Current Lab Members

Christopher M. Counter, Ph.D.

Principle Investigator

George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology

Ryne Ramaker, M.D., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow developing platforms to detect pancreatic cancer and to understand the origins of this disease.

Özgün Le Roux, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow exploring how the relationship between oncoprotein levels and mutation types affect tumor initiation in different tissues using genetically engineered mouse models of human cancers.

Yuchen Zhang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow exploring how specific oncogenic mutations arise and are selected to initiate tumorigenesis using novel mouse models and ultra-sensitive sequencing.

Seth Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow exploring how phosphatidylinositol metabolism influences tumorigenesis by employing targeted in vivo CRISPR/Cas9 loss-of-function screens. He is also studying how PAX3-FOXO1 promotes the childhood solid cancer  rhabdomyosarcoma by mapping the interactome of this fusion oncoprotein.

 

Taylor Niehoff

Ph.D. student exploring how the poor expression of oncogenic KRAS imposed by rare codons is overcome by undertaking CRISPR/Cas9 loss-of-function screens for modifiers of rare codon-dependent expression.

Patrick Prochazka

Ph.D. student exploring how specific mutations are selected during the process of tumor initiation and promotion in vivo.

Lili DeGraw

Technician aiding postdoctoral fellow Dr. Seth Zimmerman with studies into the fusion oncoprotein PAX3-FOX01.

Wenceslaus Githiiyi

Technician aiding postdoctoral fellow Dr. Özgün Le Roux with studies into the relationship between oncoprotein levels and mutation type of RAS genes.