Lab Alumni

Genevieve.Clement@ucsfmedctr.org

Genevieve Clement received a Masters in Biology from the University of Bern, Switzerland and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Lausanne.  She joined the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher in 2005 to study the Wnt signaling pathway in an effort to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Genevieve was interested in identifying new molecular markers of malignant transformation, notably by investigating the promoter methylation status of Wnt signaling pathway components. Her research project involved elucidating the roles of the Wnt and Hedgehog signaling pathways in esophageal adenocarcinoma.

m13@tpts4.seed.net.tw

Ming-Szu (Eric) Hung is a Pulmonologist at Chang-Gung University - Taoyuan, Taiwan.  He grew up in central Taiwan, in Nantou County, and went on to study medicine at Chang-Gung University in Taoyuan (in the northern part of the island). After finishing his MD, he went on to complete a residency in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care at Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital. During his residency, he became interested in medical research, so after completing his training he enrolled in a PhD program also at Chang-Gung. As part of his still ongoing graduate work, Eric studied EGFR involvement in lung cancer in the laboratory of Dr. Chang-Ta (Jeff) Yang, incidentally a Jablons lab alumnus.

Here in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Eric was specifically interested in the involvement of Casein Kinase II (CK2) in lung carcinogenesis. CK2 has been implicated in a number of signal transduction pathways, among them Wnt and Akt, and is may serve as a potential target of anti-cancer therapeutic agents.

sschmid@uhbs.ch

Seraina Schmid took sabbatical from her attending position as a Surgical Gynecologic Oncologist in Basel, Switzerland to pursue postdoctoral research at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.  At Stanford, Seraina was in the joint laboratory of Drs. Irving Weissman and Nelson Tang trying to isolate ovarian cancer stem cells from human ovarian tumors.  She teamed with the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory in a collaborative effort to isolate human cancer stem cells.

Prior to commencing her career in medicine, Seraina completed a degree in economics from the Berufs Akademie of Heidenheim, Germany.  She received her MD from the University of Ulm in Germany and then moved to Switzerland to complete her residency in obstetrics and gynecology.  In 2001, she began her current attending position at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland.

chenzhao@tsinghua.org.cn

Zhao Chen came to us from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China as part of the China-USA Joint PhD program.  In this program, Chinese graduate students spend a year abroad in American academic laboratories pursuing research related to their graduate work.

Prior to commencing graduate school, Chen received his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences also from Tsinghua University.  In Beijing, he is in the lab of Professor Hai-Meng Zhou and studies tumor related enzymes.  In the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, he furthered his experience with translational research by focusing on the biology of outcomes in thoracic carcinomas.

s3021@nms.ac.jp

Junichi Okamoto joined the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory on sabbatical from Nippon Medical University in Tokyo, Japan.  He received MD and PhD degrees from Nippon Medical School and is currently completing his thoracic surgery training there and also finished his PhD there in the laboratory of Dr. Kiyoshi Koizumi.   

Here in the U.S., Junichi studyied the involvement of homeobox genes in Wnt and Hedgehog signaling and the implications such interactions may have on the development of lung cancer with hopes that these interactions may become targets for lung cancer therapeutics.

s_chunlei@126.com

Chunlei Shi is an oncologist in Shanghai, China. Born and raised in Shanghai, she completed both her medical education and training from Jiaotong University and the affiliated Shanghai Chest Hospital where she now practices medical oncology. As part of her medical training in China, Chunlei was involved in clinical research studying the diagnosis of lung cancer in patients based upon p53 and EGFR mutations. At the Shanghai Chest Hospital, she is involved in a number of clinical trials testing various anti-cancer therapeutics.

Her primary interest in the U.S. was to observe how clinical trials are conducted in the Thoracic Oncology Clinic so that she could learn about American medical practice and implement facets of our trials back home in China.

Dan.Raz@ucsf.edu

Dan Raz completed a general surgery residency from UCSF in 2009.  As a resident, he undertook two years of research training in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory.

Jae.Kim@ucsfmedctr.org

Jae Kim is a general surgery resident at UCSF.  During his residency, he completed two years of research training in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory.

yihui.shi@sri.com

Yihui Shi is now a scientist at SRI International, Menlo Park, CA.

Kristopher.Kuchenbecker@ucsf.edu

 Kristopher Kuchenbecker is currently a PhD student in the UCSF Graduate Group in Biophysics, Fletterick Lab.

Sonny.Batra@gmail.com

Sonny Batra completed his honors thesis in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory as a senior at University of California, Berkeley in 2004. After graduating he worked as a Research Associate with the Laboratory from 2004-2005. His worked focused on elucidating epigenetic regulation of Wnt signaling in mesothelioma and NSCLC. Sonny went on to study medicine at Stanford University where he was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator NIH Research Scholarship.  Using the fellowsip, he studied the effects of tumor microenvironment on cell metablolism and oxygenation in the Radiation Biology Branch of the NIH. He is currently applying to residency programs in Radiation Oncology.

mazieres.j@chu-toulouse.fr

Dr. Julien Mazières is a Professor of Medicine at University Hospital as well as a researcher at the Claudius Regaud Institute, both in Toulouse, France.  He finished his medical degree as well as a residency in Pulmonary Medicine at Rangueil University, and in 2001 completed a Complementary Specialization in Oncology,a Master's degree in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Toulouse, and a research fellowship in Molecular Oncology at the Claudius Regaud Institute.  In 2003, Dr. Mazières served as a research fellow here in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory and went on to receive a PhD from Paul Sabatier University in 2005.  He became a Professor of Medicine at Larrey Hospital in 2006 and head of the Thoracic Oncology Department both there and at University Hospital in 2008.