsing patients as the means for developing personalized targeted therapy.

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Dr. Rajagopal Ramesh is Professor at Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. Dr. Ramesh is also a Jim and Christy Everest Endowed Chair in Cancer Developmental Therapeutics, Director-Experimental Therapeutics and Translational Cancer Medicine, Chair-Fellowship Training and Mentoring Program, Stephenson Cancer Center, and a Member, OU Cancer Institute. Dr. Ramesh graduated with a B.Sc. Biology degree in 1985 and M.Sc. Microbiology in 1987 from the Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. Dr. Ramesh has received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, 1994. He also trained as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, 1997.

Studies in Dr. Rajagopal Ramesh laboratory are mainly focused on novel gene-based therapeutics using viral and non-viral vectors with emphasis on translational cancer research. There are two major research areas that are actively being pursued in the laboratory. The first research area is the development and testing of non-viral and nanoparticle-based gene delivery for cancer treatment and the second research area is studying the antitumor and anti-angiogenic properties of IL-24. Dr. Ramesh findings have lead to Phase I clinical trials for treatment of solid tumors.

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Dr. Chen currently holds the titles of Professor and Endowed Chair of Cancer Biology, Basic Science Director of the Center of Excellence for Prostate, Wake Forest School of Medicine, North Carolina, and Director of the Bioactive Lipid Research Center, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China. Dr. Yong Q. Chen earned his Bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 1982 and his Doctorate degree in virology and molecular biology from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, in 1989. After three years of postdoctoral training in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Chen was appointed as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Pathology at Wayne State University. He moved to Wake Forest University in 2002. Dr. Chen has co-authored over 90 publications in journals and has participated in over 75 study sections for the NIH, the Department of Defense, and others.

Dr. Chen’s major scientific interests include the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids by cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases, the role of de novo-synthesized fat and dietary fat in cancer, and animal models of prostate cancer. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on two areas of prostate cancer; (1) genetic basis of and lipid signaling in prostate cancer development, and (2) effect of dietary fat on prostate cancer development in genetically predisposed populations. Dr. Chen’s research interests include genetic basis of cancer, the impact of epigenetic is increasingly being recognized. On the one hand, methylation, acetylation and other molecular mechanisms implicated in epigenetics are being studied intensively, but environmental factors causing these changes are largely unknown. On the other hand, factors such as diet are believed to affect cancer incidence, but molecular mechanisms have not been delineated.

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At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. James M. Mountz is Director of the Neuronuclear Medicine Section, Director of Nuclear Medicine Research, Clinical Director of the PET Center, and Co-Director of the In Vivo Imaging Facility (IVIF) for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. He has U.S. Patent Cert. #4,884,566, system and method to determine orientation of planes of imaging in brain(1988), assumed continuous positions as an imaging researcher, primarily in the area of nuclear medicine applications of radiopharmaceuticals in brain and oncology imaging. Dr. Mountz has been the principal investigator on four NIH funded grant applications, have published over 150 peer review manuscripts and over 20 book chapters, and have published over 350 abstracts for national and international meetings concerning results from my research endeavors.He has served on national and international committees including as President: Southeastern Chapter of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (2000-2001), President: Brain Imaging Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (2000-2001), Committee Chair: Society of Nuclear Medicine Committee on Councils & Centers. 2009 - 2010, Chairperson: Chair: SNM Clinical Trials Network; Validation Committee (Dec 2009 – present), Member: SNM Clinical Trials Network Operations Committee (2009 – present) and Chair: Council/Center of Excellence Internship Program (June, 2009-2010).

For over 25 years, Dr. James M. Mountz has focused on research-using radionuclide imaging (mainly PET) approaches to advance the understanding of disease pathology at the molecular and cellular level. He is primarily interested in investigating imaging approaches for diagnosis and prediction of early therapy response in brain disorders, however as Co-Director of the In Vivo Imaging Facility, he has undertaken numerous projects involving novel PET tracer imaging in humans in a variety of disease.

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Dr. Balakrishna (Bal) L. Lokeshwar is a Professor and Co-Director of Research at the Department of Urology and Professor of Radiation Oncology, Leonard Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami Florida. Dr. Lokeshwar joined the faculty of School of Medicine in 1989 and has been at the current place since then. His laboratory is focused on the mechanism of cancer progression and enhancing existing system of therapy. Current projects in his laboratory are to investigate the mechanism by which pro-inflammatory cytokines and enzymes promote prostate cancer progression, non-traditional signaling mechanism by chemokines and their receptors and chemo dietary prevention of cancer. Dr. Lokeshwar’s research is funded by NIH (NCI, and NCAAM), VA Medical Research Grants, Biomedical Research Program of State of Florida and institutional research.

Dr. Balakrishna L. Lokeshwar research interest includes Functions of chemokines and pro-inflammatory factors in tumor progression, hormone-independence and metastasis. Development of natrually occuring compounds in herbs and spices for chemoprevention and therapy.

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Dr. Daniel Chan is Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine, Aurora. Dr. Chan joined the faculty of the Division of Medical Oncology in 1988 as an instructor. Before coming to University of Colorado Denver, Dr. Chan trained at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii as a Junior Researcher and as an Assistant Research Professor after obtaining his PhD at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He also trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Nuclear Studies in Grenoble, France. Dr. Chan has received many honors and awards such as Dept of Medicine, School of Medicine, Research and Teaching Award (2006); US Patent and Trademark Office: US patent# 7427496 B2 (2008); US patent and Trademark Office: US patent # 0088454 A1 (2009); US Patent Application PCT WO 2009/126804 A2 (2009); US Patent Application PCT WO 2011/026345 (2011); US Patent Application 2011/0275648 A1 (2011) and US Patent Application 2012/0141479A1 (2012).

Dr. Chan’s research focus is in Lung Cancer. He has contributed richly in the field of Lung Cancer Research. Some of his accomplishments include registering over 8 patents with several pending and being awarded the 2006 School of Medicine Ph.D. Research and Teaching Award. Dr. Chan’s research interests are in preclinical drug development, drug delivery and drug evaluation in in vitro and in vivo models. He is also very interested in developing tumor models, especially orthotopic tumor models for the studying of tumor biology, tumor microenvironment and cancer metastasis.

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Dr. Dan A Liebermann is a Professor of the Fels Institute for Cancer research and the Department of Biochemistry. Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Liebermann received a biomedical (B.Sc/M.D) Degree from the university of Tel-Aviv, Israel. Subsequently he got a Ph.D Degree in Cancer genetics in the Weizmann Institute, Rehovoth, Israel. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Univ School of Medicine Department of Genetics from 1980-1985; Dr. Liebermann got his first tenure track appointment at the univ of Pennsylvania school of Medicine in 1985.

Dr. Dan A Liebermann's current research program is aimed at elucidating the role MyD genes play in hematopoietic cell development, and growth arrest and apoptosis in general, as well as understanding how genetic lesions which impair MyD gene expression or function, contribute to oncogenesis and inflammation, with an emphasis on blood cell malignancies and breast cancer. Dr. Liebermann's work, so far, has yielded about 170 publications in high impact Journals, including Nature, Cell, PNAS, MCB, JCB, Blood, Oncogene and Cancer Research. Dr. Liebermann's research is supported by NIH and he is a member of the NIH Hematopoiesis Study section as well the Israel Biomedical Science Advisory Committee. Thus far he has been mentoring 15 graduate students and 30 Postdoctoral fellows.

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Dr. George G Chen is a professor in the Department of Surgery, Director of Surgical Research Laboratories, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. He is a Principal investigator, The Hong Kong Cancer Institute, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2000 to present) ; Deputy Director, Center of Laboratory Medicine, Fujian Province, China (2001 to present); Guest Professor, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China (2001 to present); Guest Professor, Guangdong Medical College, Zhanjiang, Guang Dong, China (2009 to present. He has authored or co-authored more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has written a number of books and book chapters.

Dr. George G Chen has extensive experience in cancer research, particularly in hepatocellular carcinoma, Carcinogenesis of viral products, lung cancer and thyroid cancer. Dr. Chen’s laboratory work is focus on scientific projects that are being conducted include liver regeneration in animal model, detection of alpha fetoprotein variant, molecular markers and novel gene expression in HCC. Clinical research in the use of selective internal irradiation and new immunochemotherapy for inoperable HCC had also resulted in converting inoperable diseases to operable in about 20% of patients.

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Dr. Weimin Fan is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Weimin Fan received his MD at Zhejiang (Chekiang) University, China and his M.P.H. from the same University. Dr. Weimin Fan got different academic grades, which are Associate Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Medicine (1997 – 1997); Associate Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (1997); Associate Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (1997 - 2003); Associate Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Medicine (1997 - 2003); Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Graduate Studies (2003 – Present); Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Medicine(2003 - Present) and Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (2003 – Present).

Novel Nanoparticle-based target Biochemotherapy for HER+ Breast Tumors, Studies of novel nanoparticle-based anticancer drugs, Exploratory Studies of Protein Kinase inhibitors, Hormonal Modulation of Taxol Action in Solid Tumors, Tumor Growth Arrest Mediated By Transcription Repressors, The regulatory role of IkB/NF-kB in drug-induced apoptosis, Hormonal modulation of taxol action in solid tumors, Steroid modulation of tumor cell growth, Growth arrest genes: isolation and characterization.

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Dr. Patrick Neven is a Professor, Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven, Afdeling Gynaecologische Oncologie, Multidisciplinair Borstcentrum and his Academic Grades are Obstetrics and Gynecology Departement at Algemene Kliniek Sint – Jan, Broekstraat 114, 1000 Brussel. Head of Unit: Dr. E. De Muylder; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at ‘Ninewells Hospital and Medical School’, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK. Head of Unit: Dr. I. D. Neven Patrick is a Professor, Duncan; Departement Obstetrics and Gynaecology at ‘Universitair Ziekenhuis Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven. Head of Unit: Prof. Dr. F.A. Van Assche; St. Bartholomew’s Hospital London - UK; Departement Obstetrics and Gynecology at Algemene Kliniek Sint – Jan, Broekstraat 114, 1000 Brussel. Head of Unit: Dr. E. De Muylder and 2001- today : Multidisciplinair Borstcentrum, Universitair Ziekenhuis Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven. Head of Unit (clinical head): Prof. Dr. M. R. Christiaens.

Multidisciplinary Breast Center Diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of benign and malignant breast disease. The importance of the female hormone herein.

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Dr. Tayebeh Pourmotabbed is a Professor at Department of Molecular Sciences, University of TN, Health Science Center, Tennessee 38163. Dr. Tayebeh obtained his B.A. degree from College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 1981 and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1986. Dr. Tayebeh’s some of professional appointments are Adjunct Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2007-present); Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2002 –2007); Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (1998 – 2006) and Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Tennessee, Memphis (1993 - 1998). He has a patent in Inhibition of tumor growth and invasion by anti-matrix metalloproteinases DNAzymes.

Dr. Tayebeh’s laboratory is interested in (1) Cancer Gene therapy, (2) understanding the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in pathogenesis of cancer, atherosclerosis, arthritis, and Alzheimer disease and (3) identifying risk factors in Alzheimer, arthritis, and coronary artery disease. Our approach involves a combination of post-transcriptional gene-silencing drug design, cell biology, molecular biology, and whole animal techniques. It is known that growth factors and cancer-causing oncogenes induce the expression of genes for extracellular matrix-degrading metalloproteinases (MMPs). These enzymes are capable of degrading basement membrane and connective tissue proteins, and are associated with wound healing, tumor cell invasion and metastasis, cartilage degradation in rheumatoid arthritis, dislodging atherosclerotic plaques and stroke.

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Dr. Peng Huang is a Professor, Department of Molecular Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77054. Dr. Huang received his MD at Zhoungshan Medical College, Guangshou, China and he was awarded with doctoral degree in Cancer Pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston, Texas. Dr. Huang got different positions during his carrier such as Research Associate, Department of Medical Oncology, University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (1991-1992); Assistant Biochemist, Department of Clinical Investigation, University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (1992-1994); Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (1995-2001); Associate Professor, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (2001-2007) and Professor, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (2007-till date).

Our laboratory research are in the areas of metabolic alterations in cancer cells and mechanisms of action of novel anticancer agents. The goals our research programs are to investigate the foundamental changes in energy metabolism and redox regulation in cancer, to examine the molecular interaction between the cancer cells and anticancer drugs, and to develop novel strategies to selectively kill the malignant cells based on their metabolic alterations and survival pathways. Current research efforts are directed toward investigating the role of mitochondria in affecting glycolysis and drug-induced apoptosis, and examining the effect of oncogenic signals on mitochondrial respiration and ROS generation. Another important focus is the role of p53 and its associated molecules in sensing DNA damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other genotoxic agents and the subsequent signaling for apoptosis.

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Dr. Luo been studying molecular pathology related to human malignancies in the last 23 years. Currently, he is a Professor of Pathology and Director of High Throughput Genome Center at University of Pittsburgh. In the last 13 years, Dr. Luo has been largely focusing on genetic and molecular mechanism of human prostate and hepatocellular carcinomas. In this period, his group has identified and characterized several genes that are related to prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma, including SAPC, myopodin, CSR1, GPx3, ITGA7, MCM7, MT1h and GPC3. He has characterized several signaling pathways that play critical role in prostate cancer development, including Myopodin-ILK-MCM7 inhibitory signaling, myopodin-zyxin motility inhibition pathway, CSR1-CPSF3 and CSR1-XIAP apoptotic pathways, MT1h-EHMT1 egigenomic signaling, ITGA7-HtrA2 tumor suppression pathway, GPx3-PIG3 cell death pathway, and AR-MCM7 oncogenic pathway. He proposed prostate cancer field effect in 2002. He is one of the pioneers in utilizing high throughput gene expression and genome analyses to analyze field effects in prostate cancer and liver cancer. He is also the first in using methylation array and whole genome methylation sequencing to analyze prostate cancer. Recently, Dr. Luo’s group found that patterns of copy number variants of certain specific genome loci are predictive of prostate cancer clinical outcomes, regardless tissue origin. His discovery of several novel fusion transcripts and their association with aggressive prostate cancer has brought significant new insight into the field of prostate cancer research.

Dr. Luo's research is in the area of genome and gene expression study of maligancies, especially in understanding how prostate cancers obtain invasive and metastatic capability. Dr. Luo's laboratoy in the past has primarily focused on the isolation and characterization of genes whose expressions have been inactivated in prostate cancers. His laboratory has isolated and characterized several candidate genes that might be important for tumor invasion. Ongoing studies in his laboratory focus on defining the roles of these genes in regulating the signaling pathways in normal and cancerous cells. In addition, his laboratory is actively searching new candidate genes that are overexpressed, down-regulated, deleted, amplified, methylated, translocated or mutated in tumors, using Affymetrix Array and whole genome and RNA sequencing technologies. His group is exploring the possibility of using these genes as diagnostic or prognostic markers for prostate cancers.On clinical molecular diagnostic front, Dr. Luo has recently initiated whole genome high throughput CNV analysis of lymphoproliferative diseases using Affymetrix array system, and works to provide this information in an accurate and concise manner to clinicians who involves in patient care and treatment. His group is now conducting a prospective analysis using whole genome CNV array to predict clinical outcomes of prostate cancer.

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Dr. Valerae O. Lewis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Lewis attended Yale University and graduated with a degree in Psychobiology. She then matriculated at Harvard Medical School, graduating with honors. Dr. Lewis completed her Orthopaedic training at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Pragram in Boston, MA and then her fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology at the University of Chicago. She was appointed Chief of the Section of Orthopaedic Oncology in the Division of Surgery. She has held joint appointments at both Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. In 2010, she was awarded the Dr. John Murray Professorship in Orthopaedic Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. She was awarded the 2012 Faculty Achievement Award in Patient Care.

Dr. Valerae O. Lewis’ primary research interest is in the treatment of osteosarcomas. Her lab works on developing targeted therapy for sarcomas of bone. She has been the Principal Investigator on several research projects and has written many original, peer reviewed research articles.

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Dr. Bismar is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill University. He is a member of the Southern Alberta Cancer Institute and has appointments in the Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Oncology, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. He obtained his medical degree from Damascus University - Syria. He was also a consultant for genitourinary pathology and oncology cases for various department members. His research achievements include the directorship and establishment of the tissue microarray facility at the Lady Davis Institute in Montréal. He has authored more than 60 publications and continues to be heavily involved supporting various investigators in the field of urological pathology. Dr. Bismar is a two time recipient of the Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, BJUI Donald Coffey prize and the Young Scientist Award of the Canadian Association of Pathologists.

Dr. Bismar’s primary research interests are identification and characterization of novel of biomarkers associated with aggressive and indolent prostate cancer using genomics, proteomic and tissue microarray methodology.

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Dr. Salvatore Ulisse is an Associate Professor at Department of Experimental Medicine, ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome, Italy. In 1985 he got his Doctoral degree with honour in Biological Sciences at the University of Rome “Sapienza”. In 1990 he joined as Guest Researcher the laboratory of the National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (MD), USA. From 1993 to 1995 he joined as Visiting Scientist the Laboratory of Developmental Biochemistry, National Institute for Medical Research, Medical Research Council, London UK. From 2003 to date he spent short periods of time as invited professor in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rennes 1 (Rennes, France). The scientific activity of Prof. Salvatore Ulisse is documented by more than 170 publications on peer-reviewed international and national scientific journals, communications in national and international meetings and book chapters.

Over the last decade the research activity of Prof. Ulisse has been focused on the molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of endocrine tumors. In particular, his research activities are focused on the alterations of cell cycle regulation occurring during cancer progression, and on proteases involved in extracellular matrix degradation during cancer cell invasion and metastatization. He is also involved in research projects aimed to identify new molecular markers able to refine the diagnosis and prognosis of oncologic patients.

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Dr. Amanda C. LaRue is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is also a member of the Hollings Cancer Center and a faculty member in the Center for Biomedical Imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. LaRue also holds a position as a Research Health Scientist with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Pathobiology from the Medical University of South Carolina (2003). Her dissertation focused on developmental vasculogenesis. Dr. LaRue then joined the laboratory of experimental hematology under the mentorship of Dr. Makio Ogawa where she studied the plasticity of hematopoietic stem cells. Dr. LaRue then began her own laboratory and joined the faculty as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2005 and recently became an Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (2011).

Dr. LaRue has a long standing interest in the plasticity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Using a unique single cell HSC transplantation model, Dr. LaRue’s research addresses the role of HSCs in both pathological and physiological conditions. Current studies in her laboratory are directed at two major areas. The first is the examination of the role of HSCs in the development and progression of solid tumors. Dr. LaRue’s in vivo studies have demonstrated that both fibroblast precursors and fibroblasts are of HSC origin. To extend these studies, Dr. LaRue is currently investigating the mechanisms regulating the recruitment, homing, differentiation and maturation of these HSC-derived cells with respect to tumor. The long-term goal of these studies is to modulate these factors to inhibit tumor progression. The second area of focus for Dr. LaRue’s laboratory is aimed at determining the ability of HSCs to generate mesenchymal cells including adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes.

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Dr. Jianli Dong is an Associate Professor, Director of Molecular Diagnostics Division in the Department of Pathology and Investigator of Sealy Center for Cancer Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She received her MD from the First Military Medical University in China and PhD from University of Toronto, Canada. She did postdoctoral and fellowship training at the Yale University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Dr. Dong presently working as an Investigator, Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology (SCCCB); Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; Pathology Consultant, Antiphospholipid Research Laboratory; Graduate Faculty, Experimental Pathology Graduate Program; Faculty, Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.

Dr. Jianli Dong’s research interests include RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK and p16INK4A-CDK4-RB pathways in cancer biology, and research and development of molecular biomarkers in clinical application, oncogenic mutations correlate with progression rather than initiation of human melanoma.

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Dr. Dennis F. Kucik is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and is Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. He earned his B.S. in Zoology (Honors) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MD and PhD (Biophysics) at Washington University in St. Louis. He was then awarded a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship to study integrin activation with Dr. Eric J. Brown, a leader in the field. Following his Pathology Residency training at Washington University, Dr. Kucik moved to UAB, where his research has long focused on the function of integrins in health and disease, including their role in cancer metastasis. More recently, a major focus of the Kucik laboratory has been to understand the mechanisms of adverse effects of therapeutic radiation and their consequences for cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Kucik’s major research interests focus on mechanisms of adverse effects of therapeutic radiation and their consequences for cardiovascular disease, and function of adhesion molecules, especially integrins, including their role in cancer metastasis.

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Dr. Kaladhar B. Reddy is an Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. Dr. Reddy received B.Sc in Biological Sciences from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India in 1978 and M.Sc & Ph.D in Biochemistry from the same university in the year 1880 and 1884 respectively. Dr. Reddy’s faculty appointments are Member, Karmanos Cancer Institute (KCI), Detroit, MI (1995- 2009); Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (1993-98); Member, The Institute for Cancer Research and Care, San Antonio, TX (1991-93); Instructor, Department of Medicine/Oncology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX (1990-93) and Assistant Research Officer, Indian Council of Medical Research, Madras, India (1985-87).

The research of Dr. Reddy’s laboratory is focused on the development of novel strategies for treatment and prognosis of breast cancer by combining experimental therapeutics with cell biology. Dr. Reddy and colleagues have recently shown that PKC-d overexpression is associated with loss of endocrine sensitivity in both in vitro and in vivo. Currently, the Reddy laboratory is delineating the molecular mechanism by which alterations of PKC-a and PKC-ä leads to acquired tamoxifen resistance in breast tumors. Another focus of research in Dr. Reddy’s laboratory is on triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC). Recent data from Dr. Reddy’s laboratory suggest that combination of Cisplatin and TRAIL significantly enhances cell death in triple negative by ~60-80 % immortalized normal mammary cell line by ~15-20%. Currently, Dr. Reddy’s group is also investigating the molecular mechanisms by which cisplatin and TRAIL- induce apoptosis in Triple-Negative breast tumors.

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Dr. Thiagalingam is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Genetics & Genomics and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Thiagalingam holds a B.S. from University of Jaffna in Biology; M.S. from Bowling Green State University in Biology-Microbiology; and a Ph. D. in Biochemistry from The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Thiagalingam was the first to demonstrate that SMAD4 is a critical target for inactivation during the latter stages of colon cancer, participated in the discovery of five novel SMAD genes and evaluated the frequency of SMAD inactivation in various cancers. His work has been supported by research awards from the DOD; NIH; NARSAD; Susan G. Komen Cure; American Cancer Society; American Lung Association; and The Medical Foundation, Boston. He has several peer-reviewed publications, and his leadership is evidenced by membership on several grant review panels and editorial boards; and service as an hoc reviewer for high profile journals.

Dr. Thiagalingam’s research interest has been in cancer genomics and biology to elucidate multi-modular molecular network (MMMN) cancer progression models as the road map to dissect the complexity inherent to cancer and design therapeutic strategies. As a post-doctoral fellow, he showed that loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 18q targeted the SMAD4 gene inactivation in colon cancer. As a result, the multi-step colon cancer progression model (i.e., “Vogelgram”) was revised to include SMAD4. Dr. Thiagalingam’s research efforts are currently focused on the following topics: (i) TGFß-Smad signaling connection to breast cancer metastasis/bone metastasis; (ii) Unraveling the molecular basis of epigenetic memory and its role in cancer progression and dormancy; (iii) Development of therapeutic approaches for breast cancer; and (iv) The molecular basis of drug resistance in colon cancer and the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

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Dr. Elizabeth K. Balcer-Kubiczek is an Associate Professor at Department of Radiation Oncology, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. Dr. Elizabeth received her M.Sc. from Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland in 1967 and Ph.D. from University of Maryland in 1981. Dr. Elizabeth’s some of academic appointments are Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics, Elementary Particle Division, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland (1966-1967); Pre-doctoral Fellow, Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland (1967-1969); Research Assistant, Radiation Research Division, Department of Radiation Therapy, University of Maryland/School of Medicine (1973-1975) and Research Associate, Radiation Research Division, Department of Radiation Therapy, University of Maryland/School of Medicine. (1975-1982).

Dr. Elizabeth’s major research interests are radiobiology and biophysics of ionizing radiation (X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons and heavy ions); Cellular and molecular mechanisms of radiation resistance, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis by ionizing radiation, microwaves and ultrasound, with emphasis on low-level exposures and low dose-rate; Cellular and molecular mechanisms of modification of radiation response by chemotherapeutic agents and other modifiers and Preclinical investigation of novel cancer treatment paradigms, including applications of molecular imaging and radiation biology techniques.

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Dr. Weiguang Wang is a Reader in Cancer Studies, Research Institute in Healthcare Science, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY. Dr. Wang obtained his first degree as Bachelor of Medicine at the North China Coal Medical University (Medical School, Hebei United University), China in 1976 and M.Sc/MD at Beijing P.L.A Postgraduate Medical School/301 Hospital in 1988. Dr. Wang worked in the Department of Experimental Haematology, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research to investigate the relationship between bone marrow stem cells and the supporting stromal cells. Between 1999 and 2005, he worked at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen and Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, University of Glasgow, UK, as a Senior Research Scientist. Dr. Wang’s few of professional appointments are Honorary Professor, Oncology Centre, Beijing General Hospital (2004 – Present) and Honorary Professor, Medical School, Hebei United University (2007 – Present).

Dr. Weiguang Wang played a key role in setting up a bone marrow transplantation unit and led a team to perform bone marrow transplantation for leukaemia and lymphoma patients. During his MSc/MD study, he investigated the relationship of BPA levels in the children with aplastic anaemia and its clinical significance. His PhD project was mainly focused on the effect of p53, Pax-3, PAX3-FKHR and IGF-II genes on the oncogenesis of rhabdomyosarcoma and medulloblastoma. As a medical doctor, WW’s research interest has always been focused on translational study, especially the development of novel drugs for cancer treatment. Dr. Wang’s research projects were mainly focused on identification of genetic elements responsible for cancer drug resistance and identification of new genetic targets for development of novel anti-cancer drugs. Using microarray, he identified NFκB as a biological factor involved in anticancer drug resistance.

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Dr. Sathees C. Raghavan is an Associate Professor at Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Dr. Raghavan graduated with a B.Sc. degree from the Calicut University, Kerala, India, in 1990 and received his M.Sc. from the same institution in 1992. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1999 from Banaras Hindu, University, Varanasi, UP, India. Dr. Raghavan’s some of professional appointments are Postdoctoral Research in Cancer biology, Norris Cancer Ctr, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA (1999-2006) and Assistant Professor of Cancer Genetics, Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (2006-2012).

Dr. Sathees C. Raghavan’s major research interests are Cancer Genetics, Cancer Therapeutics, V(D)J recombination and DNA double-strand break repair. Dr. Raghavan’s current research projects are Chromosomal translocation in cancer: mechanisms and development of cancer; Cancer therapeutics: Designing drugs, functional and structural characterization and its roles in regression of cancers, both in vivo and in vitro; RAG cleavage mechanisms at recombination signal sequences and non-B DNA structures and Non homologous DNA end-joining.

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Dr. Riemer is on the faculty of Medical University of South Carolina, where she is Director of Pulmonary Pathology and a member of the faculty at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. She received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College, J.D. from University of Wisconsin, M.D. from Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine. She did her residency training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center at the College of Physicians of Columbia University, followed by subspecialty training in pulmonary and cardiovascular pathology at The Johns Hopkins University.

Her principal research interests include the diagnosis of neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases of the lungs as well as cardiovascular and forensic pathology. A Viable Lung Cryopreservation Method to Rapidly Test Cancer Treatments, Pathologic Diagnosis of Lung Cancer.

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Dr. Arti Shukla is an Associate Professor at Department of Pathology, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington. Dr. Shukla received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Banares Hindu University in 1988. She was a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Michigan, and a scientist (Pool Officer) and scientist-fellow at the Central Drug Research Institute in Luchnow, India, before coming to UVM in 1997 as a visiting scientist. Dr. Shukla’s previous appointments are Research Assistant Professor, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA (2001-2011); visiting scientist, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA (1997-1999) and Senior Research Fellow (CSIR) in the Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banares Hindu University, Varanasi, India (1985-1988).

Dr. Arti Shukla’s research over the last 25 years in basic and applied cellular and molecular biology focuses on studying cell signaling mechanisms of asbestos fibers-induced lung diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma. Dr. Shukla’s research is exploring asbestos-induced signaling mechanisms in human mesothelial cells as well as in different mesothelioma cell lines to be targeted by APMS beads loaded with different anti cancer drugs. Dr. Shukla’s previous work showed that crocidolite asbestos and erionite carcinogenesis are linked to the ability of these minerals to induce the MAPK and ERK pathways which lead to AP-1 activation. Her team focus is on CREB, ERK1/2 and ERK5 and their downstream signaling proteins as these proteins are critical targets of asbestos-induced carcinogenesis. They are also exploring the role of inflammation with particular emphasis on inflammasomes in MM tumorigenesis.

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Dr. Mohamed Rahmani is an associate professor at the department of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University and Massey Cancer Center. Dr. Rahmani received his Bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from Pierreet Marie Curie University (Paris VI) in 1995; France. He earned his Master’s and Ph.D degrees in Molecular and Cellular biology from the University of Denis Diderot, Paris, France in 1996 and 1999 respectively. He then joined Virginia Commonwealth University for postdoctoral training (2000) where he subsequently became assistant professor (2006-2010).

Dr. Rahmani’s research focuses primarily on targeting dysregulated cell signaling pathways including PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Raf/MEK/ERK in hematological malignancies as well as in solid tumors with the aim of developing new molecular targeted therapeutic approaches. Dr. Rahmani’s research also includes interactions between diverse transcription factors including NF-?B AP-1 STAT, SMAD in cancer cells.

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Dr. Partha P Banerjee is an Associate Professor at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington. Dr. Banerjee graduated with a B.Sc. degree from University of Calcutta, Calcutta, India in 1979. He has received his M.Sc. & PhD from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India in 1982, 1987 respectively. Dr. Banerjee’s professional experiences are Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA (2005-June 2007); Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA (2000- 2005); Assistant Scientist (Non-tenure-track faculty, comparable to Research Assistant Professor), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA (1998-2000) and Research Associate Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, with Dr. Terry Brown, 1993-1997.

Dr. Banerjee is interested in various kinases that activates and translocates androgen receptor, epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes, non-canonical function of telomerase, and regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory works are prostate cancer, particularly in regulating and disrupting androgen receptor signaling. Dr. Banerjee’s study suggests that a plant alkaloid, mahanine, can reverse the expression of epigenetically silenced gene, RASSF1A in prostate cancer cells by inhibiting DNMT activity that in turn represses a key cell cycle regulator, cyclin D1 to inhibit cancer cell growth. Therefore, mahanine promises an encouraging therapeutic choice for prostatic cancer. Currently, he is investigating the efficacy of mahanine in vivo and exploring the molecular mechanism by which it re-activates RASSF1A in prostate cancer cells.

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Dr. Herbert T. Cohen is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and is a member of the Nephrology and Hematology/Oncology Sections at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Cohen graduated with a BS degree from the Penn State University, University Park, PA in 1982 and received his MD from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA in 1984. Dr. Cohen was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2007. He has also served as Director of the Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine (GPMM), an interdepartmental PhD program at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen’s some of professional appointments are Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine, and Staff Physician, Dept. of Medicine, Renal and Hematology/Oncology Sections, Boston Medical Center, Boston (1997-2005); and Member faculty, Cancer Center, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA (2009-present).

Dr. Cohen’s research work has focused on the identification and characterization of the Jade family of proteins and their relationship to the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor and the polycystin and related proteins. Jade-1 is a short-lived kidney-enriched plant homeodomain (PHD) protein that is stabilized by the pVHL tumor suppressor. As a protein that is increased in abundance by a tumor suppressor. Dr. Cohen’s laboratory is addressing the molecular basis of renal cancer, renal cystic disease and renal development and offers special expertise in gene expression mechanisms, signal transduction, protein-protein interactions, transcription factors, and renal epithelial cell biology. The laboratory has identified the first member of new protein family, the Jade family of proteins, on the basis of its interaction with the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor pVHL. pVHL protein is a key component of the cellular oxygen-sensing system.

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Dr. Yun Dai is Associate Professor at Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA. Dr. Dai received his MD in Medicine from Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, in 1983, and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the same institution in 1994. Since joining Virginia Commonwealth University, he has been conducting translational and pre-clinical research on development of novel targeted cancer therapy for over ten years. During this period, he has published 58 original research papers and 8 reviews/commentaries in peer-review journals, as well as 6 invited book chapters (1 in press). He has been an active member of AACR and ASH in good-standing since 2002 and 2005 respectively.

Dr. Yun Dai main research interests are Molecular Mechanisms of Actions (MOAs) of Targeted Therapeutics; Genetic and Molecular Mechanisms for Drug Response and Resistance to Targeted Therapy; Development of New-Generation Anti-cancer Targeted Agents and Strategies; Leukemia; Multiple Myeloma; Lymphoma; Oncoprotein Kinase Inhibitors; Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Inhibitors; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase (CDK) Inhibitors; DNA-damage Checkpoint Kinase (Chk) Inhibitors; Bcl-2 Family Anti-apoptotic Protein Antagonists. His research has been awarded by two RO1 (renewed once) and two SPORE (Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma respectively) grants from NCI/NIH, and several awards from other research foundations/societies (e.g., Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). His findings have been translated into 5 phase I or II clinical trials in treatment of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other hematological malignancies.

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Dr. Tomoo Iwakuma is an Associate Professor at the Department of Cancer Biology in University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Dr. Iwakuma received his M.D. at Kyushu University in Japan, majoring in Orthopedics in 1991. He also received his Ph.D. at the Department of Biochemistry at the same University in 1997. He spent several years as a research fellow studying gene therapy, pharmacology, and molecular genetics in different laboratories. Following postdoctoral training at the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, he joined Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in the Department of Genetics as an assistant professor on August 15, 2005. As of August 1, 2011, he transitioned to KUMC as an associate professor.

Dr. Iwakuma's primary research focuses on the field of Cancer Research, specifically on cancer progression in bone and soft tissue sarcoma. Over 50% of human cancer has mutations in the tumor suppressor p53 which regulates cell cycle progression, cell death, senescence, chromosome integrity, DNA repair, and metastasis. Therefore, understanding of the pathway involved in the regulation of p53 is essential for discovering novel cancer therapies. With special focus on the MDM2-p53 pathway, Dr. Iwakuma dissects the mechanism of cancer progression using genetically engineered mice, as well as tumor transplantation models, and applies disease models to translational research, to ultimately cure cancer.

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Dr. Douglas Hurst is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Hurst received his BS degree from the College of Charleston and his PhD in Biochemistry from the Florida State University where he was a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Fellow. He completed postdoc training in Cancer Biology with Danny Welch at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he was a Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH Fellow. His primary research goals are to understand the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis with a particular interest in breast cancer. His current focus includes the characterization of the roles of chromatin remodeling complexes required for particular steps in metastasis. His research is funded by the American Cancer Society.

Epigenetic regulation of breast cancer progression and metastasis; chromatin modification; histone deacetylase complex composition and activity; metastasis suppressors.

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