May 18, 2026

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Improving Immunotherapies with Membrane-Tethered Engineered Cytokine Agonists (MECAs)”

By

Diana Gumber

Graduate Student in the Lab of Leo Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Immuno-Oncology

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

10:00 am – 11:00 am PDT

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

• “Cancer associated fibroblasts in gastrointestinal peritoneal metastases”

By

Tiane Li

Graduate Student in the Lab of Mustafa Raoof, M.D. & Mingye Feng, Ph.D.

Department of Surgery / Department of Immuno-Oncology

Friday, May 22, 2026

8:30am – 9:30am PDT

Beckman Room 5201

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“A Novel B7H3-Targeted, Meditope-Enabled CAR T Cell Platform to Overcome Heterogeneity and Adaptive Resistance in Solid Tumors”

By

Zhen Tong

Graduate Student in the Lab of Christine Brown, Ph.D.

Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation & Immuno-Oncology

Friday, May 22, 2026

9:00 am – 10:00 am PDT

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Modulating the Solid Tumor Microenvironment using Bioengineered Tumor-Colonizing Bacteria to Enhance Cancer Therapy”

By

Lara Avsharian

Graduate Student in the Lab of Edwin Manuel, Ph.D.

Department of Immuno-Oncology

Friday, May 22, 2026

11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT

Graff Library Room G112

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Isolation, Identification, and Characterization of KSHV Glycoprotein-Specific Antibodies as a Tool to Elucidate Mechanisms of Viral Transmission”

By

Jonathan Calero-Landa

Graduate Student in the Lab of Javier Gordon Ogembo, Ph.D.

Department of Immuno-Oncology

Friday, May 22, 2026

1:00pm – 2:00pm PDT

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

Congratulations to all the RSO awardees! Wishing you continued success and more accomplishments ahead.

Graduate Student Poster Awards

Leah Kebrom

Xiaoting Ren

Elizabeth Quino

Beomhyeok (Victor) Lee

Postdoc Poster Awards

Eli Mukhaleva

Joseph Hoolachan

Minxiao Yang

Graduate Student talks

Yunqiu Jiang

Leslie Wenning

Postdoc Talks

Talant Ruxmetov

Jonathan Anzules & Ruthia Soh (tie)

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

Invites you to a seminar presented by the Berlin School of Integrative Oncology

Morgan Chu Distinguished Visiting Professor:

Michael Glocker, Ph.D.

Director, Proteome Center Rostock Department for Proteome Research Institute of Immunology, Medical Faculty, and Natural Science Faculty

University of Rostock (Germany)

“Proteomics-Guided Tumor Metastasis Diagnostics:

Crème De La Crème or Catch as Catch Can ?”

Thursday, May 28, 2026

10:30 am – 11:30 am

Beckman Building, Argyros Auditorium

May 15, 2026

Postdoctoral Training Office &

Irell & Manella Graduate School

Evolving Story Forum

Invites You to Presentations by

Erica Niewold

Graduate Student

Dr. Lili Wang’s Lab

Department of Medicine – Hematology/ Oncology

“U1 dysregulation drives onset of chronic lymphocytic leukemia”

Qiutang Xiong, MD, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Yingfeng Deng’s Lab

ARDMRI - Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism

“A Novel Role of Uridine in Insulin Secretion and Its Relevance to T1D Onset”

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

2:00 - 3:00pm

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

For additional information regarding this event, please contact Linda McDaniel ([email protected])

March 31, 2026

Good Luck to our 1st year PHD Cohort on their Lab Rotations #3 Presenations!

March 30, 2026

The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend the Master thesis defense entitled

“How do PPARα and ChREBP Interact in the Transcriptional Control of HepG2 Cells”

by

Nancy Diaz Batista

Master student in the Lab of Charles Brenner, Ph.D.

Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism

Monday, March 30, 2026

1:00pm –2:00pm PST

Beckman 3118

The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend the Master thesis defense entitled

“Mapping Endothelial–Macrophage Interactions Underlying Diabetes-Associated Vasculopathy”

by

Muxi Chen

Master student in the Lab of Zhen Bouman Chen, Ph.D.

Department of Diabetes Complications & Metabolism

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

11:00am –12:00pm PST

Beckman Classroom 1207

March 27, 2026

The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend the Master thesis defense entitled

“Development and Characterization of Tumor-Inducible Promoters for E. coli-based Cancer Therapies”

by

Sheyla Salcido

Master student in the Lab of Edwin Manuel, Ph.D.

Department of Immuno-Oncology

Friday, March 27, 2026

10:00am –11:00am PST

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

• “Selective Targeting of SUMOylation Disrupts Mitochondrial Homeostasis via TRAP1 to Suppress Growth of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) B-cells”

By

Vi Lam

Graduate Student in the Lab of Alexey Danilov, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Thursday, April 9, 2026

2:00pm – 3:00pm PDT

Beckman 5201

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Defining the genetic interplay between 53BP1-RIF1 and

DNA-PKcs in chromosomal break repair”

By

Kaela Makins

Graduate Student in the Lab of Jeremy Stark, Ph.D.

Department of Cancer Genetics & Epigenetics

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

3:00pm – 5:00pm PDT

Beckman 5201

February  23, 2026

Chu and Payson Fellowship Awardees

The assessment committee carefully reviewed the nine Chu Fellowship applications and the four Payson Fellowship applications.

The overall quality of the submissions was exceptionally strong.

We are delighted to announce that Debbie Hussey has been selected as the Chu Fellow and Yunqui Jiang as the Payson Fellow.

Please join us in congratulating them on this well-deserved recognition of their impressive achievements.

Seminar presented by:

Guang-Chao Chen, Ph.D.

Research Fellow/ Deputy Director
Institute of Biological Chemistry

Academia Sinica, Taiwan

“Molecular Regulation of Autophagy in Tissue Homeostasis and Metabolism”

Friday, March 13, 2026

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, PDT

For more information, please email Jennifer To [email protected] for more information. 

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Dual role of mitochondrial AKT in granulosa cells and folliculogenesis - implications on ovarian dysfunction in metabolic syndrome”

By

Hui Wen Lo

Graduate Student in the Lab of Ping Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism

Thursday, March 12, 2026

1:30pm – 2:30pm PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

February  16, 2026

Postdoctoral Training Office &

Irell & Manella Graduate School

Evolving Story Forum

Invites You to Presentations by

Yoya Vashi, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Yuman Fong’s Lab

Department of Surgery

“Combining oncolytic virotherapy and immunotherapy for enhanced anti-tumor efficacy”

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

2:00 - 2:30pm

For additional information regarding this event, please contact Linda McDaniel ([email protected])

February  9, 2026

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences 

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Structural Dynamics and Allosteric Control of GTPases: Mechanisms, Mutations, and Drug Discovery”

By

Wenyuan Wei

Graduate Student in the Lab of Nagarajan Vaidehi, Ph.D.

Department of Computational and Quantitative Medicine

Monday, February 9, 2026

10:30am – 12:00pm PDT 

BRC Room 2021

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Irell & Manella Graduate School Visiting Professor Seminar Series

Invites you to a seminar presented by:

Guang-Chao Chen, Ph.D.

“Molecular Regulation of Autophagy in Tissue Homeostasis and Metabolism”

Friday, March 13, 2026

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, PDT

IMGS Graduate Students, if you are interested in meeting with Dr. Chen,

please email Jennifer To for more information.

February  5, 2026

Irell & Manella Graduate School Visiting Professor Seminar Series

Invites you to a seminar presented by:

Qun-Ying Lei, Ph.D.

Dean and Professor of School of Basic Medical Sciences

New Cornerstone Laboratory,

Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University

“Cytosolic Acetyl-Coenzyme A is a Signalling Metabolite to Control Mitophagy”

Thursday, February 5, 2026

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, PDT

Beckman Building-Room 5201 (In-Person)

Please Contact

Jennifer To [email protected] for more information.

February  2, 2026

Postdoctoral Training Office &

Irell & Manella Graduate School

Evolving Story Forum

Invites You to Presentations by

Jia Li, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Yanhong Shi’s Lab

Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases

“Developing a multimodal therapy for glioblastoma”

Yigang Bao

Graduate Student

Dr. David Ann’s Lab

Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

“Ribosome Export as a Hidden Layer of Translational Control in Advanced Prostate Cancer”

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

2:00 - 3:00pm

For additional information regarding this event, please contact Linda McDaniel ([email protected])

January  12, 2026

Postdoctoral Training Office & 

Irell & Manella Graduate School

Evolving Story Forum

Invites You to 
Presentations by

Sydney Grant, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Aritro Nath’s Lab

Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

“Building Interpretable Deep Learning Frameworks for Predicting Cancer Outcomes from Genomic Data”

Vi Lam

Graduate Student

Dr. Alexey Danilov’s Lab

Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

“Selective Targeting of Sumoylation Disrupts Mitochondrial Homeostasis via TRAP1 to Suppress growth of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) B-cells”

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

2:00 - 3:00pm

For additional information regarding this event, please contact Linda McDaniel ([email protected])

January  9, 2026

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Endothelial AGO1: Molecular Regulator of Tissue Crosstalk”

By

Alonso Tapia

Graduate Student in the Lab of Zhen Bouman Chen, Ph.D.

Department of Diabetes Complications & Metabolism

Friday, January 9, 2026

3:00pm – 5:00pm PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

January  7, 2026

Postdoctoral Training Office &

Irell & Manella Graduate School

Evolving Story Forum

Invites You to Presentations by

Devapriya Sinha, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Charles Brenner’s Lab

Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism

“Citrin Deficiency as a Lean MASLD Syndrome: Identification and Validation of CPT1A as a Therapeutic Target”

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

For additional information regarding this event, please contact Linda McDaniel ([email protected])

December 18, 2025

Thank you to all that donated to this years Adopt-A-Family.

As well as a big thank you to Sienna Rocha, Leah Kebrom and Jenn To for collecting donations and putting the gifts together.

 We wish everyone a very Merry Holiday Season. 

December 17, 2025

Leading Edge Lectures

10th Annual Susumu Ohno Memorial Lecture

IREll & MANELLA SEMINAR SERIES

2025 10th ANNUAL SUSUMU OHNO MEMORIAL LECTURE

Topic: Quantitative Proteomics for Understanding Epigenetic Mechanisms in Human Disease

Friday, December 19, 2025, Argyros Auditorium @ 2:00 to 3:00 PM

followed by ~30 min. Q&A

Featuring:

Benjamin A. Garcia, Ph.D., FRSC, ACSF, FAAAS

Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and Head Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Director, Chromatin and Epigenetics Special Interest Group, Washington University School of Medicine

Associate Editor of Analytical Chemistry and Mass Spectrometry Reviews

President-Elect of the U.S. Human Proteome Organization (HUPO)

Chair-Elect of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Analytical Chemistry Division

Dr. Garcia’s research centers on the development and application of quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics and related computation for understanding dynamic protein and proteome post-translational modifications (PTMs). He is particularly interested in investigating epigenetic histone PTMs and their role in regulating gene expression in normal and disease physiology. His lab utilizes high resolution and high-throughput MS to study several epigenetic targets involved in processes such as cancer, neurological development, viral infection and cellular reprogramming. With over 450 publications, Dr. Garcia’s contributions continue to drive new insights into proteome regulation and the molecular basis of human disease.

December 15, 2025

PHD ORAL DISSERTATION DEFENSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Role and Regulation of Methylarginine Effector TDRD3”

By

Hoang Quoc Hai Pham

Graduate Student in the Lab of Yanzhong (Frankie) Yang, Ph.D.

Department of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics

Friday, December 18, 2025

1:00pm – 3:00pm PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

December 10, 2025

Thank you to our Morgan Chu Distinguished Visiting Professor Dr. Thomas Kammertöns for an outstanding talk today and all your guidance to the students during your visit.

December 8, 2025

Irell & Manella Gradaute School of Bioogical Sciences

Invites you to a seminar presented by the Morgan Chu Distinguished Visiting Professor:

Thomas Kammertöns, Ph.D.

Professor

Institute for Immunology of the Charité

Teaching Coordinator at the Institute of Tumor Immunology

Deputy Spokesperson at the Berlin School of Integrative Oncology

“Neoantigens, the Denkkollektiv, and Evolving Ideas of Immune Surveillance in Cancer”

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

December 1, 2025

PHD ORAL DISSERTATION DEFENSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“ Structural and Physical Optimization of CD38-Targeted Antibodies for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy in Multiple Myeloma”

By

Amanda Duplan

Graduate Student in the Lab of John Williams, Ph.D.

Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine

Wednesday December 17, 2025

1:30pm – 3:30pm PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

November 24, 2025

• Congratulations to Dr. Kathleen Lennon (IMGS PHD Alumni) on her promotions as Chief Scientific Officer at Stealth Startup.

• Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Liddell (IMGS PHD Alumni) on her new position as Chief of Staff at Longshot Space Technologies Corporation.
• Congratulations to Benajamin Purnell on your poster award at the American Association for Extracellular Vesicles (AAEV) meeting in Salt Lake City!

Thank you to our LEL speaker Dr. Xiao Wang for a wonderful presentation on 11/21/2025.

PHD ORAL DISSERTATION DEFENSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences

invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Dynamic modeling reveals that ErbB-targeted therapy with CDK4/6 inhibition prevents resistance and sustains response in ER+ breast cancer”

By

Kimya Karimi

Graduate Student in the Lab of Andrea Bild, Ph.D. & Aritro Nath, Ph.D.

Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

Thursday, December 4, 2025

10:00am – 11:30am PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

November 21, 2025

Leading Edge Lecture

“Deconstruct and reprogram RNA life cycle”

By Guest Speaker:

Xiao Wang, Ph.D.

Core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry at MIT

Friday, Nov 21st, 2025

2:00pm-3:00pm

Join us for an inspiring lecture by Dr. Xiao Wang, a trailblazer in epitranscriptomics and spatial omics whose groundbreaking work is transforming our understanding of RNA biology in the brain. Dr. Wang’s research integrates chemical biology, single-cell sequencing, and spatially resolved transcriptomics to map the life cycle of RNA molecules from transcription to translation within complex tissues. Her innovative approaches have uncovered how RNA modifications and localization shape gene regulation and neural function, offering powerful new insights into health and disease. This lecture will captivate anyone interested in RNA biology, neurobiology, chemical genomics, or next-generation molecular technologies driving the future of biomedical discovery. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with one of the field’s leading voices.

November 18, 2025

Thank you to all the IMGS Graduate Students, Postdoc, Faculty and Administration for joining us for this years Friendsgiving to kick off the many upcoming Holidays.

We wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season.

November 3, 2025

Great Job to the COH Research Superheroes Walk for Hope Team for participating and support to the mission. Especially thank you to Saundra, Kim & Alex for coordinating.  Many faculty, Students and Postdocs participated. The team raised $26,454.

October 31, 2025

Congratulations to Amanda Duplan for being selected to receive a 2025 ASH Abstract Achievement Award for abstract titled Leveraging novel CD38 targeted antibody-drug-conjugates for the treatment of multiple myleoma. 

Virtual seminar presented by

the Berlin School of Integrative Oncology:

Dmitry Gabrilovich, MD, PhD

Executive Director, Chief Scientist, Cancer Immunology AstraZenec

American Cancer Society Research Professor

Adjunct Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,

Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

He is internationally recognized for his research on myeloid-derived suppressor cells and tumor immunology.

“From basic immunology research towards next generation

CAR T cell therapies”

Monday, November 3, 2025

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

For more information, please contact [email protected]

October 30, 2025

Thank you to all the students, faculty and postdocs who donated to the 2025 COH Pediatric Parade for the Graduate School Booth and special thank you to Leah, Sienna and Jenn for going out of your way to organize and decorate the booth.  You all did an amazing job!.

Graduate School Booth:

Leah, Sienna & Jenn:

Graduate Students taking care of booth:

Congratulations to the 1st year PHD Cohort for completing the Lab Rotation Talk 1. Everyone did an amazing job Thank you to their mentors for their support and a special thank you to Dr. Dhawan and the judges Dr. Shih & Dr. Ma.

October 28, 2025

Students decorated the Día de los Muertas altar today organized by the SACNAS chapter at COH. 

Dia de los Muertos is a traditional Latin holiday that honors the lives of lost loved ones. People create altars and place memories to honor their loved ones and decorate it with brightly colored flowers to help guide and welcome their spirits.

Students Decorating:

October 23, 2025

It was nice to see everyone at the coffee session this week. A wonderful turnout with every enjoying activities from flowers being made for Día de los Muertas altar, Halloween wordsearches and much more. 

October 21, 2025

Congratulations to Dr. Vishnu Samara (IMGS PHD Alumni) for being recognized as a 40 Under Forty honoree from ASCP.

October 20, 2025

For more information please email [email protected]

October 13, 2025

BSIO & COH Online Seminar Series - Prof. Boris Engels

Seminar I: Developing Cell Therapies in Academia and Industry

Speaker: Dr. Boris Engels, Senior Scientific Director at Miltenyi Biotec

Date: Tuesday, October 14

Time: 11:30 AM–12:30 PM PDT / 20:30–21:30 CEST

Seminar II: T-cell Antigen Recognition within the Immunological Synapse

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Johannes Huppa, Chair, Institute of Cancer Immunology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Date:Wednesday, October 15

Time: 11:30 AM–12:30 PM PDT / 20:30–21:30 CEST

For more information please email [email protected]

Congratulations to Alumni Dr. Marisa Almonte on your new position as a STEM Insturctor with All Things Science

October 8, 2025

Talk: “Paul Ehrlich and Experimental Cancer Research around 1900 – The Birth of a Scientific Discipline”

Prof. Huentelmann will discuss how Paul Ehrlich entered cancer research, the state of cancer studies around 1900, and the development of experimental cancer research as a new field.

Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Time: 11:30–12:30 PDT / 20:30–21:30 CEST

For more information please email [email protected]

September 25, 2025

We celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in the sweetest way—literally! During our PTO & GSO Coffee Connection Hour, we enjoyed tasty cafecito, a playlist full of Latin hits, and an irresistible spread of pan dulce.

September 18, 2025

 

 

 

Invites you to a virtual workshop presented by

Andrea Lynch

 

Scholarly Communications Librarian

City of Hope

 

“EndNotes and Citations Review”

 

Friday, September 26, 2025

1:00 pm – 1:30 pm

 

For more information, please contact Kendra Carter ([email protected])

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Had an amazing time at our inaugural IMGS Alumni Game Day event last night — Dodgers vs. Phillies! ⚾️ It was fantastic to have some team bonding and see everyone come together to enjoy some thrilling baseball action!

 

 

September 15, 2025

September 11, 2025

________________________________________________________________________________________

September 9, 2025

Irell & Manella Graduate School

of Biological Sciences

Invites you to a seminar presented by the Morgan Chu Distinguished 

Visiting Professor:

Thomas Kammertöns, Ph.D.

Professor

                                            Deputy Spokesperson, Teaching Coordinator

At the Institute for Immunology of the Charité 

“IFN-γ in Tumor Immunity: Mechanisms and TCR Gene Therapy”

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Beckman Building, Argyros Auditorium

"reception will be held immediately after the seminar"

Please RSVP by Sep 5 so we can have an accurate headcount for food.

For more information, please contact Jennifer To  [email protected]
 

September 3, 2025

August 25, 2025

Dr. Arjun Dep of UCLA delivered the well-attended 2025 John Rossi Leading Edge Lecture (8/22/2025).
 

Special thanks to Leslie Wenning and Yunqiu Jiang for hosting this excellent LEL.

Congratulations to Dr. Karla Merz (IMGS PHD Alumni) on her new position as Competitive Intelligence Senior Manager at Amgen.

August 22, 2025

Graduate Student Symposium 

• Dr. Rongze (Olivia) Lu – Associate Professor, UCSF
• Dr. Evan Weber – Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Emily E. Bosco – Senior Director, Cell Therapy, AstraZeneca
• Dr. Graham Cole – Director of Intellectual Property, City of Hope

August 11, 2025

Welcome to our new PHD and Master students.  

We look forward to this academic school year and to see what all of our gradaute students accomplish this year.

July 9, 2025

Congratulations to Alumni Xiaoxiao Ma for recently becoming a Assistant Professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Congratulations to Alumni Jacqueline Register for reently accepting a position at AbbVie as a Senior Medical Writer, Scientific Publications- Onocology 

June 6, 2025

Invites you to a Seminar Presented By:

Robert A. Winn, M.D.

Director and Lippman Chair in Oncology, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center

Senior Associate Dean for Cancer Innovation, VCU School of Medicine

Professor, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, VCU School of Medicine

“One Team. One Fight: An Update on the Fight Against Cancer”

Friday, June 13, 2025

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, PDT

Beckman Argyros Auditorium

Dr. Robert A. Winn, director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, will share an update on the fight against cancer at the local, national, and international level. As a pioneer of the community to bench model which brings the community to the center of the research conducted at the bench, Dr. Winn and the team at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia are changing the national conversation about cancer research. Dr. Winn has served as director of the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2019, is the current president of the American Association of Cancer Institutes and is the namesake of the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Awards program.

Contact Kendra Carter [email protected] for more information

June 3, 2025

Congratulations to Erica Niewold graduate student from Dr. Lili Wang Lab on receiving ASH Graduate Hematology Award.

April 22, 2025

Irell & Manella Graduate School Visiting Professor Seminar Series

Invites you to a seminar presented by:

Zhimin (James) Lu, M.D., Ph.D.

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Member of the Academia Europaea

Kuangcheng Wang Distinguished Chair 

Dean, Institute of Translational Medicine

Deputy Dean, Medical College

Zhejiang University 

"Metabolic Reprogramming and Immune Evasion in Cancer."

Thursday, April 24, 2025

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, PDT

March 31, 2025

Congratulations to:

 Adam Maddox (Alumni) starting a new position as Strategy and Operations Manager at Molecular Instruments.

and

Jennifer Covella (Alumni) starting a new position as Bioanalytical Scientist II at Tr1X

March 19, 2025

The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences
invites you to attend the Master thesis defense entitled

“Development of novel CYP8B1 inhibitors and PROTAC degraders”

by
Xintian Lyu

Master student in the Lab of Wendong Huang, Ph.D.
Department of Diabetes Complications & Metabolism
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
11:00am –12:00pm PST

March 14, 2025

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences
invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled

“Mitogen-inducible gene-6 (Mig6) in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) Progression”
 

By

Marissa Saenz, D.V.M.
 

Graduate Student in the Lab of Patrick Fueger, Ph.D.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology
 

Friday, March 21, 2025
9:00am – 11:00am PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.


 

March 7, 2025

The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences invites you to attend the Master thesis 
defense entitled

“Molecular basis and strategies for engineering allogeneic NK cells for treating high-risk MYC 
driven acute lymphoblastic leukemia.”
by

Xinying Guo

Master student in the Lab of Srividya Swaminathan, Ph.D.
Department of Systems Biology

Monday, March 10, 2025 11:00am –12:00pm PST

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

 

March 3, 2025

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation 
Defense entitled

“Impact of RNA splicing factor mutations on circular RNA biogenesis in leukemia”

By

Mike Fernandez

Graduate Student in the Lab of Lili Wang, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Systems Biology

Monday, March 3, 2025 10:00am – 12:00pm PDT

Please contact [email protected] for more information.


 

February 17, 2025

Thank you to Dr. Schekman for an amazing talk and to the Riggs Family for joining us. 

February 14, 2025

Congratulations to Dr. Alicia Davis (IMGS Alumni) on her new position as a Senior Research Scientist at Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.

January 28, 2025

Congratulations to Elizaveta Mukhaleva on your defense.

Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences
invites you to attend an Oral Dissertation Defense entitled
“Interpretable Machine Learning to Uncover Cooperativity in Protein Complexes”
By
Elizaveta Mukhaleva
Graduate Student in the Lab of Nagarajan Vaidehi, Ph.D.
Department of Computational and Quantitative Medicine

January 21, 2025

Good Luck today to the 1st year PH.D. Students on your lab rotation talks. We know you will do great!

Upcoming LEL Session:

Invites you to

The Arthur Riggs Leading Edge Lecture

Genes, cells and discovery in basic science and disease

By Guest Speaker:

Nobel Laureate

Randy Schekman, Ph.D

Professor, 2013 Nobel Laureate; HHMI Investigator

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Friday, February 14, 2025

2:00 pm–3:00 pm

Nobel Laureate, Randy Schekman’s groundbreaking research has been focused on vesicle biology, from intracellular protein trafficking to the extracellular vesicle (EV) secretion. His pioneering studies with yeast cells established the mechanism of eukaryotic secretory pathway. These studies identified key SEC genes and the COPII coat complex, which are important in vesicle-mediated protein trafficking between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus. Recently, Dr. Schekman has focused on developing innovative assays to study EV secretion. His team discovered that both exosomes and microvesicles are released in response to calcium influx during plasma membrane damage and are involved in plasma membrane repair; as well as the machinery involved in this process. Together, these findings reveal the critical roles of vesicles in cellular processes and stress responses. 

January 6, 2025

Congratulations to Dr. John Murad (IMGS Alumni) for being a 2024 Career Development Grant Award Recipient from Tower Cancer Research Foundation.

December 23, 2024

Congratulations to the SACNAS Chapter 1st inaugural COH Meeting. 

SACNAS (The Society for Advancement for Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science) is open to people from all cultural identities and allies, so please show up and help grow our diverse communities here at COH!

To learn more about the national SACNAS organization’s impact and goals please visit their website (https://www.sacnas.org/impact). Please do not hesitate to reach out to me ([email protected]) with any questions. 

We’re excited to build with you! 

Thank you,

Sienna, Kassy, and Greisha

SACNAS Members

Picture taken at 2024 SACNAS

Congratulations to Hai Pham on an outstanding presentation at the Decembers Beckman Frontier Forum.

Congratulations Mike Fernandez on being Honored with the Hematology Inclusion Pathway Graduate Student Abstract Achievement Award by American Society of Hematology.

Linkedin post from City of Hope

December 19, 2024

Dr. Britt Glaunsinger of UC Berkley University delivered the 9th annual memorial Susumu Ohno Leading Edge Lecture on December 18, 2024. In her talk, Dr. Glaunsinger provided astonishing new insights on how oncogenic herpesviruses manipulate: 1) targeted destruction of the host’s RNA, and 2) the host’s synthesis machinery to control gene expression.

We thank the Ohno committee, especially Dr. Andrei Rodin, and our LEL student sponsors Esther Rodriguez and Jean Patrick Gonzalez Dahua for making this remarkable seminar possible.

Photo (from left to right): Dr. Britt Glaunsinger, Dr. Andrei Rodin, Jean Patrick Gonzalez Dahua, and Esther Rodriguez.

December 9, 2024

Congratulations to Rosemarie Martinez Borrero on being selected as a 2025 Jenssen (J&J) SODEP Scholar! 

December 6, 2024

Congratulations to Cesar Gonzalez on being selected as a 2025 Jenssen (J&J) SODEP Scholar! 

November 22, 2024

Congratulations to Morgan & Helen Chu on their Prize Awardee Plaque unveiled in the Irell & Manella Graduate School Office on November 14th.  In addition, honoring the Awardees for 2023-2024 Yu-Hsuan Fu and 2024-2025 Nan Jiang.

November 12, 2024

Congratulations to Cari, Diana and Alonso for being selected to present their posters to the Board of Directors.

November 11, 2024

Congratulations to Tongyuan (James) Xue (Graduate Student Alumni) for presenting at SITC in Houston. 

Thank you to Morgan Chu for visiting and giving a Seminar on November 14, 2024

November 1, 2024

Congratulations 1st year PHD on completing your 1st Lab Rotation talks. 

October 29, 2024

Invites you to a seminar presented by the 

Morgan Chu Distinguished Visiting Professor:

James B. Lorens, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Biomedicine 
University of Bergen, Norway

 

“AXL as a Therapeutic Target in Cancer”

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, PDT

contact [email protected] for more information. 

October 25, 2024

Announcing Bio-Entrepreneurship Speaker Series:

We want to make sure you see this, and we want to make sure you know that if you are curious about turning basic science into biotech companies then this might be for you…

Ever feel like there's no handbook for launching a biotech company? That's because there isn't! But we've got the next best thing for you. The Postdoctoral Training Office, the Irell and Manella Graduate School, and the Office of Technology Licensing are combining forces to bring you the Bio-Entrepreneurship Speaker Series!

That’s right! We're hosting a bio-entrepreneurship speaker series right here at City of Hope. This is your chance to meet innovators and professionals from the startup world—people you'd probably have a hard time connecting with otherwise. They're ready to share their hard-won knowledge and real-life stories you just can't find in any book or online.

- Learn from the pros: Hear firsthand about the challenges and triumphs of clinical translation and commercialization.

- Exclusive networking: Rub elbows with industry pros and fellow scientists in a relaxed, informal setting.

Event Details:

Whether you are a faculty (Clinical or BRI), a postdoctoral fellow, a clinical fellow, a grad student, in tech transfer, or just really interested in biotechnology and translating discovery into care this is a golden opportunity to gain insights that only come from lived experiences.

Don't miss out on stories and advice you won't get anywhere else—and maybe spark some ideas for your own biotech journey!

This is for internal faculty (Clinical or BRI), a postdoctoral fellow, a clinical fellow, a grad student: For more information, please contact Dr. Mark LaBarge [email protected].

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contact [email protected] for more information.  

 

___________________________________

 

Thank you to all the students and postdocs that participated in the Pediatrics Parade.  As well Thank you to all that donated candy. 

 

October 18, 2024

Congratulations to Mike Fernandez on being selected to receive a 2024 HIP (Hematology Inclusion Pathway) Graduate Student Abstract Award (HGSAAA) on your abstract submitted to the 66th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition (December 7-10, 2024, San Diego)

October 11, 2024

Please join us for virtual Open House hours with admission committee members, faculty, and graduate student representatives. Topics will include how to apply to our Ph.D. program in biological sciences, tips on completing the application forms and more.

September 27, 2024

September 12, 2024

• Congratulations to Dr. Kumi Sakurai (Alumni) for being promoted to R&D Senior Manager, Intellectual Property at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific. 

September 10, 2024

• Welcome to the 2024 PHDBS, PHDTM and the MSTM Graduate Students.  We wish you a successful year ahead of you.
• Congratulations to Diana Gumber for being invited and presenting at the Beckman Frontier on August 29.  
• Congratulations to Dr. John Murad (IMGS Graduate Student Alumni) for his promotion to Assistant Professor of Research at Keck Medicine of USC. 

• We would like to congratulate the Student Symposium Committee for an amazing Symposium this year. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication. In addition, we would like to congratulate the winners of the day:

Oral Presentations:

• First: Kassy Lopez 
• Second: Diana Gumber 
• Third: Vanessa Matti 

Poster:

• First: Yu-Hsuan Fu 
• Second:  Tie between Vanessa Matti & Amanda Duplan 
• Third: Xinying Guo 

3-Minute Thesis:

• First: Kassy Lopez 

Again, congratulations to all and we look forward to next year’s symposium.

September 5, 2024

• Congratulations to Nan Jiang on receiving the scholarship to attend the ISEVxTECH conference in Baltimore.  

August 19, 2024

Congratulations to Nour Amwas on receiving “Best Poster” at the 11th annual ImmunologyLA conference. The title of her poster was “Inducing tumor-associated tertiary lymphoid structures using membrane-tethered LTBR agonists.” 

Diana Gumber was selected to give an oral presentation at the 11th annual ImmunologyLA conference.

November 18, 2025

Thank you to all the IMGS Graduate Students, Postdoc, Faculty and Administration for joining us for this years Friendsgiving to kick off the many upcoming Holidays.

We wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season.