Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling

The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is an interdisciplinary initiative that combines basic science, clinical research, epidemiology/cancer control, and patient care throughout the University of California, San Francisco. The Center's mission is the discovery and evolution of new ideas and information about cancer, from basic research to clinical implementation.


UCSF's long tradition of excellence in cancer research includes, notably, Nobel Prize-winning work of J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus, who discovered cancer-causing oncogenes. Their work opened new doors for exploring genetic mistakes that cause cancer and formed the basis for some of the most important cancer research happening today.


Basic scientific research underpins all of our efforts to design and evaluate new tools to treat cancer patients everywhere. Hence, cancer research at UCSF encompasses studies on the regulation of the eukaryotic cell division cycle, exploration of the machinery and the control of programmed cell death (apoptosis), regulation of cellular lifespan and the acquisition of cellular immortality, the control of DNA repair, the role of the immune system in cancer initiation and progression, tumor angiogenesis, cell invasion and metastasis and the design and application of mouse models of human cancer. Information of the broad range of cancer research activities can be found at the Cancer Center webpage.

 

Participating Faculty

David Toczyski, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
None
Research Summary: 
Activation of the DNA damage checkpoint

Harish Vasudevan, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Human Genetics
Research Summary: 
The Vasudevan Laboratory studies growth factor signaling through receptor tyrosine kinases and the Ras signaling pathway in development and cancer with an emphasis on neurofibromatosis.

Biao Wang, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Regulatory mechanisms of adipose tissue development and function

Valerie Weaver, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Forcing tissue morphogenesis and malignancy
Mentorship Development: 

2/2021 - Three Truths & Three Tries: Facing & Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo & Macro Levels

Leor Weinberger, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Regulatory Circuitry of Viruses and Engineering Novel Therapeutics
Mentorship Development: 

2022 Gladstone Outstanding Mentoring Award

Arthur Weiss, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Our lab focuses on the roles of tyrosine kinases and phosphatases in regulating lymphocyte activation, and studies how abnormalities in tyrosine phosphorylation pathways can lead to immunologically-mediated diseases.

William A. Weiss, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Mouse models and developmental therapeutics for neural cancers, particularly pediatric cancers
Mentorship Development: 

12/12/19    ACRA: Setting Training Expectations for Trainees on the Academic Career Track (1.5 hours)
2/18/21    Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels

Arun Wiita, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
None
Research Summary: 
We are interested in utilizing proteomic methodologies to uncover new therapeutic targets in blood cancers, and then developing new cellular therapies to treat disease based on these discoveries.
Mentorship Development: 

4/23/20    Effective Strategies for IDPs
4/30/20    Mental Health in a Pandemic: Q&A for Faculty
11/10/20    Optimizing the Efficiency of Your Lab
2/16/21    Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels

Holger Willenbring, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Mechanisms of Liver Regeneration and Cancer

Torsten Wittmann, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary: 
Microtubule control of cell dynamics

Lani Wu, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
None
Research Summary: 
Investigate how complex biological networks regulate precise cellular behaviors and how dis-regulation leads to disease.
Mentorship Development: 

4/26/19    Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS) with Sharon Milgram (Mission Bay)
2/16/21    Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels

Keith Yamamoto, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
None
Research Summary: 
Signal Transduction and Transcriptional Regulation

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