2024 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Academic Convocation and Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Commencement
Established in 2004 with a landmark gift from Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Vice Chair of the MSK Boards of Overseers and Managers, the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK) admitted its first class in the summer of 2006. The school offers the next generation of biomedical scientists an intensive PhD program that trains them to investigate and attack cancer through the twin lenses of basic research and real-life clinical challenges.
GSK faculty are nationally recognized scientists working at the forefront of biomedical research, and the curriculum takes advantage of the unique integration of the basic science and clinical arms of Memorial Sloan Kettering. An intensive lab-work model, along with the opportunity to observe firsthand how research findings are applied, ensures that GSK graduates are well positioned to close the gap between basic and clinical research.
In 2020, GSK launched a new Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Cancer Research (CTCR), which trains physician scholars at MSK to become independent clinical investigators who bridge the gap between basic and clinical cancer research. Through a mix of coursework and mentored research, the CTCR program offers MSK clinicians a mechanism to keep pace with the rapid rate of technological and conceptual advances in cancer biology.
The 2024 MSK Academic Convocation and GSK Commencement will take place on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at ET
2024 Honorary Degree and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Biomedical Research
Elaine Fuchs, PhD
Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, The Rockefeller University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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Elaine Fuchs is renowned for her research in skin biology, its stem cells and associated disorders, including cancers and inflammation, and has published >370 manuscripts. She received her Ph.D. from Princeton, postdoctorate at MIT, and has been faculty at University of Chicago and now Rockefeller University, where she is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her awards include the National Medal of Science, L’Oreal-UNESCO Award, International Society for Stem Cell Research Innovation Award, the Gairdner International Award and most recently the Franklin Medal. Fuchs holds membership in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Philosophical Society, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society.
Past GSK Honorary Doctorate of Science Recipients
- 2023: Craig B. Thompson, MD
- 2022: Dr. Levi Garraway
- 2021: Dr. Joan Steitz
- 2020: Dr. James P. Allison
- 2019: Dr. Kenneth J. Marians
- 2018: Dr. Cori Bargmann
- 2017: Dr. Robert Langer
- 2016: Dr. Joan S. Brugge
- 2015: Dr. Robert A. Weinberg
- 2014: Dr. Thomas J. Kelly
- 2013: Dr. Paul A. Marks
- 2012: Mr. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., and Dr. Harold E. Varmus
Yu-Jung Chen
An Exploration of the Cellular Origins and Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Glioblastoma
Mentor: Luis F. Parada, PhD
Ellen Louise Horste
Cytoplasmic Location of Translation Controls Protein Output
Mentor: Christine Mayr, MD, PhD
Benjamin Tonnu Jackson
Metabolic Control of Naïve Pluripotency
Mentor: Lydia W. Finley, PhD
Yaniv Kazansky
Towards Targeted Therapy for Pediatric Sarcomas
Mentor: Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD
Renhe Luo
From “Core” to “Periphery”: Mapping Enhancers in Developmental Gene Regulatory Network
Mentor: Danwei Huangfu, PhD
Katelyn Mullen
The Evolutionary Forest of Pancreatic Cancer
Mentor: Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD
Chi Linh Nguyen
The Interactions Between Environmental Exposures, the Gut Microbiota and the Immune System in Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation
Mentor: Marcel R. M. van den Brink, MD, PhD
Minh N. Nguyen
Targeting Antigen Presentation Deficiency in Lung Cancer
Mentor: Charles M. Rudin, MD, PhD
Hongyu Shi
Linking Ovarian Cancer Genomic Instability and Phenotypic Dynamics at Single-Cell Resolution
Mentors: Sohrab P. Shah, PhD; Nikolaus Schultz, PhD
Thinh Ngoc Tran
Methods for Clinical Feature Abstraction and Driver Mutation Annotations Improve Utility of Real-World Cancer Data
Mentor: Nikolaus Schultz, PhD
Vance Broach
VISION (Vulvar ICG SLN Detection) Study: Near-Infrared Imaging with Indocyanine Green for Detection of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Vulvar Cancer
Mentors: Mario M. Leitao, Jr., MD; Nadeem Abu-Rustum, MD
Ivan Sergueivich Kotchetkov
Developing a CAR T Cell Strategy for Glioblastoma
Mentors: Michel W. Sadelain, MD, PhD; Ingo K. Mellinghoff, MD
Ioannis Politikos
Optimization of Cord Blood Transplantation for the Treatment of High-Risk Hematologic Malignancies in Adults
Mentor: Juliet N. Barker, MBBS
Michael Scordo
Identifying an Optimal Fludarabine Exposure for Improved Outcomes After Axi-cel Therapy for Aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Mentors: Sergio A. Giralt, MD; Miguel-Angel Perales, MD
Urvi Ajay Shah
A Plant-based Dietary Intervention (NUTRIVENTION) in Precursor Plasma Cell Disorders Improves Biomarkers of Disease and Delays Progression to Myeloma
Mentors: Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD; Alexander M. Lesokhin, MD
Recognition of the Doctoral Dissertation Research
Sloan Kettering Division/Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
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Melissa L. Boby
Development of Adenylation Enzyme Inhibitors as Novel Antibiotics
Mentors: Derek S. Tan, PhD; John Chodera, PhD -
Winson Cai
Augmenting CAR T Cell Functions with LIGHT
Mentor: David A. Scheinberg, MD, PhD -
Chen Chen
Using Nanotechnology to Modulate and Monitor Pharmacokinetics in Drug Development
Mentor: Daniel A. Heller, PhD -
Ziyu Chen
Genomic Analysis of Tumor Heterogeneity in Bladder Cancer and its Biological and Clinical Implication
Mentor: David B. Solit, MD -
Briana Christophers
Drosophila Muscle Cofilin Maintains Neuromuscular Junction Structure for Proper Neurotransmission
Mentor: Mary Baylies, PhD -
Broderick C. Corless
EpoxySEAKER: CAR T-Cell Model for Targeted Local Biosynthesis of Therapeutic Warheads
Mentor: Derek S. Tan, PhD -
Emily A. Costa
Characterizing SMARCA4 Loss in STK11/KEAP1 Co-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma
Mentor: Charles M. Rudin, MD, PhD -
Deeksha Deep
Regulation of Polytypic T Cell Responses in Infection
Mentor: Alexander Rudensky, PhD -
Bryce D. Delgado
Mechanisms of Ion Selectivity and Throughput in the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter
Mentor: Stephen B. Long, PhD -
Jessica R. Falci
Development and Mechanism of Novel Autophagy Modulators for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders
Mentor: Yueming Li, PhD -
Mervin M. Fansler
Comprehensive Annotation of 3′UTRs and their Quantification from Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Data
Mentor: Christine Mayr, MD, PhD -
Vianne Ran Gao
Modeling and Analysis of Single Cell Transcriptomic and Epigenetic Data to Dissect Phenotypic Diversity in Disease
Mentor: Christina Leslie, PhD -
Pamela Hatfield (Herrera)
Microbiota-Derived Indoxyl Sulfate Enhances Car T Cell Cytotoxicity in a Lymphoma Tumor Model
Mentor: Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD -
Kelsey Hopland
Modeling Glioma-Associated Macrophages Using Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Microglia
Mentor: Viviane Tabar, MD -
Tanya Jain
Innate Immunity Protein IFITM3 Regulates Alzheimer’s Disease-Associated Microglial Response
Mentor: Yueming Li, PhD -
Minsoo Kim
Evolutionary and Functional Consequences of Single Cell Variation in Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number and Genotype in Cancer
Mentors: Ed Reznik, PhD; Sohrab P. Shah, PhD -
Youngjun Kim
Unraveling the B cell Intrinsic Role of IL-21 Signaling
Mentor: Jayanta Chaudhuri, PhD -
So Yeon Koo
In vivo Genetic Screen to Investigate the Survival Factor of Human Dopamine Neuron During Engraftment
Mentor: Lorenz Studer, MD -
Anjana Krishnamurthy
Engrailed1/2 Direct Embryonic Cerebellar Excitatory and Inhibitory Neuron Identity and Survival
Mentor: Alexandra L. Joyner, PhD -
Keifer G. Kurtz
Orthogonal Approaches for Enhancing Cellular Immunotherapies
Mentor: David Scheinberg, MD, PhD -
Andrew Seunghyun Lee
Cerebellar Output Neurons Regulate Cerebellar and Extracerebellar Circuit Development and Behavior
Mentor: Alexandra L. Joyner, PhD -
Kyeara N. Mack
Antibody-Based Theranostics in Ovarian Cancer: Targeting MUC16 for Diagnosis and Radioimmunotherapy
Mentor: Jason S. Lewis, PhD -
Zaki Abdullah Molvi
War and Remission: Phosphopeptides, Fusion Proteins, and Predictive Biomarkers in Cancer Immunotherapy
Mentor: Richard J. O’Reilly, MD -
Brandon David Ng
Engineered Il-18 Secretion and Multi-Antigen Targeting Enable CAR T cells to Eliminate Multiple Myeloma with Low Antigen Expression in an Immunocompetent Mouse Model
Mentor: Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD -
Maryam Pourmaleki
Dissecting the Spatial Topology of Cancer
Mentors: Ingo K. Mellinghoff, MD; Sohrab P. Shah, PhD -
Nicholas Prescott
Dissecting the Chromatin Regulation of Hepatitis B Virus
Mentor: Yael David Shternberg, PhD -
Zakieh Tayyebi
Single-Cell Analysis of the Transcriptional and Regulatory Landscape of Cell Differentiation
Mentor: Christina S. Leslie, PhD -
Xinran Tong
Retinoid X Receptor Signaling Mediates Cancer Cell Lipid Metabolism in the Leptomeninges
Mentor: Adrienne A. Boire,MD, PhD -
Stefan Ross Torborg
An Equilibrium of Malignant Cell States Controlled by WNT and Notch Drives Pancreas Cancer Growth
Mentor: Tuomas Tammela, MD, PhD -
Hexiao Wang
The Role of the Mre11 Complex in Oncogene-induced Mammary Tumorigenesis
Mentor: John Petrini, PhD -
Xinxin Wang
Nutrient mTORC1 Signaling Control of T Lymphocyte Homeostasis and Malignant Transformation
Mentor: Ming Li, PhD -
Adam Clayton Weiner
Single-cell Replication Timing and Proliferation Dynamics of Genomically Unstable Cancers
Mentor: Sohrab P. Shah, PhD -
Yubin Xie
Unraveling Spatial Heterogeneity in Cancer Using Multiplex Single-Cell Resolution Imaging
Mentor: Dana Pe’er, PhD -
Jossie Jackeline Yashinskie
Metabolic Consequences of p53 Activation
Mentor: Lydia W. Finley, PhD -
Jiayi Yuan
Genome-Wide Loss-of-Function Screens in Human Microglia to Identify Novel HSV1 Susceptibility Factors
Mentor: Lorenz Studer, MD -
Ivy Zhang
Predicting and Understanding Changes in Protein: Protein Binding Affinity Upon Mutation
Mentor: John Chodera, PhD
2024 Award Winners
Research Awards
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Dorris J. Hutchison Graduate
- Recognizes outstanding research under the mentorship of an MSK faculty member
- Awarded to Tanmana Mitra
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Barbara and Stephen Friedman Graduate Fellowship
- Awarded to Elizabeth Benitez
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Bruce Charles Forbes Fellowship
- Awarded to Zhi Zheng
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General Atlantic Fellowship
- Awarded to Dana Goerzen
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Andrew S. Gordon MERIT Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Awarded to Moralba Dominguez Garcia
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MERIT Sawyers Fellowship
- Awarded to Viktor Belay
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Marie-Josée Kravis Women in Science Endeavor Graduate Fellowship
- Awarded to Melissa Yao, Tzippora Chwat Edelstein
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Marie-Josée Kravis Women in Science Endeavor Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Awarded to Julia Brunner, Vittoria Bocchi
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Postdoctoral Research Awards
- Recognizes outstanding accomplishments and promise by research fellows or research associates who have been at MSK for at least one year and have published a significant research paper as first author
- Awarded to Kaloyan (Kal) Tsanov
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Tri-Institutional Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators
- Established by leaders from The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to recognize exceptional current postdoctoral trainees at each of the three institutions who have made significant research contributions
- Awarded to Alessandra Brambati
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Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic
- Honors researchers at the Associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in laboratory investigations
- Awarded to Richard Hite, PhD, Associate Member, Structural Biology Program
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Katharine Berkan Judd Award
- Recognizes an individual who has made great advancements in the understanding of cancer through basic discovery
- Awarded to Bruce Stillman, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, President and CEO Oliver R. Grace Professor, Cancer Center Member
- The Judd Lecture will occur on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. in the RRL Auditorium. Please join us!
Clinical Awards
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Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research
- Honors physicians at the Associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in clinical investigations
- Awarded to Andrea Cercek, MD, Associate Attending Physician, Gastroenterology Service
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Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical
- Honors a clinician whose talent, dedication, and compassion reflect the standards set by Willet F. Whitmore during his more than 46 years of service at Memorial Sloan Kettering
- Awarded to Hans Gerdes, MD, Attending Physician, Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition Service; Director, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Unit
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C. Chester Stock Award
- Given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of cancer therapy
- Awarded to John O’Shea, MD, NIH, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS); Scientific Director and Director of the NIAMS Intramural Research Program; Chief, Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch
- The Stock Award Lecture will occur on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. in RRL-116. Please join us!
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The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize
- Recognizes individuals who have made significant or groundbreaking contributions to pediatric oncology, highlighting the long-standing and future-facing partnerships between The Society and MSK and affirming the global leadership of MSK in the field of pediatric oncology
- Awarded to Olivier Delattre, MD, PhD, Director of the Cancer Biology and Genetics, Director of the SIREDO center, Institut Curie
- Please join us for Pediatric Grand Rounds on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. in RRL-120.