Arin Aurora, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Arin B. Aurora earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University and went on to obtain her Ph.D. in immunology from the University of California, San Francisco. She conducted postdoctoral work as an American Cancer Society fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examining the transcriptional programs regulated by angiogenic inhibitors. Dr. Aurora then continued her postdoctoral work with Dr. Eric Olson at UT Southwestern, where she made important discoveries toward understanding the immunological pathways regulating mammalian heart repair and regeneration. In 2014, Dr. Aurora joined the faculty of the Children’s Medical Research Institute at UT Southwestern as an Assistant Professor investigating the molecular mechanisms that enable melanoma metastasis. Beginning in 2023, Dr. Aurora has worked as part of a cross-disciplinary team to assess the feasibility of using anticancer small molecules with novel targets for preclinical development.
Ye Tao, Ph.D., Instructor
Ye Tao, Ph.D., is currently an Instructor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Chongqing University in Chongqing, China, and later completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Houston, Texas. As a medicinal chemist, he is passionate about studying anti-cancer drug design and identifying the molecular targets of these drugs. In addition to his scientific work, he is an avid basketball fan and enjoys hiking.
Divya Reddy, Ph.D., Instructor
Divya is a broadly trained biochemist with a focus on uncovering protein interactions and functions. Her PhD and postdoctoral training centered on exploring the role of chromatin complexes in regulating transcription.
As an Instructor in the Nijhawan lab, she is eager to apply her expertise to understand how small molecules bind to their targets and influence protein interactions.