Cancer Biology Program Student Achievements
Students in the Cancer Biology Program at the Morningside Graduate School of Biological Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School have been successful in publishing high-impact papers, obtaining independent fellowships, and receiving prestigious institutional, local and national awards. View their achievements below.
Publications
In the following list of selected recent student-led peer-reviewed research publications, first/co-first author student’s names are in bold and the faculty thesis advisor’s names are underlined.
Multiplexed cytokine and antigen mRNA administration generates durable anti-tumor immunity against pancreatic cancer.
Parikh CN, DeMarco KD, Bhalerao N, Giwa HK, Kane GI, Dinnell RW, Ma B, Mori H, Brassil ML, Murphy KC, Zhao Z, Johnson C, Ramani S, Zhou L, Chibaya L, Qiao Y, Hu K, Zhu LJ, Lewis BC, Xue W, Pitarresi JR, Atukorale PU, Ruscetti M. Nat Commun. 2026 Jun 19. Online ahead of print.
Therapeutic delivery of albumin-binding siRNA targeting IRS2 to diverse cell types reduces mammary tumor growth.
Tocheny CE, Buchwald JE, Dahlke CD, Fakih HH, Morgan JS, Summers A, Silva CA, Jackson SO, Lee JS, Card MA, Echeverria D, Peterson C, Mercurio AM, Khvorova A, Shaw LM. Mol Ther. 2026 May 6;34(5):2963-2982.
KRAS withdrawal in cholangiocarcinoma leads to immune infiltration and tumor regression.
Qiao Y, Yee MF, Parikh CN, Ma B, Cao Y, Shih YH, Wu JQ, Ruscetti M, Liang SQ, Xue W. Adv Sci. 2026 Jan;13(6):e11312.
Inducing ferroptosis to impede metastasis by inhibiting the calcium channel TRPC6.
Dimitrov BS, Mukhopadhyay D, Goel HL, Karner ER, Silva CA, Kumar A, Peterson C, Wang M, Mercurio AM. Cell Rep. 2025 Nov 8;44(11):116543.
Resistance to radiation enhancees metastasis by altering RNA metabolism.
Kumar A, Kishimoto K, Goel HL, Silva CA, Li R, Pacheco B, Zhu LJ, Flavahan WA, Mercurio AM. Sci Adv. 2025 Oct 17;1(42):eadx3050.
MYC and p53 alterations cooperate through VEGF signaling to repress cytotoxic T cell and immunotherapy responses in prostate cancer.
Murphy KC, DeMarco KD, Zhou L, Peura J, Giwa HK, Lopez-Diaz Y, Ho YJ, Li J, Bai S, Simin K, Zhu LJ, Pitarresi JR, Mercurio AM, Ruscetti M. Cancer Res. 2025 Nov 14;85(22):4359.
Mesenchymal Hippo signaling regulates intestinal homeostasis in adult mice.
Dang K, Singh A, Chen X, Cotton JL, Guo S, Hu X, Tao Z, Liu H, Zhu LJ, Ip YT, Wu X, Mao J. iScience. 2025 Jan 20;28(2):111847.
Neuropilin-2-expressing breast cancer cells mitigate radiation-induced oxidative stress through nitric oxide signaling.
Kumar A, Goel HL, Wisniewski CA, Wang T, Geng Y, Wang M, Goel S, Hu K, Li R, Zhu LJ, Clark JL, Ferreira LM, Brehm MA, FitzGerald TJ, Mercurio AM. J Clin Invest. 2024 Oct 1;134(22):e181368.
The role of quiescent thymic progenitors in TAL/LMO2-induced T-ALL chemotolerance.
O'Connor KW, Kishimoto K, Kuzma IO, Wagner KP, Selway JS, Roderick JE, Karna KK, Gallagher KM, Hu K, Liu H, Li R, Brehm MA, Zhu LJ, Curtis DJ, Tremblay CS, Kelliher MA. Leukemia. 2024 May;38(5):951-962.
YAP/TAZ-mediated regulation of laminin 332 is enabled by β4 integrin repression of ZEB1 to promote ferroptosis resistance.
Goel HL*, Karner ER*, Kumar A, Mukhopadhyay D, Goel S, Mercurio AM. J Biol Chem. 2024 Apr;300(4):107202. (*indicates co-first authors)
FANCJ promotes PARP1 activity during DNA replication that is essential in BRCA1 deficient cells.
Cong K*, MacGilvary N*, Lee S, MacLeod SG, Calvo J, Peng M, Nedergaard Kousholt A, Day TA, Cantor SB. Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 23;15(1):2599. (* indicates co-first authors)
Regulation of proteostasis and innate immunity via mitochondria-nuclear communication.
Kim S, Ramalho TR, Haynes CM. J Cell Biol. 2024 Mar 4;223(3):e202310005.
The calcium channel TRPC6 promotes chemotherapy-induced persistence by regulating integrin α6 mRNA splicing.
Mukhopadhyay D, Goel HL, Xiong C, Goel S, Kumar A, Li R, Zhu LJ, Clark JL, Brehm MA, Mercurio AM. Cell Rep. 2023 Nov 28;42(11):113347.
Disruption of sugar nucleotide clearance is a therapeutic vulnerability of cancer cells.
Doshi MB, Lee N, Tseyang T, Ponomarova O, Goel HL, Spears M, Li R, Zhu LJ, Ashwood C, Simin K, Jang C, Mercurio AM, Walhout AJM, Spinelli JB, Kim D. Nature. 2023 Nov;623(7987):625-632.
Phosphosite Scanning reveals a complex phosphorylation code underlying CDK-dependent activation of Hcm1.
Conti MM, Li R, Narváez Ramos MA, Zhu LJ, Fazzio TG, Benanti JA. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 19;14(1):310.
Atg6 promotes organismal health by suppression of cell stress and inflammation.
Shen JL, Doherty J, Allen E, Fortier TM, Baehrecke EH. Cell Death Differ. 2022 Nov;29(11):2275-2287.
De novo sphingolipid biosynthesis necessitates detoxification in cancer cells.
Spears ME, Lee N, Hwang S, Park SJ, Carlisle AE, Li R, Doshi MB, Armando AM, Gao J, Simin K, Zhu LJ, Greer PL, Quehenberger O, Torres EM, Kim D. Cell Rep. 2022 Sep 27;40(13):111415.
Repression of essential cell cycle genes increases cellular fitness.
Conti MM, Ghizzoni JM, Gil-Bona A, Wang W, Costanzo M, Li R, Flynn MJ, Zhu LJ, Myers CL, Boone C, Andrews BJ, Benanti JA. PLoS Genet. 2022 Aug 29;18(8):e1010349.
O-linked α2,3 sialylation defines stem cell populations in breast cancer.
Walker MR, Goel HL, Mukhopadhyay D, Chhoy P, Karner ER, Clark JL, Liu H, Li R, Zhu JL, Chen S, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Mercurio AM. Sci Adv. 2022 Jan 7;8(1):eabj9513.
EpoR stimulates rapid cycling and larger red cells during mouse and human erythropoiesis.
Hidalgo D, Bejder J, Pop R, Gellatly K, Hwang Y, Maxwell Scalf S, Eastman AE, Chen JJ, Zhu LJ, Heuberger JAAC, Guo S, Koury MJ, Nordsborg NB, Socolovsky M. Nat Commun. 2021 Dec 17;12(1):7334.
Vps13D functions in a Pink1-dependent and Parkin-independent mitophagy pathway.
Shen JL, Fortier TM, Wang R, Baehrecke EH. J Cell Biol. 2021 Nov 1;220(11):e202104073.
BMP signaling promotes neural crest identity and accelerates melanoma onset.
Gramann AK, Frantz WT, Dresser K, Gomes CBF, Lian CG, Deng A, Ceol CJ. J Invest Dermatol. 2021 Aug;141(8):2067-2070.e1.
Replication gaps are a key determinant of PARP inhibitor synthetic lethality with BRCA deficiency.
Cong K, Peng M, Kousholt AN, Lee WTC, Lee S, Nayak S, Krais J, VanderVere-Carozza PS, Pawelczak KS, Calvo J, Panzarino NJ, Turchi JJ, Johnson N, Jonkers J, Rothenberg E, Cantor SB. Mol Cell. 2021 Aug 5;81(15):3128-3144.e7.
Vmp1, Vps13D, and Marf/Mfn2 function in a conserved pathway to regulate mitochondria and ER contact in development and disease.
Shen JL, Fortier TM, Zhao YG, Wang R, Burmeister M, Baehrecke EH. Curr Biol. 2021 Jul 26;31(14):3028-3039.e7.
YAP1 withdrawal in hepatoblastoma drives therapeutic differentiation of tumor cells to functional hepatocyte-like cells.
Smith JL, Rodríguez TC, Mou H, Kwan SY, Pratt H, Zhang XO, Cao Y, Liang S, Ozata DM, Yu T, Yin Q, Hazeltine M, Weng Z, Sontheimer EJ, Xue W. Hepatology. 2021 Mar;73(3):1011-1027.
Replication Gaps Underlie BRCA Deficiency and Therapy Response.
Panzarino NJ, Krais JJ, Cong K, Peng M, Mosqueda M, Nayak SU, Bond SM, Calvo JA, Doshi MB, Bere M, Ou J, Deng B, Zhu LJ, Johnson N, Cantor SB. Cancer Res. 2021 Mar 1;81(5):1388-1397.
ESRRB regulates glucocorticoid gene expression in mice and patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Gallagher KM, Roderick JE, Tan SH, Tan TK, Murphy L, Yu J, Li R, O'Connor KW, Zhu J, Green MR, Sanda T, Kelliher MA. Blood Adv. 2020 Jul 14;4(13):3154-3168.
Selenium detoxification is required for cancer-cell survival.
Carlisle AE, Lee N, Matthew-Onabanjo AN, Spears ME, Park SJ, Youkana D, Doshi MB, Peppers A, Li R, Joseph AB, Smith M, Simin K, Zhu LJ, Greer PL, Shaw LM, Kim D. Nat Metab. 2020 Jul;2(7):603-611.
Inhibition of the translesion synthesis polymerase REV1 exploits replication gaps as a cancer vulnerability.
Nayak S, Calvo JA, Cong K, Peng M, Berthiaume E, Jackson J, Zaino AM, Vindigni A, Hadden MK, Cantor SB. Sci Adv. 2020 Jun 10;6(24):eaaz7808.
Alveolar progenitor cells in the mammary gland are dependent on the β4 integrin.
Walker MR, Amante JJ, Li J, Liu H, Zhu LJ, Feltri ML, Goel HL, Mercurio AM. Dev Biol. 2020 Jan 1;457(1):13-19.
Beclin 1 promotes endosome recruitment of hepatocyte growth factor tyrosine kinase substrate to suppress tumor proliferation.
Matthew-Onabanjo AN, Janusis J, Mercado-Matos J, Carlisle AE, Kim D, Levine F, Cruz-Gordillo P, Richards R, Lee MJ, Shaw LM. Cancer Res. 2020 Jan 15;80(2):249-262.
Fellowships
The following is a list of fellowships recently funded to graduate students in the Cancer Biology Program.
| Year | Student | Faculty advisor | Fellowship |
| 2025 | Kelsey Wagner | Michelle Kelliher |
Kids Beating Cancer Emerging Scientist Grant: Identifying BTG2 targets to sensitize leukemia-initiating cells to chemotherapy. |
| Katherine Murphy | Marcus Ruscetti |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31): Identifying and targeting the genetic determinants of immune suppression and immunotherapy failure in prostate cancer |
|
| Nathan MacGilvary | Sharon Cantor |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31): Investigating replication gap suppression in distinct models of chemoresistant BRCA mutant cancers |
|
| 2023 | Ayush Kumar | Art Mercurio |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (F30): VEGF/Neurophilin-2 signaling and radioresistance in triple-negative breast cancer |
| Chaitanya Parikh | Marcus Ruscetti |
Pancreatic Cancer Alliance Fellowship: Modulating the immunosuppressive pancreas tumor microenvironment through intratumoral delivery of cytokine-encoding mRNAs |
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| 2022 | Sookyung Kim | Cole Haynes |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (F30): Modulation of mitochondrial biogenesis by the Integrated Stress Response (ISR) |
| 2020 | Kevin O'Connor | Michelle Kelliher |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (F30): Targeting dormant leukemia-initiating cells in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia |
| Melanie Walker | Art Mercurio |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31): Integrin regulation of mammary gland development |
Awards
Students in the Cancer Biology Program have won prestigious institutional and external awards for their academic scholarship, mentorship and community service. Below are lists of awards recently received.
UMass Chan Awards
External Awards
| Year | Student | Faculty advisor | Award |
| 2025 | Ayush Kumar | Art Mercurio | 2024 AMA Research Challenge Grand Prize Winner |
| Favour Akabogu | Matthew Hemming | 2025 Vertex Biomedical Science Career Scholarship | |
| Favour Akabogu | Matthew Hemming | Ruth and Williams Silen M.D. Award | |
| 2024 | Chaitanya Parikh | Marcus Ruscetti | AACR Scholar-in-training Award to attend the AACR Special Conference in Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Research |
| Chaitanya Parikh | Marcus Ruscetti | Trainee Award by Aegean Conferences to attend the 6th International Conference on Cytokines in Cancer | |
| 2023 | Ayush Kumar | Art Mercurio | 2023 Lasker Essay Contest Winner |