News

Our Toxicology & Cancer Biology program is interdisciplinary, whose faculty are leaders in their fields and use cutting edge approaches to investigate oxidative stress, genetic instability, metabolism and epigenetics and their relationships to cancer and other human diseases. Students can choose to be trained in areas that have an emphasis on either Toxicology or Cancer Biology, or identify projects that integrate the two areas.

The University of Kentucky provides the only Master's of Forensic Toxicology and Analytical Genetics (or degree of comparable nature) in the state, and it is only the fifth such professional master’s degree in the field of forensics in the nation. Students are provided with access to state of the art educational resources, instrumentation and facilities that support advanced professional education in Forensic Chemistry and Forensic DNA analysis.

We am pleased to congratulate Kara Chan who successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on 7/15/19. Congratulations Dr. Chan and congratulations to Dr. Guo-Min Li for his excellent mentorship and other committee members for their guidance throughout Kara’s training.

We are pleased to congratulate Jazmyne Barney who successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation today. Congratulations Dr. Barney and congratulations to Dr. Bernhard Hennig for his excellent mentorship and the other committee members for their guidance throughout Jazmyne’s training.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Christine Brainson, Assistant Professor, has been awarded a new American Cancer Society research grant. Titled "Methionine Metabolism and Lung Cancer Lineage Fate," this is a 4 year award, $792,000 award. Congratulations to Dr. Brainson and her team!

Thanks to the collaborative contributions of Markey Women Strong members, Dr. Eva Goellner will receive a $50,000 grant to further her research into "DNA Mismatch Repair in Chemotherapy Resistance."

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Christine Brainson, Assistant Professor, has been awarded a new R01 research grant by the National Cancer Institute. Titled "Targeting epigenetic heterogeneity to improve lung cancer immunotherapy response," this is a 5 year award, for a total expected award of $1,749,940 in total funding. Congratulations to Dr. Brainson and her team!

We are pleased to announce the that university will be charging a special tuition rate for the Master's in Forensics Toxicology & Analytical Genetics program, pending approval of the Board of Trustees in June 2019. The proposed rate will be $915 per credit hour in additional to the mandatory fees. This represents a significant reduction in the out-of-state tuition rate typically assessed and shows enormous support for our program by the university.

The Yulan Sun's Memorial Outstanding Graduate Student Award recognizes graduate students for overall outstanding achievement in the graduate program. The Department of Toxicology & Cancer Biology is honored to award the 1st Yulan Sun's Memorial Outstanding Graduate Student Award ($1,000) to Dr. Marisa Kamelgarn! Her achievements and involvement in the department's student activities embody and honor the award's namesake.

Congratulations to doctoral student James Drury on winning the Judges Choice award for CCTS 1-Minute Poster Pitch 14th Annual UK CCTS Spring Conference, April 15, 2019. James Drury with his mentor Dr. Kate Zaytseva

We are pleased to congratulate Marisa Kamelgarn who successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation today. Congratulations Dr. Kamelgarn and congratulations to Dr. Haining Zhu for his excellent mentorship and the committee members: Dr. St Clair, Dr. Kasarskis, Dr. Stamm and Dr. Mellon for their guidance throughout Marisa’s training and Dr. Steven Estus as the outside examiner.

Dear Colleagues, we are pleased to congratulate Marco De Freitas Clementino who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation today. Congratulations Dr. Freitas Clementino and the committee members: Drs. Izumi, and Fondufe-Mittendorf for their guidance throughout Marco’s training and Dr. Shuxia Wang as the outside examiner.

We are pleased to congratulate Anye Wamucho, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation on February 21, 2019. We would also like to congratulate and acknowledge Dr. Olga Tysusko for her excellent mentorship; the committee members: Drs. Unrine, Palli, Farman, and Mellon, for their guidance throughout Anye's training; and Dr. Chunming Liu as the outside examiner.

We are pleased to introduce our new Administrative Support Associate, Ms. Catherine Park. Hailing from New Jersey, she attended Rutgers University and earned a bachelor's degree in history. She is relatively new to the area so please stop by to welcome her to the department.

Dr. Mary Vore from the University of Kentucky to present the 2019 Norman Weiner Lecture. This lecture was established in memory of Dr. Norman Weiner, past ASPET President and chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado. It is in honor of his many contributions to both ASPET and to pharmacology research and education. Dr. Vore completed her PhD in pharmacology at Vanderbilt School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship at Hoffmann-La Roche.

University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Daret St. Clair, Ph.D., has been named the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient from the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM). St. Clair received the award and gave a feature lecture at the SfRBM’s 25th Annual Conference in Chicago earlier this month.

Renowned biochemist Xiaoqi Liu, Ph.D., has been named chair of the University of Kentucky Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology.

Liu’s research involves the molecular mechanisms that cause cancer with the goal of using this information to create new avenues for cancer therapy. His work specifically focuses on an enzyme known as Polo-like kinase 1, which plays a central role in controlling cell division and exists at abnormally high levels in many types of cancers, including prostate, pancreatic, melanoma and lung cancers.

A former professor of biochemistry at Purdue University, Dr. Liu is a graduate of Peking University in Beijing and received his doctorate from Washington State University.

Congratulations, Andrew Hitron, who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation this afternoon. Congratulations to the committee members Drs. St Clair, HS Yang, and Luo for their guidance throughout Andrew’s training.