2025 Cancer Research Symposium
Friday, August 1, 2025
Mahogany Ballroom, Delta Hotels Toledo
University of Toledo Health Science Campus
3100 Glendale Ave.
Toledo, OH 43614
Welcome & Opening Remarks
- Imran Ali, M.D., Dean, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Vice Provost for Health Education, Professor of Neurology
- Mitchell McKinney, Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Research, Professor and Chair of Cell and Cancer Biology
Session I: Tumor Biology
Moderator: Ivana de la Serna, Ph.D.
- Kuo-Hui Su, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
HSF1 as a guardian of proteostasis under copper-induced stress - Yue Zou, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Senescence, aging, and cancer: new insights into their relationships and potential for interventions - Yuan Tang, Ph.D., Department of Bioengineering
Investigating the Role of Endothelial Cells on Breast Cancer Intravasation
Session II: Drug Resistance and Tumor Microenvironment
Moderator: Srinivas Vinod Saladi, Ph.D.
- Dayanidhi Raman, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Translational control of breast cancer stemness - Xiaohong Li, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Treatment impacts on prostate cancer dissemination and dormancy - Jianmin Zhang, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Dissect the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer metastasis - Nagalakshmi Nadiminty, Ph.D., Department of Urology
Tumor metabolism as the Achilles’ heel in Urologic cancers
Session III: Cancer Epigenetics
Moderator: Song-Tao Liu, Ph.D.
- Srinivas Vinod Saladi, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Defining the epigenetic drivers and dependencies in cancer - Ivana De La Serna, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
SWI/SNF Bromodomain-containing proteins in melanoma - Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Reversible gene methylation in drug resistance
Keynote Address
Moderator: Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D.
Keynote Speaker
Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon)
Chief Scientific Officer, Van Andel Institute
President, Van Andel Institute Graduate School
Professor, Department of Epigenetics
Co-leader, VAI-SU2C Epigenetics Dream Team
Van Andel Institute
Grand Rapids, Michigan - USA
Keynote Address
"Targeting TET2 and intercepting myeloid cancers with vitamin C"
Areas of Expertise
Epigenetics, DNA methylation, epigenetic therapies
Session IV: Cell Cycle Regulation in Cancer
Moderator: Jianmin Zhang, Ph.D.
- Song-Tao Liu, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences
Mad about chromosomal instability - Kam Yeung, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
The phosphorylation of Thr42 of tumor suppressor protein RKIP in mitosis is required for its spindle check point regulatory function
Session V: Drug Discovery and Delivery
Moderator: Liyanaaratchige Tillekeratne, Ph.D.
- Kevin Jiang, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Engineered exosome-mediated DSTYK silencing to improve breast cancer therapeutic efficacy - Viranga Tillekeratne, Ph.D., Department of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry
Hybrid molecules for combination therapy - Lirim Shemshedini, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences
Developing dual acting drugs for effective treatment of drug-resistant CRPC - Shi-He Liu, MD, Department of Cell and Cancer Biology
Engineering exosomes for pancreatic cancer targeting therapy
Session VI: Clinical Perspectives and AI in Cancer Research
Moderator: Kuo-Hui Su, Ph.D.
- Eric Carlson, MD, DMD, EdM, FACS, Department of Surgery
Evidence-based surgical management of the neck in oral cancer patients - Natalie Rizk, MD, Ph.D., Department of Surgery
Hormone disrupting chemicals and cancer risk - Jasmine Liu, Ph.D., Department of Medicine
Advancing precision cancer medicine through AI-driven personalized care and biomarker discovery