2025 Research Symposium 

July 18, 2025 • 8 am to 4 pm

TIME TOPIC
8 to 8:45 am

Registration and Breakfast /Exhibitors

8:45 to 8:55 am

Welcome

Opening Remarks

Yusuf A. Hannun, MD
Director, Stony Brook Cancer Center

Peter Igarashi, MD 
Knapp Dean, Renaissance School of Medicine
at Stony Brook University

8:55 to 10:15 am

Morning Session Moderator

Jingfang Ju, PhD

  2024-25 Team Science Pilot Award Recipients
8:55 to 9:15 am

Enhanced Extracellular Vesicle Release Serves as the Central Mechanism
of Environmental 1,4-Dioxane-Induced Carcinogenesis

Fei Chen, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology
Co-Leader for Oncogenic Drivers and Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis
Stony Brook Cancer Center
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
Jaymie Meliker, PhD, Co-PI
Professor, Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

Ke Jian, Liu, PhD, Co-PI
Professor, Department of Pathology
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Associate Director for Basic Science
Stony Brook Cancer Center

9:15 to 9:35 am

Development of miR-129 Mimic for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Jingfang Ju, PhD
Professor of Pathology, Department of Pathology
Program Leader of ODMC-Cancer Center

Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
John Haley, PhD, Co-PI

Professor, Department of Pathology
Director, Developmental Therapeutics, Stony Brook Cancer Center
Director, Biological Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource
Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine

 

9:35 to 9:55 am

Increasing Deoxysphingolipids to Enhance Anti-Tumor Immunity                                  

David Montrose, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
Cungi Mao, PhD, Co-PI
Professor, Department of Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

9:55 to 10:30 am

Coffee Break / Exhibitors

 

Cancer Center New Members

10:30 to 10:50 am

Mechanobiological Signaling in Cancer: Mechanisms and Models

Michael Mak, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacological Sciences
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

10:50 to 11:10 am

ETS Transcription Factors Promote Non-Coding Mutation Hotspots in Melanoma

Peng Mao, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology
Stony Brook Cancer Center

11:10 to 11:30 am

Not All Sugars Are Sweet: Decoding Glycosylation Remodeling in Cancer Progression

Harini Krishan, MSc, PhD
Assistant Professor of Research Physiology
Associate Member ODMC Program, Stony Brook Cancer Center
Stony Brook University

11:30 to 11:50 am

Receptor-Targeted Theranostic Peptides for Melanoma Imaging and Therapy

Yubin Miao, PhD
Professor, Department of Radiology
Stony Brook Cancer Center

11:50 to 12:10 pm

Optical Metabolic and Molecular Contrasts for Early Detection of Dysplasia
and Inflammation and Image-Guided Chemophototherapy of Micrometastasis

Ulas Sunar, PhD
SUNY Empire Innovation Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering

Stony Brook University

12:10 to 1:30 pm

Lunch / Exhibitors

1:30 to 2:30 pm

Afternoon Session Moderator:

David Montrose, PhD

 

2024 ACS Institutional Research Grant Recipients

1:30 to 1:50 pm

Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cells in Hematologic Malignancy

Danielle Xie
3rd Year Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
Research Project Assistant for Christina Lee, MD
Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

1:50 to 2:10 pm

A Therapeutically Relevant Epigenetic Basis for Restrained Malignancy in IDH-Mutant Glioma

Gilbert Rahme, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacological Sciences
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

2:10 to 2:30 pm

Role of MDIG in Breast Cancer Metastasis

Fei Chen, PhD (Presenting on behalf of Chitra Thakur, PhD)
Professor, Department of Pathology
Co-Leader for Oncogenic Drivers and Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis, 
Stony Brook Cancer Center
Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University

2:30 to 3:30 pm

Poster Session and Judging

Judges: Alison Stopeck, MD, George Georgakis, MD, PhD, Suhu Liu, MD,
Roger Keresztes, MD, Charles Vorkas, MD, PhD, Susan M. Lang, MD

3:30 to 4:00 pm

Awards / Social Networking