Upcoming Research Talks
DCP Early Career Scientist Spotlight Research Seminar Series (Upcoming Research Talks)
Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 11am EST
"Adding the Spatial Dimension: Insights From Spatial Omics in Hematologic Malignancies"
David Cordas dos Santos, MD
Instructor, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
David Cordas dos Santos, MD, is an Instructor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, working in Irene Ghobrial’s laboratory in close collaboration with the Broad Institute. After earning his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg, he began his clinical training in hematology and oncology at LMU University Hospital in Munich before transitioning to Dana-Farber to pursue translational research in plasma-cell disorders. His work focuses on hematologic malignancies such as multiple myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulinemia, as well as T cell–based therapies including CAR-T cells and bispecific antibodies. By integrating multi-omics profiling with spatial biology approaches, his research aims to uncover mechanisms driving progression from precursor to overt malignancy and resistance to immunotherapy. He is an investigator in the Myeloma Multidimensional Pre-Cancer Atlas of the NIH Human Tumor Atlas Network and is part of multi-institutional collaborations to develop clinically relevant prediction models.
“Spatiotemporal Mapping of Tumor Innervation to Predict Aggressive Prostate Cancer at Early Stages”
Sebnem Ece Eksi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Oncological Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. Sebnem Ece Eksi is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncological Sciences at Oregon Health & Science University. Her laboratory investigates how tumor-innervating nerves influence cancer progression and therapy response, with the goal of improving early detection and prevention in prostate and pancreatic cancers. Using high-plex spatial proteomics and computational pathology, her team develops and applies spatial biomarkers that distinguish indolent from aggressive tumors and identify patients who may benefit from early treatment. Dr. Eksi integrates spatial proteomics with clinical imaging data such as multiparametric MRI from major early-detection trials such as Re-IMAGINE to uncover nerve-associated risk signatures. Her research advances biomarker discovery for precision patient stratification, guiding intervention decisions, and reducing overtreatment through biologically informed early-detection strategies.
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | 11am EST
"Nutrient Stress to Neoplasia: Uncovering Metabolic Drivers of Hepatocellular Transformation"
Jessica E. S. Shay, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Utah
Dr. Jessica E. S. Shay is a physician-scientist whose career bridges clinical hepatology and metabolic research. She earned her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed an early interest in how metabolism regulates tissue repair and cancer. She completed internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying how dietary and metabolic cues influence stem cell and tissue behavior. Dr. Shay is now an Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the University of Utah, with additional appointments in the newly renamed Center for Metabolic Health and affiliate status at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Her focus is on how metabolic reprogramming in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) shapes hepatocyte identity, regeneration, and tumorigenesis, with the goal of identifying metabolic strategies to prevent liver cancer.
“Fitness Assessment and Optimization in Older Adults with AML: A Focus on Sarcopenia”
Samuel Yates, MD, MSc
Fellow (PGY-6), Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Chicago
The long-term goal of Dr. Yates’s research is to improve the fitness for chemotherapy of older adults with leukemia via targeting sarcopenia to improve physical function. He completed an MD/MSc at Wake Forest with a master’s thesis assessing the prognostic significance of bioelectrical impedance analysis for early death in adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He built upon this work with an investigator-initiated trial (NCT05458258) assessing the impact of sarcopenia in addition to the gold standard fitness assessment tool, a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), on early death in older adults with AML. He is currently leading a pilot feasibility trial of a nutrition and exercise intervention in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (NCT06785324). Upon completion of his fellowship from the University of Chicago he will join the faculty at Wake Forest as a physician scientist in the Department of Cancer Medicine and sections of Geriatric Oncology and Leukemia.
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 | 11am EST
"ONC201 for Colorectal Cancer Prevention"
Alexander Raufi, MD
Director, Clinical Research, Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Brown University Health Cancer Institute
Alexander G. Raufi, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. As a hematologist/oncologist at Brown University Health Cancer Institute, he specializes in Gastrointestinal Oncology and serves as the Director of the Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Program. Dr. Raufi received his medical degree from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, Irvine in Orange, California, and his fellowship training in hematology/oncology at Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian in New York, New York. Dr. Raufi conducts both laboratory and clinical research at Brown University’s Legorreta Cancer Center and Brown University Health. His research interests include the development of novel immunotherapy combinations in gastrointestinal malignancies and preventive strategies for gastrointestinal cancers. He is a recipient of a 2019 Young Investigator Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation/American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“Better Together: Advancing Cancer Survivorship Through Dyadic Lifestyle Interventions”
Meghan Skiba, PhD, MS, MPH, RDN
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona College of Nursing, Tucson, AZ
Dr. Meghan Skiba is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing and a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Prior, Dr. Skiba completed graduate training at the University of Arizona, a dietetic internship through the University of Houston, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon Health & Science Knight Cancer Institute. A registered dietitian nutritionist, Dr. Skiba's research focuses on promoting healthy aging in cancer survivors and their caregivers through culturally and regionally tailored diet and physical activity interventions. Her work integrates of caregivers into survivorship care and employs both community engagement strategies as well as digital health technologies to enhance reach and impact. She currently leads projects investigating the effects of dyadic lifestyle interventions on physical and psychosocial outcomes in cancer survivors and their caregivers.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | 11am EST
“Mechanisms that link diet and aging in driving intestinal cancer risk”
Jiahn Choi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Our research centers on understanding how intestinal stem cells and their surrounding niche adapt to environmental stressors—such as aging and diet—and how these adaptations influence tissue homeostasis, inflammation, and cancer risk. Our work integrates single-cell omics, in vivo imaging, and functional genomics to uncover how stem cell plasticity and niche interactions are reprogrammed in response to modifiable risk factors, including a Western-style diet. We have demonstrated that Western-style diet reshapes intestinal homeostasis by altering the primary stem cell population, thereby remodeling lineage differentiation and contributing to a pro-tumorigenic state. Building on these findings, our ongoing research aims to deconvolve the mechanisms by which cellular adaptation contributes to pathogenesis, including cancer.
By defining the mechanisms underlying mucosal remodeling and pathogenesis, our goal is to develop preventive strategies that preserve epithelial integrity and reduce the risk of diet- and age-associated diseases.
By defining the mechanisms underlying mucosal remodeling and pathogenesis, our goal is to develop preventive strategies that preserve epithelial integrity and reduce the risk of diet- and age-associated diseases.
“Developing and Testing Integrative Therapies for Cancer Symptom Management”
Kevin T. Liou, MD
Assistant Attending, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Kevin Liou is an integrative medicine specialist, licensed acupuncturist, and assistant attending physician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). He obtained his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Weill Cornell Medicine, followed by an integrative oncology research fellowship at MSK. He is the principal investigator on several clinical trials investigating acupuncture and music therapy for cancer symptom management. His research has been supported by the National Cancer Institute, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Gabrielle's Angel Foundation, the Chanel Endowment for Survivorship Research, and MSK's Division of Subspecialty Medicine. He is also the director of MSK's integrative medicine fellowship program.