Marwa Aljardali, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the Kraus and Camacho Labs in January 2023. I completed my M.D. training in Lebanon in June 2022. As an aspiring obstetrician and gynecologist, I will focus my research on exploring different ways to enhance patient care. My main interests would be investigating novel therapies that could treat gynecologic cancers and finding biomarkers that could be used in clinics to direct the optimal treatment.
Selected Publications
- Aljardali MW, Kremer KM, Parker JE, Fleming E, Chen H, Lea JS, Kraus WL, Camacho CV. Nucleolar Localization of the RNA Helicase DDX21 Predicts Survival Outcomes in Gynecologic Cancers. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Jun 13;4(6):1495-1504.
- Challa S, Nandu T, Kim HB, Gong X, Renshaw CW, Li WC, Tan X, Aljardali MW, Camacho CV, Chen J, Kraus WL. RACK1 MARylation regulates translation and stress granules in ovarian cancer cells. J Cell Biol. 2025 Feb 3;224(2):e202401101.
Morgan Dasovich, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am interested in using biochemistry and omics to understand the molecular basis of PARP signaling pathways in physiologically relevant model systems. I am also interested in developing new research tools for detecting ADP-ribosylation and inhibiting enzymes that regulate its synthesis and degradation.
Selected Publications
- Dasovich M, Zhuo J, Goodman JA, Thomas A, McPherson RL, Jayabalan AK, Busa VF, Cheng SJ, Murphy BA, Redinger KR, Alhammad YMO, Fehr AR, Tsukamoto T, Slusher BS, Bosch J, Wei H, Leung AKL. High-Throughput Activity Assay for Screening Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 Macrodomain. ACS Chem Biol. 2022 Jan 21;17(1):17-23. PubMed PMID: 34904435.
- Dasovich M, Beckett MQ, Bailey S, Ong SE, Greenberg MM, Leung AKL. Identifying Poly(ADP-ribose)-Binding Proteins with Photoaffinity-Based Proteomics. J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Mar 3;143(8):3037-3042. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8109396.
Yonghyeon Kim, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Chenqian Liu, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the Kraus lab in September 2024. I obtained my M.D. degree in China in June 2024. As a urologist, I have been particularly interested in PARP and ADP-ribosylation in prostate cancer. In Kraus lab, I will first investigate ADP-ribosylation sites on a genome-wide scale in cancer cells.
Selected Publications
- Liu CQ, Sun JX, Xu JZ, Qian XY, Hong SY, Xu MY, An Y, Xia QD, Hu J, Wang SG. Metformin Use on Incidence and Oncologic Outcomes of Bladder Cancer Patients With T2DM: An Updated Meta-Analysis. Front Pharmacol. 2022 Apr 7;13:865988.
- Zhang SH, Su Y, Zheng M, Zeng N, Sun JX, Xu JZ, Liu CQ, Wang SG, Zhou Y, Xia QD. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of dual inhibitors targeting AR/AR-Vs and PARP1 in castration resistant prostate cancer therapy. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Sep 25;180:117485.
Siddharth Singh, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the Kraus Lab in August 2024. I obtained my doctorate from JNCASR, Bengaluru, India. In Kraus lab I am interested in understanding the functional implications of breast cancer associated ‘oncohistones’ and the underlying epigenetic mechanisms elicited by select oncohistones in physiological context and in cancer.
Selected Publications
- Singh S, Kumar M, Kumar S, Sen S, Upadhyay P, Bhattacharjee S, M N, Tomar VS, Roy S, Dutt A, Kundu TK. The cancer-associated, gain-of-function TP53 variant P152Lp53 activates multiple signaling pathways implicated in tumorigenesis. J Biol Chem. 2019 Sep 20;294(38):14081-14095.
- Mondal P, Roy KS, Bhagat SV, Singh S, Chattopadhyay A, Ghosh DD, Kundu TK, Roychoudhury S, Roy S. Disrupting the interaction between a p53 gain-of-function mutant and the transcriptional co-activator PC4 reverses drug resistance in cancer cells. FEBS Lett. 2024 Jun;598(12):1532-1542.
Xinrui Tan, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor
I joined the Kraus lab in Feb 2022. I am interested in the function of mono(ADP-ribosyl)ation on ribosome protein during adipogenesis. I obtained my doctorate from Xi’an Jiaotong Univeristy, and then worked as pediatrician for 6 years in China. It is a precious experience for me to work at the bench with multiple advanced omics and biochemical tools, and to understand the mechanisms behind novel therapeutics.
Selected Publications
- Xinrui Tan, Zhenzhen Cao, Min Li, Yanfeng Xiao. TNF-α downregulates CIDEC via MEK/ERK-dependent PPARγ phosphorylation and translocation in human adipocytes. Obesity. 2016, 24:1070-1080.
- Xinrui Tan, Xiaoli Wang, Haiping Chu, Yanfeng Xiao. SFRP5 correlates with obesity and metabolic syndrome and increases after weight loss in children. Clinical Endocrinology. 2014, 81:363–369.
Poulami Tapadar, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the Kraus Lab in February 2024. In order to create more effective treatment strategies, my primary focus has always been investigating the various immunological pathways that impact the development of cancer and the advancement of tumors. In the Kraus lab, I will be focusing on how in different cancer-type gene transcription levels are altered by PARPs.
Selected Publications
- Tapadar P., Pal A., Ghosal N., Kumar B., Paul T., Biswas N., Pal R. (2023) CDH1 overexpression sensitizes TRAIL resistant breast cancer cells towards rhTRAIL induced apoptosis. Molecular Biology Reports 50(9):7283-7294.
- Tapadar P., Pal A., Ghosal N., Pal R. (2022) ROS dependent upregulation of death receptor, TNFR1, is responsible for theophylline mediated cytotoxicity in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Anti-Cancer Drugs 33(8):731-740.
Hyung Bum Kim
Graduate Student
I am interested in studying estrogen signaling in the context of breast cancer. I am using next generation sequencing techniques to understand how estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer cells respond to fluctuating concentrations of estrogen.
Hui Song
Visiting Junior Researcher
I joined the Kraus lab in October 2024. As an M.D candidate majoring in Ob/Gyn, I am interested in trophoblastic differentiation and placental development. In Kraus lab, I am working on YB-1, a target protein which was identified by asPARP1 method in human trophoblast stem cells and placenta samples.
Selected Publications
- Song H, Shi H, Yang ET, Bu ZQ, Jin ZQ, Huo MZ, Zhang YL. (2021) Effects of Gender of Reciprocal Chromosomal Translocation on Blastocyst Formation and Pregnancy Outcome in Preimplantation Genetic Testing. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 12:704299.
- Fan Y, Song H, Chen X, Zhang P, Si J, Dong H. (2024) Case report: A successful live birth after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in a patient with endometrial cancer who was treated conservatively. Front Oncol. 14:1461216.
Weidan Song
Graduate Student
I am interested in understanding the effect of different activators, such as snoRNAs, on the poly(ADP-ribosyl)lation activity of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases-1 (PARP1).
Selected Publications
- Hayat F., Deason J.T., Bryan R.L., Terkeltaub R., Song W., Kraus W.L., Pluth J., Gassman N.R., Migaud M.E. (2024) Synthesis, Detection, and Metabolism of Pyridone Ribosides, Products of NAD Overoxidation. Chem Res Toxicol. 37(2):248-258.
Risha Sinha, M.D.
Gyn/Onc Clinical Fellow
Selected Publications
- Sinha R., Nizam A., Shan W., Shih K.K., Frimer M., Sakaris A., Goldberg G.L. (2022) Is Minimally Invasive Surgery for Stage I Uterine Carcinosarcoma Safe? J Robotic Surgery 16(4):943-949.
- Bustamante B., Sinha R., Rice B., Shan W., Goldberg G.L., John V., Lin D., Danziger N., Pavlick D., Elvin J., Frimer M. (2021) Clinical implications of genomic loss of heterozygosity in epithelial endometrial cancer. JCO Precision Oncology 5:1013-1023.
William Vintzileos, M.D.
Gyn/Onc Clinical Fellow
Selected Publications
- Vintzileos W.S., Muscat J., Hoffmann E., John N.S., Vertichio R., Vintzileos A.M., Vo D. (2020) Screening all pregnant women admitted to labor and delivery for the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019. Am J Obstet Gynecol 223(2):284-286.
- Hoffmann E., Vintzileos W.S., Akerman M., Vertichio R., Sicuranza G.B., Vintzileos A.M. (2022) Impact of cesarean delivery due to maternal choice on perinatal outcome in term nulliparous patients with a singleton fetus in a vertex presentation. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 35(21):4156-4161.
Tulip Nandu, M.S.
Computational Biologist III
My expertise is in designing the data analysis pipelines, writing algorithms for sophisticated data analysis, and integration of various genomics assays to understand the complex regulation mechanisms of cancer, reproductive biology, endocrinology, and inflammation. As a computational biologist at UT Southwestern (2013-present), I have been working on various data-driven projects, which need efficient analysis and interpretation to have a better understanding of signal-regulated transcription using genomics. I am an expert in complex data analysis of Global Run-On Sequencing (GRO-seq), ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, MeDIP-seq, RNA-seq, PRO-seq, ChIA-PET and various other next generation sequencing techniques and have automated the pipelines for some of them.
Selected Publications
- Kim D.S., Camacho C.V., Setlem R., Kim K., Malladi S., Hou T.Y., Nandu T., Gadad S.S., Kraus W.L. (2022) Functional Characterization of lncRNA152 as an Angiogenesis-Inhibiting Tumor Suppressor in Triple-Negative Breast Cancers. Mol Cancer Res. 20(11):1623-1635.
- Challa S., Khulpateea B.R., Nandu T., Camacho C.V., Ryu K.W., Chen H., Peng Y., Lea J.S., Kraus W.L. (2021) Ribosome ADP-ribosylation inhibits translation and maintains proteostasis in cancers. Cell 184(17):4531-4546.
Sneh Koul, M.S.
Computational Biologist I
I joined the Kraus lab in June 2023 after graduating from Johns Hopkins University with an MS in Bioinformatics. My research interests lie at the connection of personalized medicine and bioinformatics. The development of computational methods using multi-omics data to help potentially tailor treatment approaches or improve patient outcomes is quite fascinating to me. Additionally, I have recently gained an interest in the role of machine learning in the field of medicine. Through utilizing various machine learning approaches, we can help with many outcomes such as patient monitoring and early disease detection.
Selected Publications
- Koul S., Schaal V.L., Chand S., Pittenger S.T., Nanoth Vellichirammal N., Kumar V., Guda C., Bevins R.A., Yelamanchili S.V., Pendyala G. (2020) Role of brain derived extracellular vesicles in decoding sex differences associated with nicotine self-administration. Cells 9(8):1883.
- Odegaard K.E., Gallegos G., Koul S., Schaal V.L., Vellichirammal N.N., Guda C., Dutoit A.P., Lisco S.J., Yelamanchili S.V., Pendyala G. (2022) Distinct Synaptic Vesicle Proteomic Signatures Associated with Pre-and Post-Natal Oxycodone-Exposure. Cells 11(11):1740.
Asna Amjad
Computational Biologist I
I am interested in complex next-generation sequencing data analysis, including PRO-seq, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and CUT&Tag to study genetics and epigenetics. My research interest lies in utilizing computational methods and bioinformatics approaches to analyze genomics data in healthcare, which can contribute to better treatment outcomes and the development of individualized medicine and treatment.
Selected Publications
- Chabot B.J., Sun R., Amjad A., Hoyt S.J., Ouyang L., Courret C., Drennan R., Leo L., Larracuente A.M., Core L.J., O'Neill R.J., Mellone B.G. (2024) Transcription of a centromere-enriched retroelement and local retention of its RNA are significant features of the CENP-A chromatin landscape. Genome Biol 25, 295.
Shu-Ping Chiu, M.S.
Research Associate
My work contributes to the successful flow of experimentation and research executed by postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research staff. I am interested in using my expertise in molecular biology for biochemical assays.
I am an AALAS-certified technician, RALAT, and participate in various studies involving animal models.
I obtained my Master of Science degree from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.
Selected Publications
- Chiu S.P., Camacho C. V., Kraus W.L. Development and characterization of recombinant ADP-ribose binding reagents that allow simultaneous detection of mono and poly ADP-ribose. J Biol Chem. 2024. 300(9):107609. PMID: 38798442
- Tripathy S., Nagari A., Chiu S.P., Nandu T., Camacho C. V., Mahendroo M., Kraus W.L. Relaxin Modulates the Genomic Actions and Biological Effects of Estrogen in the Myometrium. Endocrinology. 2024. 165(11):bqae123. PMID: 39283953
Elizabeth Li-Fiedler, M.S.
Research Associate
I joined Kraus lab in August 2023. As a growing geneticist, I am interested in discovering and developing targeted therapy for diseases, specifically gene therapies. I am also interested in psychogenetics and the interplay of how genes affect our psychology. My specialties are mouse models, surgery, & bioengineered viruses.
I obtained my bachelors double majoring in Biochemistry & Genetics from Texas A&M and my masters in Human Genetics & Genomics from Southern California University of Health Sciences. I have 4 years of experience working in neuroscience developing targeted viral therapies and 2 years of clinical research.
Selected Publications
- *Li E., *Guo J., *Oh S.J., Luo Y., Cantu Oliveros H., Du W., Arano R., Kim Y., Chen Y.T., Eitson J., Lin D.T., Li Y., Roberts T., Schoggins J.W., Xu W. (2021) Anterograde transneuronal tracing and genetic control with engineered yellow fever vaccine YFV-17D. Nature Methods 18(12):1542-1551. *equal contribution
- *Du W., *Li E., *Guo J., Arano R., Kim Y., Chen Y.T., Thompson A., Oh S.J., Samuel A., Li Y., Oyibo H.K., Xu W. (2023) Directed stepwise tracing of polysynaptic neuronal circuits with replication-deficient pseudorabies virus. Cell Reports Methods 3(6):100506. *equal contribution
Neeka Mardani-Kamali
Research Technician II
I am largely interested in factors affecting and regulating gene expression. More broadly, I am interested in how cancers can be detected and treated more efficiently and accurately.
Syeda Dua Taqi
Research Technician II
I'm passionately exploring the intersections of nuclear signaling and gene regulation by small molecules. My goal is to leverage this understanding to develop targeted therapies for various diseases, ultimately transforming healthcare.