Lab Members
| Sandra Orsulic, PhD sandra.orsulic@cshs.org Sandra Orsulic is the Director of Women’s Cancer Biology in the Women’s Cancer Program and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai. She is also an Associate Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Orsulic was Principal Investigator of a research laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she also served as Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. |
| Xiaojiang Cui, PhD xiaojiang.cui@cshs.org Xiaojiang Cui obtained his doctoral degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin. His breast cancer-related translational studies began at Baylor College of Medicine Breast Center, where he received his postdoctoral training and used murine models to study the role of insulin-like growth factor signaling in breast cancer development and metastasis. He also investigated the crosstalk between growth factors and progesterone in breast cancer cells. Results from those studies have implications for the treatment of estrogen receptor (+) / progesterone receptor (-) breast cancers and may help explain why progestins in hormone replacement therapy enhance the risk of breast cancer relative to estrogen use alone. In 2007 he joined the John Wayne Cancer Institute as an assistant professor, where he directed the institute’s translational breast cancer research program. In 2011, he moved to the Cedars-Sinai. He has received competitive funding from DOD, NCI, the Komen Foundation, and other agencies to administer and successfully complete research projects on biomarkers and stress signaling pathways in breast cancer development and metastasis. |
| Qiang Wang, PhD qiang.wang@cshs.org Qiang Wang is a research scientist in the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Program. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Wang earned his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. |
| Ruprecht Wiedemeyer, PhD wolf.wiedemeyer@cshs.org Ruprecht Wiedemeyer is a scientist in the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Program. Dr. Wiedemeyer earned his doctorate at the German Cancer Research Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. He completed postdoctoral training at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, and at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. |
| Christine Walsh, MD, MS christine.walsh@cshs.org Christine Walsh is director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program and a gynecologic oncologist and research scientist at the Cedars-Sinai Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. |
| P-J Aspuria, PhD paul-joseph.aspuria@cshs.org P-J Aspuria earned his doctoral degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a graduate student, he trained with Dr. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi, where his research focused on metabolic pathways. He is interested in the roles of HOXB13 in ovarian cancer progression and mesenchymal cell differentiation. Dr. Aspuria works primarily with Dr. Orsulic. |
| Ellen Cheon, PhD dong-joo.cheon@cshs.org Ellen Cheonearned her doctoral degree in molecular genetics from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She trained in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Behringer, where she gained extensive experience in mouse embryology and developmental biology. She is interested in the roles of embryonic genes in ovarian cancer development and progression.Dr. Cheon works primarily with Dr. Orsulic. |
| Bingchen Han, PhD bingchen.han@cshs.org Bingchen Han, a postdoctoral fellow, obtained his PhD in cancer biology from the Genetics Institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China.Dr. Han works primarily with Dr. Cui. |
| Yanli Jin, PhD yanli.jin@cshs.org Yanli Jin postdoctoral fellow, graduated with a PhD in cancer biology from Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. Dr. Jin works primarily with Dr. Cui. |
| Dennis Huang, PhD jen-ming.huang@cshs.org Dennis Huang obtained his doctorate from the University of Southern California (USC). Dr. Huang is interested in the role of Hippo-YAP pathway in ovarian cancer. Dr. Huang works primarily with Dr. Wang. |
| Hasmik Agadjanian, PhD hasmik.agadjanian@cshs.org Hasmik Agadjanian graduated from Yerevan State University (Armenia) with BS/MS in biophysics/biology (summa cum laude). She earned her PhD in biochemistry from Yerevan State University, Moscow, Russia. She completed her postdoctoral research in the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, studying biotransformation of proteins and peptides in CNS. After moving to the United States, she taught college biology courses (Union College, NY, and Pepperdine University, CA), as well as continued her research in cancer biology at USC Norris Comprehensive Center. She began working at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 2003. Her current research includes studying the role of XPG in ovarian cancer response to cisplatin chemotherapy and the role of some oncogenes in collaboration with CyclinE in ovarian cancer initiation. She works primarily with Dr. Christine Walsh. |
| Elena Diaz, MD elena.diaz@cshs.org Elena Diaz attended medical school at the University of Minnesota, and then completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center-Parkland Memorial Hospital. She is currently a clinical and research fellow in gynecologic oncology at Cedars-Sinai/UCLA Medical Centers. This year she is working in the Women’s Cancer Program laboratory at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute under the direction of Dr. Christine Walsh, investigating the role of the PI3-kinase pathway in ovarian clear cell carcinoma. |
| Barbie Taylor Harding, PhD barbie.taylor-harding@cshs.org Barbie Taylor Harding received her doctorate in molecular biology from the University of London, U.K. She trained with Dr. Nicholas Dyson at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, where her research focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development. She is currently in Dr. Wiedemeyer’s laboratory, where her research interests focus on how tumor-specific genetic alterations dictate response to targeted therapies in ovarian cancer. |
| Hang Tran, BS hang.tran@cshs.org Hang Tran has been an integral member of the Women’s Cancer Program during her 16 years at Cedars-SInai. She graduated from Cal State University, Fullerton, with a degree in biology, and has put her education to good use as the primary technician for cell culture research as well as other molecular research fields within WCP. |
| Xiao Yang xiao.yang@cshs.org Xiao Yang graduated from Dental School West China University of Medical Sciences, Chengdu China. She gained clinical research experience in Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Jichi Medical School, Japan. She acquired biomolecular skills in the Institute of Biophysics, Academia Sinica, China. She started as a specimen procurement specialist at WCP seven years ago and now also works with Dr.Cui. |
| Carl Miller, PhD carl.miller@cshs.org Carl Miller graduated from Columbia University in 1983 and continued his research at UCLA until 1992,when he joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He has published over 125 papers examining gene changes and function in many types of cancer. His current work focuses on gene networks and interactions in ovarian cancer. |
| Maricel Gozo, BS maricel.gozo@cshs.org Maricel Gozo earned her degree in microbiology and chemistry from San Diego State University. Following college, she worked as a research technician studying leukemia in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Gilliland at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is interested in the role of FOXC2 in cancer progression. Maricel Gozo is a student in the Cedars-Sinai Graduate Program in Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine and works primarily with Dr. Orsulic. |
| Jessica Beach, BA, MS jessica.beach@cshs.org Jessica Beach earned her degrees in cell and molecular biology from California State University, Northridge. As a Master’s student, she trained with Dr. Rheem Medh, where her research focused on the regulation of apoptosis in human lymphoid cells. Jessica is interested in cancer stem cell metabolism and its potential as a therapeutic target. She is a student in the Cedars-Sinai Graduate Program in Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine and works primarily with Dr. Orsulic. |
