Meet the Teams Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative

ALK team meeting over Zoom; this is a screen capture of the group

Since the inception of the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative, Sofia D. Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. has been attracting the brightest minds in oncology research and installing the necessary sense of urgency to produce promising results for our patients. Researchers with expertise in cancer cell and molecular biology, pharmacology, pathology, and surgery who had not previously focused their expertise on lung cancer before this initiative are now working around the clock within the lab to ensure that no question is left unanswered. Because of this, groundbreaking findings are happening at a faster pace than ever before imagined.

Program Leads

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. Overall Lead Principal Investigator; Hematology & Oncology, Internal Medicine

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology and holds the GreaterGood Chair of Breast Cancer Research at the University of Michigan. Sofia holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Maryland and MD from the University of Michigan. Dr. Merajver is Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program. She has published over 320 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature and has received honors and awards for her scientific accomplishments and mentorship of over 300 scientists; she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The subjects of her scholarship range from precision oncology of lung, bladder, breast, brain metastases, signaling, and innovative developmental therapeutics to genetic and phenotypic determinants of aggressive cancers. She is the lead investigator of the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative. In addition to her work in basic science and translational oncology, she strives to improve through research global cancer health in worldwide locations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and in underserved populations in the US and everywhere.

Angel Qin, M.D. Clinical Lead, Clinical Associate Professor, Hematology & Oncology, Internal Medicine

I am the clinical lead on the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative. I am a practicing thoracic oncologist who treats patients with lung cancer. My research interest is understanding mechanisms of resistance to treatment, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy.

Andrew G. Shuman, M.D., FACS, HEC-C Clinical Lead, Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and Chief of the Clinical Ethics Service in the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine

Andrew G. Shuman, MD, FACS, HEC-C, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School. He serves as Chief of the Clinical Ethics Service in the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM).

Dr. Shuman is internationally recognized as a thought leader in ethical issues arising within the field of surgical oncology. He received extramural research funding for his work from NIH, the VA and societal grants, and has a portfolio of publications in leading journals in the fields of ethics, oncology and otolaryngology. He has acted as PI on projects focused on cancer treatment decision-making and precision oncology, tailored to directly inform both the clinical practice and legal regulation of these ethically contentious and clinically complex disciplines. Dr. Shuman will be working with the ALK Initiative team on the ethical issues related to sharing the research results of the study and translating them into clinical practice.

Stacy Fry, B.S., CCRP Program Manager

As a Certified Clinical Research Professional and the ALK Program Manager, I work with the ALK Initiative Leads to facilitate the overall development, relationships with collaborating institutions, individuals and patient organizations, overall management, and organizational administration for the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative.

Meet our Teams

ALK team meeting; this is a photo of the group sitting together in a conference room

View All | Close

Clinical Research Team

Stacy Fry, B.S., CCRP ALK Program Manager

Andrew Shuman, M.D., FACS Associate Professor

Albana Grajqevci, B.S. Clinical Research Assistant

Mary Horn, B.S. Clinical Research Technician

Avery Rudnick, M.P.H. Clinical Research Technician

Students

William Bieneman Research Assistant

Sohair Holman Research Assistant

Athena Koulouris Research Assistant

Hassan Zbib Research Assistant

Past Team Members

Laura Goo, B.S. Research Assistant

Varun Kathawate, B.S. Research Assistant

Lila Tudrick, B.S. Research Assistant

Bryce Vandenburg, B.A. Clinical Research Technician

Project 1: Organoid Drug Testing and Multi-omic Integration Team

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. Overall Lead Principal Investigator; Hematology & Oncology, Internal Medicine

Sofia Merajver, MD., Ph.D. is Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology and holds the GreaterGood Chair of Breast Cancer Research at the University of Michigan. Sofia holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Maryland and MD from the University of Michigan. Dr. Merajver is Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program. She has published over 320 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature and has received honors and awards for her scientific accomplishments and mentorship of over 300 scientists; she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The subjects of her scholarship range from precision oncology of lung, bladder, breast, brain metastases, signaling, and innovative developmental therapeutics to genetic and phenotypic determinants of aggressive cancers. She is the lead investigator of the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative. In addition to her work in basic science and translational oncology, she strives to improve through research global cancer health in worldwide locations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and in underserved populations in the US and everywhere.

Nathan Merrill, Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, Hematology & Oncology, Internal Medicine

I am Project 1 co-lead, where we are utilizing a platform established in our lab to screen minimally cultured patient-derived organoids for therapeutic vulnerabilities. I spearhead drug screening of this patient material with small molecule inhibitors to deliver a ranked list of potential therapeutic vulnerabilities based on the patient’s own cancer cells.

Aaron Udager, M.D., Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, Pathology

As part of Project 1 my lab is working to test minimally cultured non-small cell lung cancer samples, obtained at the time of diagnosis and recurrence or progression. With this we may be able to molecularly characterize PDO's to identify and outline potential therapeutic treatment and model early pathogenesis.

Postdoctoral

Ananya Banerjee, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

David González de la Aleja Gallego, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Hamadi Madhi, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Mark Slayton, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project 1 Staff

Liwei Bao Senior Research Assistant

Xu Cheng Research Associate Lead

Ning Gu Research Lab Specialist Associate

Marziyeh Salehi Jahromi, Ph.D. Senior Research Assistant

Albert Liu Senior Research Lab Specialist

Lluis Lopez- Barcons Research Area Specialist

Habib Serhan Research Assistant

Zhifen Wu Research Lab Specialist Senior

Students

William Bieneman Research Assistant

Sohair Holman Research Assistant

Sivani Manimaran Research Assistant

Hassan Zbib Research Assistant

Victor Zhao Research Assistant

Past Project Members

Ehsanul Hoque Apu, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Neeke Busette Senior Research Assistant

Zackariah Farah Research Assistant

Varun Kathawate Research Assistant

Brisilda Nilaj Undergraduate Research Assistant

C. Ryan Oliver, Ph.D. Research Fellow

Zhaoping Qin Research Area Specialist

Project 2: Modeling and Characterizing Early ALK-dependent Tumorigenesis Team

Peggy Hsu, M.D., Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, Rogel Cancer Center Fellow, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine

In order to understand early events in tumorigenesis, I work directly with ALK and non-ALK patient samples, using living animal models to assess oncogenic activation. We hope to apply this to inform the ALK community on the fate of a patient's progress.

Jason Spence, Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine

As a co-lead on Project 2, we are researching the causative genes behind lung disease and study how lungs are developed in-vitro, and what this development might be able to tell us about the risk of future lung diseases.

Postdoctoral

Yusoo Lee, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project 2 Staff

Xu Cheng Senior Research Lab Specialist

Xiangning Dong, Bioinfo-Computer Biologist Associate

Ling M Yang Research Lab Specialist Associate

Students

Emma Niestroy Research Asst I (Temp)

Varun Ponnusamy Laboratory Assistant (Temp)

Past Project Members

Michael Downey Senior Research Lab Specialist

Lila Tudrick Research Assistant

Zhiwei Xiao Research Assistant

Project 3: Drug Resistance and Novel Compounds to Address Resistance Team

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. Overall Lead Principal Investigator; Hematology & Oncology, Internal Medicine

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology and holds the GreaterGood Chair of Breast Cancer Research at the University of Michigan. Sofia holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Maryland and MD from the University of Michigan. Dr. Merajver is Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program. She has published over 320 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature and has received honors and awards for her scientific accomplishments and mentorship of over 300 scientists; she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The subjects of her scholarship range from precision oncology of lung, bladder, breast, brain metastases, signaling, and innovative developmental therapeutics to genetic and phenotypic determinants of aggressive cancers. She is the lead investigator of the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative. In addition to her work in basic science and translational oncology, she strives to improve through research global cancer health in worldwide locations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and in underserved populations in the US and everywhere.

Matthew Soellner, Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, Chemistry, LSA

My work is primarily focused on understanding ALK inhibitors, and what they might be able to tell us about potential treatment options. Using combinations of FDA-approved cancer therapies on NSCLC cell lines, we hope to understand whether these combined therapies can mitigate or prevent the possibility of drug resistance.

Peter Toogood, Ph.D. Project Co-Lead, MDD Director, Pharmacy

Peter Toogood is a research associate professor in the department of medicinal chemistry and Director of Michigan Drug Discovery, a campus-wide initiative to translate academic discoveries into new advances in medicine at the University of Michigan. His drug discovery experience encompasses the fields of immunology/inflammation, infectious diseases, and cancer. He was a co-inventor of the cyclin-dependent kinase-4 inhibitor Ibrance® (palbociclib), for which he has been awarded numerous honors. His work on identifying and synthesizing novel ALK inhibitors is a hopeful endeavor to expand treatment options for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Postdoctoral

Sultan Ahmed, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Hamadi Madhi, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Wuxiang Mao, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project 3 Staff

Marziyeh Salehi Jahromi, Ph.D. Research Area Specialist

Habib Serhan Research Assistant

Nathalie Vandecan Research Lab Specialist

Past Project Member

Rachel Sexton, Ph.D Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Pui Ki Tsang Research Lab Technician

Developing Projects Teams

Immune Environment Team

Kiran Lagisetty, M.D. Project Investigator; Thoracic Surgery, Surgery

I am the primary investigator of the project investigating the role to immune microenvironment in promoting treatment resistance in ALK driven lung cancer. We study the key cells driving treatment resistance and to study epithelial-immune cell interactions in order to improve the responses to traditional immune based therapies.

Postdoctoral

Marisa Aikins, Ph.D. Post-doctoral Research Fellow

My role is to determine the immune-related drug resistance mechanisms to immunotherapies in ALK NSCLC. I will employ a systems immunology approach to investigate the major mechanisms utilizing immune cells and tumor spheroids.

Abdullah Farhan Saeed, Ph.D. Research Fellow

Project Staff

Derek Nancarrow, Ph.D. Senior Research Lab Specialist

Students

Sydney Malawer Research Asst 1 (Temp)

Tejas Thiyagarajan Research Asst 1 (temp)

Andrew Yu Laboratory Assistant (Temp)

CTC Analysis Team

Sunitha Nagrath, Ph.D. Project Investigator; Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Dr. Nagrath is a recognized expert in circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation in solid tumors. Through the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative, she is working to longitudinally characterize CTC's in ALK NSCLC patients, expand the CTC population to better model drug sensitivity and resistance, and understand the brain metastatic potential of CTC's.