We are hiring- looking for both a postdoc and staff scientist to join our lab

/

We are looking for new lab members to join our dynamic and productive environment at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. The lab is well-funded and has strong track record of supporting trainees in their career goals.

Candidates with a strong interest in mechanistic cancer biology projects are encouraged to apply. Candidates must have significant expertise in both basic and advanced cellular and molecular biology, with a strong focus on mechanistic investigation.

For postdoc candidates: Strong candidates will have at least one 1st author paper and an interest in independently driving impactful projects. https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/wistar/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/5211

For staff scientist candidates: Strong candidates will have a track record of independently driving high-impact projects, evidenced by publications and funding, and a willingness to learn and integrate new biological fields and techniques. Candidates should have a PhD (or equivalent) degree and a minimum of 3 years of post-doctoral experience and demonstrate a track record of first author as well as collaborative publications in the biomedical sciences. https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/wistar/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/5239

Send your CV including a list of publications and manuscripts in preparation,  a one-page cover letter detailing the reason for your scientific interest in the lab and career goals, as well as names and contact information for at least 3 references to kaird@wistar.org.

Preprints updated! Congrats Raquel and Aidan!

/

It has been a busy summer! Along with the move and Dr. Cole’s defense, we have significantly updated two preprints:

Zinc availability in the tumor microenvironment dictates anti-PD1 response in CDKN2ALow tumors via increased macrophage phagocytosis (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.08.637227v3)

Raquel discovered that tumors can respond to anti-PD1 without T cells! Mechanistically, this is through a zinc-dependent increase in macrophage phagocytosis, and this is driven through cancer cell CDKN2A-mediated zinc compartmentalization.

The chemotherapy-induced senescence-associated secretome promotes cell detachment and metastatic dissemination through metabolic reprogramming

(https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.02.569652v2)

Newly-minted Dr. Cole discovered that cisplatin drives ovarian cancer metastasis through a metabolic cross-talk between senescent cancer cells with non-senescent cancer cells. We identified fructose as the upstream driver of this phenotype.

We are moving to The Wistar Institute!

/

Big news from the lab! We are moving to The Wistar Institute in beautiful Philadelphia starting in early September. For Katherine, this is a homecoming of sorts (she postdoc’d there), but for the other 6 lab members joining her, this is a new adventure! More details coming soon!

We are recruiting for research assistants/technicians: https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/wistar/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/4674. For postdoc candidates interested to join our team, please email Katherine directly at kaird@wistar.org.

Dr. Tangudu's paper on ATR-mediated cholesterol synthesis and mTORC1 activation accepted and online at EMBO Reports!

/

Congratulations to Dr. Tangudu on this very interesting finding linking the DNA damage response protein ATR to mTORC1 activation through a non-canonical role in cholesterol metabolism. You can read the paper here: https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44319-025-00451-3

This was a close collaboration with Dr. Alex Valvezan’s lab at Rutgers. His lab had also independently discovered a connection between ATR and mTORC1, and we joined efforts to publish this work.

Dr. Buj's zinc manuscript is on bioRxiv! Check out her amazing work on immunotherapy resistance of CDKN2A-low cancers

/

Congratulations to Research Assistant Professor Dr. Raquel Buj for submitting her amazing story on the role of zinc in modifying tumor-associated macrophages to influence immunotherapy resistance in CDKN2A-low cancers! This has been a long journey, but her passion, dedication, and brilliance got her to the finish line. We are looking forward to getting feedback! Read the preprint here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.08.637227v2

Amazing grant news for the whole lab with multiple fundable R01 scores + Raquel's SPORE CEP funded!

/

What a few months the lab has had! Not one but TWO R01s received fundable scores, including a 1st percentile mPI grant between Katherine, Raquel, and our colleague Dr. Nadine Hempel,

Raquel also received funding for her new ovarian cancer project through the Pitt SPORE Career Enhancement Program!

Needless to say, we are hiring! Check out our projects and email us if you are interested in joining the team.

Naveen's and Raquel's paper on de novo purine metabolism as a vulnerability of p16low cancers is out!

/

Congratulations to co-first authors Drs. Naveen Kumar Tangudu and Raquel Buj for this very nice study on a metabolic vulnerability in p16low cancers. Using multiple CRISPR screens and omics-based approaches, they identified de novo purine synthesis to be upregulated in p16low cancer cells. They also found that targeting this axis using anti-folates decreased proliferation of these cells both in vitro and in vivo. You can read the full text here: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerrescommun/article/doi/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0450/743061/De-novo-purine-metabolism-is-a-metabolic

New preprint on alpha-ketoglutarate and histone acetylation- congrats Dr. Apoorva Uboveja and co-authors

/

We are excited to share our newest preprint from 1st author Dr. Apoorva Uboveja. In this project, she found something totally unexpected- aKG affects histone acetylation through carnitine synthesis. This axis promoted DNA repair by homologous recombination. These data provide new evidence for a metabolically-sensitive epigenetic axis that could be targeted for cancer therapy. They also show that methylation is not the only epigenetic change that is affected by aKG. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.06.578742v1

New preprint alert! First authors Naveen and Raquel identify anti-folates as a strategy to treat cancers with p16 loss

/

Congrats to co-first authors Drs. Naveen Kumar Tangudu and Raquel Buj on their new preprint. Using CRISPR screens and pharmacological approaches, they identified purine metabolism as a metabolic vulnerability of p16-low cancers. Read more here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.15.549149v2