Meet Our Team

Sandra Orsulic, PhD
Sandra Orsulic, PhD is a Professor in Residence of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Orsulic was previously a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, she was an Assistant Molecular Pathologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she also served as Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Orsulic’s research on ovarian cancer has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), American Cancer Society (ACS), and Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA). Her studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Nature, Cancer Cell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA and Cancer Research.  Dr. Orsulic is a member of the OCRA Scientific Advisory Committee and serves on several editorial boards and NIH review panels.

Marcela Haro, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research interests:
Dr. Haro is interested in the roles of B cells in ovarian cancer progression and the influence of cancer associated fibroblasts in the anti-tumor B cell response.
Fellowship in the Orsulic Lab:

• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance Ann and Sol Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award. Cancer associated fibroblasts hinder the B cell anti-tumor response.

Ye Hu, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research interests:
Dr. Hu is interested in the role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in shaping the immune composition of tumors and their potential as a therapeutic target.
Fellowship in the Orsulic Lab:

• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance Ann and Sol Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award. Reciprocal roles of CAFs and CD4+ T Cells in cancer progression.

Yael Raz Yana, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research interests:
Dr. Raz Yana is interested in pre-cancer lesions in the fallopian tubes of BRCA1 mutation carriers and factors that contribute to malignant changes in the fallopian tube epithelial cells.
Fellowships in the Orsulic Lab:

• The Rivkin Center Scientific Scholar Award. Studying the fallopian tubes of BRCA mutation carriers to understand the infrastructure for malignant transformation.
• Foundation for Women’s Cancer Laura Crandall Brown Foundation Ovarian Cancer. Distinct early changes in the fallopian tubes of BRCA mutation carriers.
• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance Ann and Sol Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award. COL11A1 is a highly specific therapeutic target in cancer-activated stroma.

Maria Sol Recouvreux, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research interests:
Dr. Recouvreux studies the roles of fallopian tube secretory and ciliated cells in the formation of the pre-cancer niche.
Fellowship in the Orsulic Lab:

• Tina’s Wish Rising Star. The role of ciliated cells in preventing fallopian tube cancer initiation.

Enes Taylan, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research interests:
Dr. Taylan is interested in the earliest stages of ovarian cancer cell adhesion to the peritoneal mesothelium and targeted therapies in ovarian cancer.

Barbie Taylor-Harding, PhD
Research Associate
Research interests:
Dr. Taylor-Harding currently performs the managerial duties in the Orsulic Laboratory and conducts research on the role of fibroblasts mechanobiology in cancer progression.

Jingni Wu, MD
Visiting Graduate Student
Research interests:
Dr. Wu is a Visiting Graduate Student in the Orsulic Laboratory where her research focuses on pre-cancer lesions in the fallopian tube and factors that contribute to malignant changes in the fallopian tube epithelial cells.