NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2025
July 2025
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Congratulations Dr. Junjun Ding's manuscript entitled "Human iPSC-based breast cancer model identifies S100P-dependent cancer stemness induced by BRCA1 mutation" was accepted in Science Advances. Dr. Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Ding's group on patient iPSC research
June 2025
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving the Schissler Foundation Fellowship.
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Congratulations Dr. Yuan-Hung Lo's manuscript entitled "Large-Scale CRISPR Screening in Primary Human 3D Gastric Organoids Enables Comprehensive Dissection of Gene-Drug Interactions" was accepted in Nature Communications. Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang and Dr. Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Lo's group on 3D Gastric Organoid research.
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee for receiving Dean's Teaching Excellence Award.
May 2025
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Congratulations to Yu-Wen Huang and Trinh TT Phan for receiving the American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship.
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Congratulations to Megan E. Fisher for being selected for the GSRD Oral Presentation Skill Competition
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving the VAI Epigenomics Workshop Scholarship.
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Congratulations Dr. Wenbo Li's manuscript entitled "Rewired m6A methylation of promoter antisense RNAs in Alzheimer’s disease regulates global gene transcription in the 3D nucleome" was accepted in Nature Communications. Dr. Dung-Fang Lee is honored to work with Dr. Li's group on m6A research.
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Megan E. Fisher and Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang presented their works in 2025 GCC Innovative Drug Discovery and Development Conference at Rice University.
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Congratulations to Emlyn A. Joniec for receiving the Wings of Compassion – Houston Airports Scholarship.
April 2025
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Congratulations to Adriana Chu for receiving the People's Choice Award in the poster competition at the Health Innovations Symposium.
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Congratulations to Haidan Luo, Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang, An Xu, and Dr. Zhao on their work being accepted for publication in Cancer Letters!
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Congratulations to Emlyn A. Joniec received the summer internship from 2025 UTHealth Houston-CPRIT Innovation in Cancer Prevention Summer Undergraduate Research Program
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Trinh TT Phan presents her work, 'Decoding and Targeting YTHDF2 in p53-Mutant Osteosarcoma,' at the CPH Seminar in Precision Medicine.
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Congratulations to Megan E Fisher for receiving the People's Choice Award at the Cancer Biology Spring Symposium
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee for receiving the Concept Award from DOD Rare Cancers Program to study alternative cleavage and polyadenylation in RB1-mutant OS .
March 2025
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Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang and Adriana Chu presented their works in the 2025 Medical School Annual Symposium and MTB Symposium. Congratulations to Adriana Chu or receiving the Best Poster Award!
February 2025
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker for being selected by GSBS to present her work at the upcoming Evening of Discovery event on April 29.
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GSBS News: Cancer Biology student Megan E. Fisher joins TIPS pharmacological sciences training program. https://gsbs.uth.edu/news/story/megan-fisher-cancer-biology-tips.
2024
December 2024
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for successfully renewing the Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship.
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker for receiving the Investing in Student Futures Scholarship.
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Congratulations to Megan E. Fisher for receiving the Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research.
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang, Megan E Fisher, and Trinh TT Phan! Their review article entitled "Decoding Cancer Etiology with Cellular Reprogramming" has been accepted in Current Opinion in Genetics & Development.
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Candise Tat presents her rotation work "Targeting YTHDF2 to treat p53-mutant osteosarcoma" in GSBS MTB Rotation Talk.
November 2024
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Congratulations to Trinh TT Phan for receiving the CPRIT BIG-TCR Postdoctoral Fellowship.
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker for receiving the CPRIT BIG-TCR Predoctoral Fellowship.
October 2024
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Congratulations to Megan E Fisher for receiving the Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacology Scientists (TIPS) Predoctoral Fellowship.
September 2024
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Congratulations Dr. Kuang-Lei Tsai's manuscript entitled "Structural basis of the human transcriptional Mediator regulated by its dissociable kinase module" was accepted in Molecular Cell. Elena Huang and Drs. An Xu and Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Tsai's group on Med13 research.
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Congratulations to Adriana Chu for receiving 1st place in Shark Tank Competition at 2023 Cancer Biology Retreat Program Retreat.
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Megan E Fisher presents her research on the Cancer Biology Program Retreat in Margaritaville Lake Resort Lake Conroe, TX
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lcome Tyler Diep, Kyler Diep, and Emlyn Joniec as they join our lab.​
August 2024
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Welcome Candise L Tat and Chih-Wei (Adriana) Chu as they join our lab.
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker, Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang, Ying-Si Wu, and Cheng-Shuo Huang! Their review article entitled "Decoding the Molecular Symphony: Interactions between the m6A and p53 signaling Pathways in Cancer" has been accepted in NAR Cancer.
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Congratulations Dr. Francesca Aguilo's manuscript entitled "The scaffolding function of LSD1 controls DNA methylation in mouse ESCs" was accepted in Nature Communications. Drs. Trinh T. T. Phan and Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Aguilo's group on LSD1 and epigenome research.
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Congratulations to An Xu on his promotion to Instructor.
June 2024
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) for renewing the Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship.
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Dr. Dung-Fang Lee is invited to present lab works at National Tsing Hua University and China Medical University, Taiwan.
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Biotechnology Association Annual Symposium on October 28-29, 2023, at Houston.
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Congratulations to Dandan Zhu and Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang! Their research article entitled "Systematic Transcriptome Profiling of hPSC-derived Osteoblasts Unveils CORIN's Mastery in Governing Osteogenesis Through CEBPD Modulation" has been accepted in Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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Welcome Brandon Sun and Rinka Okahisa to join our lab as summer interns.
May 2024
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang on receiving Dean's Research Scholarship. Elena celebrated her success at the Award Ceremony alongside her lab colleagues.
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Welcome Megan Fisher as she joins our lab.
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​​Congratulations to Taylor Rosen for successfully completing her undergraduate research in our lab and transitioning to her future career path—studying in dental school.
April 2024
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang! Her review article entitled "Therapeutic Strategies for RB1-Deficient Cancers: Intersecting Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy" has been accepted in Cancers.
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Congratulations to Taylor Rosen for receiving the BioSciences Award for Outstanding Leadership and a Distinction in Research and Creative Work Award
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Welcome Rachel Shoemaker to join our lab as a PhD student.
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Congratulations to An Xu for being the finalist in 2024 Lawrence Award Competition.
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee for receiving the Concept Award from DOD Rare Cancers Program.
March 2024
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee for receiving the UTHealth Just Missed Grant in support of Drs. Lee and Zhao's R01 grant resubmission.
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​​Welcome Rachel Shumaker as she joins our lab.
February 2024
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News for Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang's Kopchick Fellowship-Graduate School names 2024 Kopchick Fellows - MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
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Welcome Ying-Si Wu and Cheng-Shuo Huang as they join our lab.
January 2024
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang on receiving Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship and G&E program travel award.
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Congratulations to Trinh TT Phan on receiving the CPRIT BIG-TCR Affiliated Postdoctoral Fellowship
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Welcome Megan E Fisher and Mariana K Najar as they join our lab.​​
2023
December 2023
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang on being selected as FInalist for the 2024 Dr. John J. and Charlene Kopchick Fellowships
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Congratulations to Dr. Jun Wang on receiving the R01 grant, with Dr. Dung-Fang Lee serving as co-investigator.
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The Lee and Zhao Lab is featured on the McGovern Medical School Instagram at UTHouston Health.
Lab Takeovers​
November 2023
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang on earning the 1st place poster award in the post-candidacy group during the 2023 G&E Program Retreat
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Congratulations to Yuan-Xin Wang for being awarded a scholarship from Shen's Culture & Education Foundation
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Congratulations to Dr. Dung-Fang Lee on being honored with an Appreciation Award in recognition of their exceptional service as a faculty mentor and active participation on various committees within McGovern Medical School's Summer Research Program
October 2023
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for passing the Ph.D. Candidacy Exam.
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Dr. Dung-Fang Lee was invited to present lab works and served as a section chair in Therapeutic Areas (Section III) at the Seventh International Conference on Drug Discovery and Lead Optimization Meeting on November 1-3, 2023, at San Francisco,
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Dr. Dung-Fang Lee is invited to present lab works at the 2023 Texas Taiwanese Biotechnology Association Annual Symposium on October 28-29, 2023, at Houston.
September 2023
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Dr. Dung-Fang Lee is invited to present lab works and share his experience in grant writing at the 2023 BCB Program Fall Retreat on September 23-24, at Galveston.
August 2023
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Congratulations Drs. Jaskirat Singh Batra, Ting-Yen Chi, and Jun Kameoka's manuscript entitled " Wearable Biosensor with Molecularly Imprinted Conductive Polymer Structure to Detect Lentivirus in Aerosol" was accepted in Biosensors. Drs. Elena Huang, Dandan Zhu, and Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Kameoka's group on biosensor research.
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Welcome Yuan-Xin Wang and Cheng-En (Allen) Shen to join our lab.
July 2023
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Welcome Dr. Trinh T. T. Phan to join our lab.
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Congratulations Yen-Ting Chiang for passing Ph.D. Candidacy Exam.
May 2023
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Congratulations Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving 1st place in the poster award at 2023 BCB Spring Symposium.
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Congratulations Dr. Dung-Fang Lee for receiving BCB program breakthrough science award.
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Congratulations Drs. Dhruv Chachad and Guillermina Lozano's manuscript entitled "Unique transcriptional profiles underlie osteosarcomagenesis driven by different p53 mutants" was accepted in Cancer Research. Drs. An Xu and Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Lozano's group on mutant p53/LFS research.
April 2023
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker for her Biosciences Award for Outstanding Research and the Distinction in Research and Creative Work Award.
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee on his promotion to Associate Professor.
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The editors at Nature Communications have put together an Editors’ Highlights webpage of recent research called “Cancer”. Drs An Xu and Mo Liu's article entitled “Rewired m6A epitranscriptomic networks link mutant p53 to neoplastic transformation” is chosen as a featured article by Nature Communications Editor Dr. Stephanie Koo.
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Congratulations to Rachel Shoemaker for receiving The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) admission and joining GSBS.
March 2023
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Congratulations Dr. Ruoji Zhou match UCLA Pathology Residence Program.
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Dr. Ruoji Zhou comes back to Houston and visits us.
Feburary 2023
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Congratulations Joshua H Choe and Dr. Carol Prives' manuscript entitled "Li Fraumeni Syndrome-associated dimer-forming mutant p53 promotes transactivation-independent mitochondrial cell death" was accepted in Cancer Discovery. Drs. An Xu, Ruiying Zhao, and Dung-Fang Lee are honored to work with Dr. Prives' group on mutant p53/LFS research.
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Congratulations Drs. An Xu and Mo Liu's manuscript entitled "Rewired m6A epitranscriptomic networks link mutant p53 to neoplastic transformation" was accepted in Nature Communications.
2022
December 2022
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Welcome Liang-Wei Lin to join our lab.
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Congratulations Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving The Antje Wuelfrath Gee and Harry Gee, Jr. Family Legacy Scholarship
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Dr. Brittany Jewell comes back to Houston and visits us.
November 2022
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Welcome Dr. Yu-Wen Huang to join our lab.
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Congratulations Dr. An Xu for renewing the CPRIT BIG-TCR fellowship.
October 2022
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Dr. Lee meets Dr. Arnold J Levine at the 6th International LFS Association Symposium. Bethesda, MD
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Congratulations Dr. Lee for being selected as a Reprogramming Star and interviewed by Dr. Filipe Pereira, Editor-in-Chief of Cellular Reprogramming
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Congratulations Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang and Rachel Shoemaker for their manuscript (News & Views) accepted in Cellular Reprogramming.
August 2022
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Drs Lee and Zhao have lunch with Dr. Mien-Chie Hung (The President of China Medical University, Taiwan) at John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons
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Rachel Shoemaker presents her summer research in the UTHealth CPRIT undergraduate summer research.
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Congratulations Rachel Shoemaker for receiving the third place and people's choice awards of elevator speech in the UTHealth CPRIT undergraduate summer research program.
July 2022
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Congratulations to Drs Jian Tu and Zijun Huo's PNAS paper (Hereditary retinoblastoma iPSC model reveals aberrant spliceosome function driving bone malignancies) is highlighted by NCI Division of Cancer Biology - Sarcoma Awareness Month Highlights.
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Congratulations to our collaborators Dr. Xian-Biao Xie and Jing-Nan Shen for their paper accepted in EBioMedicine.
June 2022
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving the Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship.
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May 2022
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Congratulations to Dr. An Xu for receiving the Best Poster Award in the UTHealth IBP Department Retreat
April 2022
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving 3rd place GSEC Poster Competition Award in the UTHealth Annual Retreat
March 2022
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Congratulations to Drs Jian Tu and Zijun Huo's Hereditary Retinoblastoma iPSC manuscript was accepted in PNAS.
January 2022
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Welcome Rachel Shoemaker, Taylor Rosen, and Hannah Ashraf joining our lab.
2021
December 2021
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Congratulations to our collaborator Dr. Francesca Aguilo for her paper accepted in EMBO Reports.
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Congratulations to Dr. Brittany Jewell for her paper accepted in PLOS Genetics.
October 2021
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Dr. Lee serves as a Webber Prize Competition Judge.
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Congratulations to Dr. An Xu for being awarded the CPRIT BIG-TCR Postdoctoral Fellowship. We particularly thank Dr. Huihui Fan serves a co-mentor for An's research.
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Drs Zhao and Lee serve as the 31st Keck Annual Research Conference poster judges.
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang and Lon Kai Pang's iPSC-Cardiomyocytes review article accepted in Cells.
September 2021
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Congratulations to Dr. Dandan Zhu for being selected to present her work in 2021 Bone Program Annual Scientific Retreat.
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Welcome Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang to join The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) .
August 2021
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Congratulations to Dr. Ariadne Letra for NIH/NIDCR R56 grant (Dr. Dung-Fang Lee serves as a co-investigator)
April 2021
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Congratulations to Lon Kai Pang for receiving Blayor Colledge Medicine (BCM) admission and join BCM Medical School.
March 2021
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Congratulations to Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for receiving The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) admission and joining GSBS.
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Congratulations to Dr. Brittany Ellis Jewell for moving to Salk Institute for Biological Studies as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Reuben Shaw's laboratory.
February 2021
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Congratulations to Drs Lee, Zhao, and Huff for being awarded NIH/NCI R01 grant
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Congratulations to Dr. Brittany Ellis Jewell for receiving her Ph.D. degree.
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Congratulations to Brittany Ellis Jewell for passing the Ph.D. defense
January 2021
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Congratulations to Dr. An Xu and Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang for publishing their first-author paper in Frontiers in Genetics.
2020
December 2020
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Congratulations to Lon Kai Pang for publishing his first-author review article in Stem Cell Research
October 2020
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Congratulations to Dr. Lee for being awarded The Pablove Foundation Childhood Cancer Research Grant
July 2020
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Congratulations to Drs Lee and Zhao for being awarded UTHealth Cancer Genomics Core Grant
April 2020
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Congratulations to Dr. Zijun Huo for publishing her first-author book chapter in Methods in Molecular Biology (Immune Mediators in Cancer).
March 2020
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Congratulations to Brittany E Jewell for being awarded GSBS/UTHSC Student Travel Award
February 2020
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Congratulations to Dr. Dandan Zhu for being awarded Department of Defense Horizon Award
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Congratulations to Dr. Mo Liu for being promoted to be a Instructor
January 2020
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Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang joined our labs as a research assistant. Welcome to the lab, Elena!
2019
July 2019
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Congratulations to Dr. Ruoji Zhou receive her Ph.D. degree.
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Congratulations to Ruoji Zhou for passing the Ph.D. defense
May 2019
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Congratulations to Dr. Dung-Fang Lee for being awarded Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Research Award
April 2019
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Congratulations to Ruoji Zhou for being awarded Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarships in Cancer Research
February 2019
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Congratulations to Brittany Ellis Jewell for being UT System Student Regent
