Research Activities

Eugene N. Myers, MD, Professor and Eye and Ear Foundation Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology, is the Leader of the UPCI Oral Cancer Center.

Theresa L. Whiteside, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Otolaryngology and Co-Leader of the UPCI Biological Therapeutics Program, is the Deputy Director for Research of the UPCI Oral Cancer Center.

Current research conducted at the UPCI Oral Cancer Center includes:

PROJECT 1: PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION AMONG ORAL CANCER PATIENTS
Principal Investigator: Andrew Baum, PhD
This study is designed to evaluate a psychosocial intervention for head and neck cancer patients. (Read more about this research theme)

PROJECT 2: THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY AND ANTI-TUMOR MECHANISMS EGFR ANTI-SENSE GENE THERAPY
Principal Investigator: Jennifer R. Grandis, MD
Implementation of the phase I EGFR antisense gene therapy clinical trial. (Read more about this research theme)

PROJECT 3: ROLE OF TNF FAMILY LIGANDS AND THEIR RECEPTORS IN ORAL CARCINOMA DESTRUCTION AND ESCAPE FROM IMMUNE EFFECTOR CELLS
Principal Investigator: Nikola L. Vujanovic, MD, PhD
Important observations include that normal mouse purified, fresh and in vitro cytokine stimulated NK cells and dendritic cells (DC) express transmembrane TNF, Fas ligand and TRAIL, and directly mediate apoptosis against tumor cells. (Read more about this research theme)

PROJECT 4: ETIOLOGY OF KARYOTYPIC DEFECTS IN ORAL CANCER
Principal Investigators: William S. Saunders, PhD and Susanne M. Gollin, PhD
This laboratory is actively engaged in identifying the changes in cancer cells that cause genomic instability and chromosome segregational defects. (Read more about this research theme)

PROJECT 5: EPIDEMIOLOGY OF GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ORAL CANCER
Principal Investigators: Joel S. Weissfeld, MD, MPH and Marjorie Romkes, PhD
This group is analyzing a large group of subjects with oral cancer and controls, who are tested for genetic variations involving Phase I and Phase II enzymes that metabolize nicotine and other xenobiotics. (Read more about this research theme)

CORE C: TISSUE PROCUREMENT AND HISTOPATHOLOGY CORE
Core Leader: Jennifer L. Hunt, MD
The tissue bank core obtains blood and tissue samples to be used in the basic science and translational research projects that are sponsored by the Head and Neck Cancer Program and the Oral Cancer Center. (Read more about this research theme)

CORE D: CLINICAL
Core Leader: Jonas T. Johnson, MD
Clinical care for patients. (Read more about this research theme)