Our laboratory is home to post-docs, PhD students, staff, and other collaborators from different fields who are driven to study epigenetic regulation in normal and cancer development and to identify new therapeutic opportunities.
Principal Investigator
Eneda Toska, PhD
Director, Toska Lab
Eneda Toska, Ph.D., joined the Kimmel Cancer Center as an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program (CIM), in close collaboration with the Women’s Malignancies Disease Group. Eneda also was appointed to a secondary faculty position in the Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB), with membership in the BMB Ph.D. program.
Grants:
- K22 NCI Transition to Independence Award
- Innovation in Cancer Informatics
- Breast Cancer Research Alliance
- Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy
- National Cancer Institute 1R21CA252530-01A1
Ryan Blawski, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education:
• BS, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• PhD, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY
Previous Institutions:
• Sloan Kettering Institute – Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences – PhD
Dr. Blawski’s interests are identifying epigenetic mechanisms of therapy resistance in breast cancer with a focus on protein methylation
George Laliotis, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education:
• MD, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
• PhD, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
Previous Institution:
Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA); The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
Dr. Laliotis research focuses on the effect of the PI3K/AKT pathway on the regulation of alternative RNA splicing and processing. He seeks to investigate the role of this regulation in the clinical outcomes and response to therapeutic regimens in patients with solid tumors.
Srushti Kittane, MS
Lab Supervisor & Senior Research Specialist
Education:
BE, Biotechnology, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, India
MS, Biotechnology, New York University, New York
Previous Institution:
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York), New York University (New York)
Srushti’s interest lies in studying the mechanism of action of epigenetic genes and their regulation of the processes that influence cancer etiology and therapeutic intervention.
Xinyu (Brian) Guo, BA
Graduate Student, MS Candidate of Biostatistics
Education:
BA, (2020) Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Previous Institutes:
• Institute for Informatics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
• Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Brian’s research interests broadly lie in implementing and developing statistical methods to study scientific questions about genetics, genomics, risk prediction and precision medicine.
Adler Guerrero Zuniga, BS
Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow, PREP Scholar
Education:
BS, (2021) New York University, New York, NY
Previous Institution:
New York University School of Medicine ( New York, NY)
Alder’s research interests vary from RNA processing in cancer cells, all the way to epigenetics and chromatin conformation. He aims to understand the genetic alterations that happen when a cancer cell gains or loses an important alteration in their genome. He hopes this work can one day make it to a possible therapy in the years to come.
Tatiana M. Prioleau, BS
Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow, PREP Scholar
Education:
BS, (2021) Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Previous Institutes:
• Institute for Informatics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
• Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
At William and Mary, Tatiana worked in Dr. Shantá D. Hinton’s lab that studies a mysterious pseudo-phosphatase called MK-STYX and its unique functions in the cell. From her undergrad research experience and courses, she became very interested in signaling transduction pathways, cancer biology, and immunology.
Martina Gjyzari, BS candidate
Undergraduate Research Associate
Education:
B.S in Neuroscience (2023): Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Martina is interested in understanding the mechanisms that lead to cancer development.