People

Michael Nakazawa, MD, PhD

Dr. Michael Nakazawa received his MD/PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. His thesis work focused on elucidating the role of hypoxia on soft-tissue sarcoma progression, as well as the applicability of epigenetic-modifying and autophagic-inhibiting drugs on these cancers. Dr. Nakazawa's research interests broadly include understanding how tumors adapt to the stresses of their microenvironment as a means to identify potential targets for therapy.

Nicholas Hornstein, MD

Dr. Nicholas Hornstein obtained his MD and PhD from Columbia University where he developed novel next generation sequencing technologies. He holds particular interests in utilizing genomic data to drive improved medical outcomes and continues to be involved in research projects to that end. Outside of medicine he enjoys rock climbing.

Melissa Abel, MD

Dr. Melissa Abel is interested in pursuing a career in oncology that incorporates basic science research. She started her research career at Oregon Health Science University studying small molecule targeted therapies for leukemia, before heading to Duke University for medical school. At Duke, she was able to spend a year studying CAR T-cell therapy for glioblastoma through funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med Fellows program. She is interested in cancer genetics and immunology, and is excited to be at a program known for its support of physician-scientists.

Sriram Anbil, MD

Dr. Anbil completed his MD at The University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio, and spent four years in the laboratory of Dr. Tayyaba Hasan and Massachusetts General Hospital, two as a research associate prior to medical school, and two as an HHMI Medical Research Fellow between his MS2 and MS3 years. To date, his research has focused on the development of 3D organoid models for ovarian and pancreas cancer, mechanism-informed combination regimens to treat late stage cancers, and targeting the tumor-stroma interactions that drive pancreas cancer progression. His research interests include understanding how evolutionary stresses impact the composition of the tumor microenvironment of pancreas cancer, and how this landscape is affected by treatment. In addition, Dr. Anbil is interested in assay development for the early detection of disease.

Aleksandr Gorin, MD, PhD

Dr. Aleksandr Gorin received his MD/PhD from UCLA. His thesis work focused on HIV "elite controllers", individuals who control HIV infection without antiretroviral medications. During his PhD he investigated mechanisms by which cytotoxic T-cells control HIV replication in such individuals with a broad focus on developing HIV vaccines to elicit a successful T-cell response against the virus. Dr. Gorin's research interests are mainly focused on understanding the interplay between adaptive immunity and viral pathogens as well as vaccine design.

Kathleen Fenerty, MD

Dr. Kathleen Fenerty is an aspiring academic oncologist. She began her research career at the National Institutes of Health, where she was part of the Medical Research Scholars Program. There she had the opportunity to spend a year studying multimodal immunotherapies for prostate cancer. She then graduated from medical school at Indiana University before heading to UCLA, where she is excited continue her training as a clinician scientist.

James Pinney, MD, PhD

Dr. James Pinney is a graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, receiving his MD in addition to his PhD in cardiac tissue engineering from the UCSF/UC Berkeley Graduate Program in Bioengineering. His thesis work focused on the mechanobiology of fibroblasts in cardiac tissue and the implementation of biocompatible micropolymers to mitigate fibrosis after infarction. He plans to pursue a career in academic cardiology where he hopes to continue to apply principles of materials science and tissue engineering to the development of translational strategies for myocardial repair and remodeling in the injured heart.

Alexander Nguyen, MD, PhD

Dr. Alexander Nguyen obtained his MD from Weill Cornell Medical College and his PhD in biomedical sciences from Rockefeller University. He previously studied metabolic drivers of colorectal cancer metastasis to the liver. He plans to pursue a research fellowship in gastroenterology and is interested in studying liver growth and metabolism.