David Tran, MD, PhD, joined the University of Florida faculty in the spring of 2015. Prior to his arrival, he was the director of the adult neuro-oncology section in the oncology division and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Nagheme Thomas is the Laboratory Manager of the Quantitative Cancer Research Laboratory. Prior to joining the lab in 2016, Nagheme worked at Arizona State University in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering.
Jeffery Berrier
Jeffery Berrier is the colony technician for Dr. Tran. He started working in the research field for the ACS department as a husbandry technician.
Special Interests
Cancer
Neurological disorders
Dongjiang Chen
Dongjiang Chen received his MD from Nanjing Medical University in China. Dr. Chen is currently a post-doctoral fellow.
Special Interests
Cancer development
Tumor Treating Fields mechanism on GBM
Nga Dai
Nga Dai is a Visiting Scholar. Dr. Dai received her Medical degree from Hanoi Medical School in Vietnam. She then interned in Lille, France, followed by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Changwang Deng
Changwang Deng received his PhD degree in genetics from China Agricultural University in Beijing. He came to University of Florida for his postdoctoral training and worked as research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry. In 2016, he move to Dr. Tran’s lab as staff scientist.
Special Interests
In vivo cell-events recording system
The origin of Glioma and GBM development
Clinical tools and/or Targets aimed at Glioma/GBM treatment
Dan Jin
Dan Jin, received her PhD from China Agricultural University in Beijing, China. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Tran Lab.
Special Interests
Immune evasion mechanisms in cancer
Master regulators in cancer stem cells
Son Le
Son Le received his PhD in Bio-organic Chemistry from Lomonosov Moscow State Academy of Fine Chemical Technology, Russia. He has invented several proprietary algorithms (patent applications submitted) for network generation and identification of master regulators in the network.
Special Interests
Network biology and artificial intelligence (deep learning) in cancer biology
Precision medicine algorithms for cancer patients and drug development
Tianyi Liu
Tianyi Liu is a Visiting Research Scholar. Dr.Liu received her M.D. from Harbin Medical University in China. First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University where she is a member of the Neurology team specializing in Stroke.
Special Interests
Cancer biology
Cancer immunology
Mathew Sebastian
Matthew received his bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina Department of Biological Sciences, did is post-baccalaureate work for the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Immunology, and is an MD-PhD candidate at the University of Florida.
Special Interests
Tumor immunology
Cancer biology
Alexandra Sherman
Alexandra Sherman received her degree in Veterinary Medicine in Belarus. Prior to joining Dr. Tran’s lab she was working in Hemophilia research at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at UF, followed by Wells Center for Pediatric Research at Indianapolis.
Special Interests
Immunology and immunotherapies
Cancer biology
Rare Cancers
Tarum Hutchinson
Bo Ma
Clinical Science Research Team
Ashley Ghiaseddin
Dr. Ghiaseddin completed his Undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame. He attended Medical School at the University of Toledo, College of Medicine. After medical school, Dr. Ghiaseddin completed his Neurological training at Indiana University, followed by a Fellowship in Neuro-Oncology at Duke University. He oversees the inpatient/outpatient clinical services for the Neuro-Oncology division and is the physician liaison to the clinical counterparts in the hospital. In addition, he serves as the Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Director and Clerkship Director of the Neuro-Oncology elective. He routinely lectures to Medical Students, Neurology/Neurosurgery Residents as well as the Hematology-Oncology Fellows.
Special Interests
Patient Quality Improvement
Supportive Care
Immunotherapy in Brain Tumor Therapy
Use of Radiologic parameters in Brain Tumor Therapy/Monitoring
Precision Oncology
Annie Allen
Annie Allen graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2005 and the University of Florida with a Master of Business Administration in 2013.
Annie began in clinical research in the University of Florida Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders Center. She has also worked as a Community Research Associate in Orlando for UF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and as Clinical Research Manager at UF’s Institute on Aging. She joined the Adult Neuro-Oncology research team in February 2018.
Annie, is an ASQ certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and an ACRP Certified Professional.
Special Interests
Multicenter Clinical Trials
Ciara Anderson
Ciara Anderson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Education and Behavior from the University of Florida. Ms. Anderson joined the UF’s Adult Neuro-Oncology group in 2017 as the Neuro-Oncology Clinical Programs Coordinator.
Special Interests
Chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Danielle Carpenter
Prior to joining the Neuro-Oncology team in 2018 as a Customer Service Representative III, Danielle Carpenter previously worked as a Receptionist for the Department of Neurosurgery. Danielle enjoys working with both the adult and pediatric Neuro-Oncology teams.
Special Interests:
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
Valerie Greene
Valerie Greene graduated from the UF Physician Assistant Program in 1991, where she then joined the UF Bone Marrow Transplant team. She then transitioned to UF’s Dept. of Surgery Abdominal Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery Service for 24 years. As of August 2017, she has been a member of the Tran Lab Clinical team in Neurosurgery’s Division of Neuro-Oncology.
Special Interests
Neuro-Oncology
Deborah Sampson
Deborah Sampson began her nursing career in 1994 upon graduating from University of North Florida. Her career has encompassed several aspects of acute care nursing including; emergency nursing, trauma care, research, education and management. Debbie joined the University of Florida’s Neurosurgery team in 2016, as the Assistant Director of Neurosurgery. Her responsibilities include the oversight of the Neuro-Oncology research and clinical teams.
Hannah Stark
Hannah Stark has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Biological Sciences from Florida State University. Hannah worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in a cognitive psychology lab. While there, she assisted in research concerned with how expertise relates to the ability of an individual to recall briefly presented chess positions. In addition, she assisted with research in behavioral training for children with Autism while working at the Florida Autism Center. Hannah transitioned to clinical research December of last year, managing primarily studies related to heart failure. She made the transition to the team in March 2019.
Sonisha Warren
Sonisha Warren received her PhD in Medical Sciences, concentrating in Physiology and Pharmacology. In 2017, Dr. Warren joined the Tran research team as a Medical Scientist where she currently manages and runs clinical research projects in adult neuro-oncology including the 2-THE-TOP, PRECISION, PROGRESS, PULSED AVASTIN as well as several NCI Alliance and industry sponsored studies.
Special Interests
Neuro-Oncology
Cardiology
Genetics
Previous Research Lab Members
Krishna Luitel – Technician, 2011-2013
Current Position: Graduate Student, UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX
Shawn He – Undergraduate Student, 2012
Current Position: Undergraduate student, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Andrew Lin, MD – Neurology Resident, 2012-2014
Current position: Assistant Professor in Neuro-Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY
John Finlay – ASPIRE Scholar, 2013-2014
Current Position: Churchill Scholar, Cambridge University, Cambridge, U.K.
Connie Liou – Menshouse Scholar, 2014
Current Position: Medical Student, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI
Michael White, MD – Neurology Resident, 2013-2015
Current position: Neuro-Oncology Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
