Goals for AACR
As a Board member, I would address critical funding challenges facing cancer researchers, particularly for early career investigators struggling to establish independent programs amidst tightening federal budgets. My experience leading multiple NCI-funded initiatives and managing large-scale research programs positions me to advocate for creative funding solutions and public-private partnerships that prioritize emerging scientists. I would also leverage my expertise in aging and cancer biology to expand AACR’s research portfolio in age-related malignancies, while exploring how aging mechanisms may paradoxically inform our understanding of rising early-onset cancers.
Research Interests
Aging microenvironment; melanoma metastasis and therapy resistance; proteomics analysis of age-related stromal changes; Wnt signaling pathways; biophysical changes affecting tumor and immune cell migration; mechanisms by which age-related microenvironmental alterations promote therapy resistance, dormancy escape, and metastasis; metabolic reprogramming to identify novel therapeutic targets for melanoma, pancreatic and ovarian cancer in aging populations; intersections between aging tumor microenvironments and early-onset cancers.
Current Affiliations
E.V. McCollum Chair of biochemistry and molecular biology, and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; associate director, laboratory research, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
Previous Positions
Co-program leader, cancer invasion and metastasis, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (2019-2023); Ira Brind Professor, immunology, microenvironment and metastasis (2018-2019), co-program leader immunology, microenvironment and metastasis (2016-2019), Ira Brind Associate Professor, tumor microenvironment and metastasis (2016-2018), associate professor, tumor microenvironment and metastasis (2014-2017), and assistant professor, molecular and cellular oncogenesis (2011-2014), The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; staff scientist and head, cancer biology unit, laboratory of immunology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (2003-2011); staff scientist, cancer genetics, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (2000-2003); senior technician, Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Baltimore, Maryland (1991-1993).
Education
PhD, molecular and cellular oncology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. (1998); BA, biology, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, Maryland (1991); international baccalaureate, Machabeng College, Maseru, Lesotho (1988).
Postdoctoral Training
Postdoctoral fellow, Johns Hopkins Oncology Center (1998-2000), Baltimore, Maryland.
Selected AACR Service, Honors, and Awards
Chair-elect (2025) and member (2020-2023), Tumor Microenvironment Workshop Group; invited speaker, education session, AACR Annual Meeting (2025); keynote speaker, AACR Special Conference In Cancer Research (2024); invited speaker, advances in organ site research session, AACR Annual Meeting (2023); co-organizer, AACR-JCA Frontiers in Cancer Research (2022); plenary speaker, AACR-JCA Conference (2022); keynote speaker, AACR Conference on Aging and Cancer (2022); invited speaker, educational session, chair and speaker, major symposium, and invited speaker, major symposium, AACR Annual Meeting (2022); plenary speaker, AACR Tumor Microenvironment (2021); member, AACR Premature Cellular Aging, Stress, and Cancer Task Force (2021-present); speaker, Women in Cancer Research, (2020); member, steering committee, Tumor Microenvironment (2020); plenary speaker, opening plenary session, AACR Annual Meeting (2020); scientific editor, Cancer Discovery (2020-present); chair, AACR-The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Science of the Patient Grants (2020-2021); chair and speaker, Tumor Microenvironment Major Symposium, AACR Annual Meeting (2019); chair, subsection tumor biology, scientific program subcommittee, AACR Annual Meeting (2019); judging panel member, scientist/clinician, AACR June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism Judging Panel (2019-2023); senior editor, Molecular Cancer Research (2018-2022); chair and speaker, Tumor Microenvironment Major Symposium, AACR Annual Meeting (2017); chair, subsection tumor biology, metastasis, scientific program subcommittee, AACR Annual Meeting (2017); member, AACR NextGen Grants for Transformative Cancer Research Scientific Review Committee (2017-2019); chair, Aging and Cancer Minisymposium, AACR Annual Meeting (2016); member, AACR Tellers Committee (2016-2017); editorial board member, Cancer Research (2016-2025); member, AACR 2015 Annual Meeting Program Committee (2014-2015); recipient, AACR-AFLAC Scholar Award, AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference (1999 and 2001).
Selected Honors, Awards, and Non-AACR Service
Chair, budget and planning committee, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (2025); member, executive advisory board, Vanderbilt University Cancer Center (2025-present); keynote speaker, Beatson International Cancer Conference (2024); keynote speaker, Bishr Omary Physiology Postdoctoral Symposium (2024); recipient, Outstanding Research Award, Society for Melanoma Research (2024); keynote speaker, Duke Cancer Biology Symposium (2023); keynote speaker, Vanderbilt Cancer Biology Symposium (2023); member, scientific advisory board, V Foundation (2023-present); cochair, scientific advisory board and member, Melanoma Research Foundation (2023-present); keynote speaker, Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, Cancer and Obesity (2023); recipient, Paget-Ewing Award, Metastasis (2022); keynote speaker, Cancer: Aging in the Driver’s Seat (2022); keynote speaker, Society for Metastasis Research (2022); member by presidential appointment, National Cancer Advisory Board (2021-present); member, executive advisory board, New York University Cancer Center (2021-present); member, executive advisory board, Cancer Center, Cedars Sinai (2021-present); president, Society for Melanoma Research (2020-2022); member, executive advisory board, University of Colorado Cancer Center (2020-2022); member, board of directors, Team Up Philly (2019-present); member, executive advisory board, University of Kansas Cancer Center (2019-2022); member, board of directors, ReGain Therapeutics (2019-present); member, executive advisory board, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School (2019-present); member, scientific advisory board, Melanoma Research Foundation (2018-present); keynote speaker, Hallmarks of Skin Cancer Conference (2017); executive secretary, Society for Melanoma Research (2016); member, scientific advisory board, Phoremost Technologies (2015-present); recipient, Established Investigator Award, The Melanoma Research Foundation (2015); organizer, Women in Science Symposium (2013-2015); member, scientific advisory board, Melanoma Molecular Map Project (2009-present); staff scientist representative, National Institute on Aging (2009-2011); recipient, Women in Science Investigator Award, National Institute on Aging (2008); recipient, Fellows Award for Research Excellence, National Institutes of Health (2001).