Investigators

Ahmad Jomaa
Faculty in Physiology and Biological Physics
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Lakeshia Taite
Faculty in Chemical Engineering, SASCO Pilot Project Awardee
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MariCarmen Lafita Navarro, PhD
Assistant Professor, Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
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Nathan Swami, PhD
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Sepideh Dolatshahi
Faculty in Biomedical Engineering
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Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Faculty in Biomedical Engineering, SASCO Pilot Project Awardee
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Stefanie Redemann
Faculty in Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Cell Biology
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Todd Fox
Faculty UVa Department of Pharmacology and Ophalmology
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The SASCO Center offers Intra-Center Pilot Projects with cost-matched support from the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center and UVA Office of the Vice-President for Research. Details on the Intra-Center Pilot Projects are released as an annual Request For Applications.

 

The Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles (SASCO) Center is an NCI-funded U54 Cancer Systems Biology Consortium research center at UVA. SASCO investigators are dedicated to the study of cancer cell biology using integrated experimental and computational methods, especially where computational inferences inform experimental hypotheses. In such projects, a “measure-model-test” cycle is typical. Read more about specific SASCO research themes on oncogenic stress on organelles in three cancer settings, the collaborative research core, and the investigator team at the SASCO website.      In its second year (beginning September 1), the Center will support $100,000 of pilot funding to UVA principal investigators. The broad goal of pilot funding is to introduce investigators to cancer systems biology research questions and approaches. While alignment with the theme of oncogenic stress on organelles is preferred, it is not a required component of a successful pilot project application. Pilot funding applicants can propose projects that integrate with existing SASCO themes, or they can propose new cancer systems biology projects. To aid applicants in designing their approach, the overall aims of the SASCO proposal are available upon request. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact U54 Center MPI Matthew Lazzara with questions and to discuss project alignment. Year 5 RFA will post on InfoReady summer of 2026. Year 4 Pilot Projects Todd Fox, PhD, UVa Department of Pharmacology and Ophthalmology, Pharmacology Ganglioside Metabolism as a Stress-Adaptation Hub Coordinating Mitochondrial-Talk in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia MariCarmen Lafita Navarro, PhD, UVa Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Identifying metabolic activators of nucleolar activity with a nucleolar stress Year 3 Pilot Projects Shayn Pierce-Cottler PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from hypoxic endothelial cells as regulators of pancreatic cancer cell EMT Sepideh Dolatshahi PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Glycan-mediated interactions linked with tumor cell glycosylation and response in human melanoma Nathan Swami PhD, UVa Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Correlating biophysical metrics of metastatic pancreatic cancer cells to their nuclear phenotypes Year 2 Pilot Projects Shayn Pierce-Cottler PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) as regulators of pancreatic cell EMT Lakeshia Taite PhD, UVa Department of Chemical Engineering A Tunable Hydrogel Tumor Microenvironment to Refine Computational Modeling of EMT-associated YAP/TAZ Mechanotransduction Year 1 Pilot Projects Stephanie Redemann PhD, UVa Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Cell Biology Regulation of the Chromosomal Passenger Complex (CPC) amount on the level of individual chromosomes during mitosis Ahmad Jomaa PhD, UVa Department of Physiology and Biological Physics Mechanism of Tom34-mediated mitochondrial adaptation in colorectal cancer

 

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