Faculty Membership Application and Membership Definitions
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Dash, Deininger, DeSalvo, Dong, Drury, Dvorak
Srikanta Dash, Ph.D.
Prescott L. Deininger, Ph.D.
Interim Director, Tulane Cancer Center
Marguerite Main Zimmerman Chair in Basic Cancer Research
Professor of
Epidemiology
Adjunct Professor of
Biochemistry,
Pathology, and
Human Genetics
Interim Co-Director, Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium
TCC Program Member
pdeinin@tulane.edu
(504) 988-6385, fax (504) 988-5516
1430 Tulane Ave., Box SL-66, New Orleans, LA 70112-2699
Laboratory homepage:
http://129.81.225.52
Homepage on the Epidemiology website:
http://www.epidemiology.tulane.edu/epi_pages/faculty/deininger.html
Biographical Narrative:
Dr. Deininger received his A.B. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1973. He then carried out doctoral studies with Dr. Carl Schmid at the University of California at Davis on the sequence organization of the human genome, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1978. He carried out postdoctoral studies with Dr. Theodore Friedmann at UC at San Diego working on sequencing the polyoma genome, followed by a year with Dr. Frederic Sanger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England studying EBV. In 1981 he took a faculty position in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Medical Center where he reached the rank of professor in 1990. He spent a year on sabbatical in 1989 with Dr. Charles Stiles at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Medicine. He also serves as the Founding Director of the Laboratory of Molecular genetics at the Ochsner Medical Foundation. He took his current position at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in 1998. Dr. Deininger has published over 100 papers on the subject of the human genome. He is also an executive editor of Analytical Biochemistry, serves on the boards of several other journals, and has served on NIH, DOD and NSF grant review panels. The primary theme of his research is genetic instability in the human genome. This is not only a critical issue in carcinogenesis, but also in a number of genetic disorders. Dr. Deininger's laboratory has carried out extensive analysis of the mobile elements in the human genome to understand their mechanism of spread throughout the human genome. The lab is continuing to study the mechanism of mobile element amplification in the human genome and its impacts in human disease. They have identified proteins that interact with SINE RNA molecules and are therefore likely to participate in the amplification process. Ongoing studies are also being conducted on the impact of mobile elements on human genome diversity and also making assessments of their influence in carcinogenesis. In addition, in collaboration with Dr. Keats at LSUHSC, research is being done to study the triplet repeat instability associated with Freidreich's Ataxia, and a minisatellite repeat that is associated with Ushers Syndrome. Both of these diseases affect the Acadian population at a higher than normal rate. More recently, his laboratory has expanded studies into the genetic and environmental contributions to the instabilities associated with human repetitive elements. This includes studies into the influence of genotoxins on recombination between Alu elements that will contribute to genomic deletions and amplifications. In collaboration with Xavier investigators, the laboratory is looking at both the genetic and environmental influences on both insertional mutagenesis of mobile elements and the genetic influences on recombination between Alu elements.
Selected Publications:
Karen B. DeSalvo, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Chief, Section of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics
TCC Contributing Member
kdesalv@tulane.edu
(504) 988-7518, fax (504) 988-8252
1430 Tulane Ave., Box SL-16, New Orleans, LA 70112-2699
Biographical Narrative:
Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Tulane School of Medicine and has adjunct appointments in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in the both the Departments of Health Systems Management and Epidemiology. She is currently the Section Chief of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and holds the C. Thorpe Ray Chair in Internal Medicine. She also serves as the founding co-director for the Center for Health Equality Research.
She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree, from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts where she majored in Biology and Political Science. She matriculated to Tulane University Health Sciences Center where she simultaneously received her Medical Doctorate and Masters of Public Health. She remained at Tulane as a resident and Chief Resident in Internal Medicine. She completed a fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Tulane University Health Sciences Center and was a fellow in the Program in Clinical Effectiveness at Harvard University. She received a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in May of 2002.
She joined the faculty of the Department of Medicine in 1996 and served as the Director of the Medicine Clinic at Charity Hospital and as the Assistant Chief of the Tulane Medicine Service focusing her duties on performance improvement projects.
In July of 2002, she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar and was a recipient of the NIH sponsored, institutional K12 faculty development award (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health). She is completing a mentored research award funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. DeSalvo’s research interests include developing strategies to identifying high risk patients with chronic disease and developing patient-centered care delivery systems for them.
Selected Publications:
Yan Dong, Ph.D. Biographical Narrative:
Dr. Dong received her Ph.D. in experimental pathology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2000. Her thesis research involved the characterization of the molecular mechanism of transcriptional repression of gelsolin, an actin-binding tumor suppressor, in human breast cancer cells. From 2000 - 2002, she was a postdoctoral fellow in cancer chemoprevention at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. She became a research assistant professor in 2002 and an assistant professor in 2005 in the Cancer Chemoprevention Department. In November 2007, Dr. Dong joined the faculty of Tulane University School of Medicine as an assistant professor in the Department of Structural and Cellular Biology.
Dr. Dong is the recipient of several awards, including the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)-Cancer Research Foundation of America Fellowship Award in Prevention Research in 2001, the AACR Scholar in Training Award and the Department of Defense Postdoctoral Fellowship Award in 2002, the AACR-Women in Cancer Research Brigid G. Leventhal Scholar in Training Award in 2003, the Department of Defense New Investigator Award in 2004, the National Cancer Institute Howard Temin Career Development Award in 2005, as well as the Jilin Provincial Scholarship Award and the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award in 2007.
She is a reviewer for a number of journals, including Cancer Research, the International Journal of Cancer, Molecular Carcinogenesis, Cancer, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Clinical Cancer Research, and Molecular Cancer Research. Dr. Dong's research interests include androgen receptor signaling in selenium chemoprevention of prostate cancer, selenium sensitization of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy in relation to breast cancer, as well as prostate and breast cancer intervention with ginsenosides, a class of steroid-like compounds in ginseng.
Selected Publications:
Stacy S. Drury, M.D., Ph.D. Biographical Narrative:
Dr. Drury's research focus is to explore the relationship between early development, parent-child relationships, and gene x environment interactions in seriously medically ill children, most specifically children with cancer. Using this understanding, she is currently developing psychological interventions to decrease distress during treatment and to prevent the long-term impact of early medical traumatic stress.
Dr. Drury began graduate training in human genetics in 1993 at the University of Michigan. After the completion of her masters degree in 1996, she transferred into the MD/PhD program at Louisiana State University School of Medicine and completed her Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Bronya Keats. During the completion of her Ph.D., she started a medical student buddy program for the pediatric oncology patients, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which continues today. In addition she is currently the medical director and president of the Board of Directors for Camp Challenge, which provides a free week-long camp for children with cancer and their siblings. Her involvement with Camp Challenge and other pediatric oncology groups has connected her to families, organizations and support groups throughout the community.
She is currently a member of the AACAP Work Group on Research, as well as the AACAP Committee on Physically Ill Children through which she is able to advance research in the psychological aspects of medically ill children. In 2004, she was awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIMH) Resident of the Year Award, and she received the APA/Shire Child and Adolescent Fellowship in 2005. In addition, she has received grants from both the APA and the AACAP to study gene x environment interactions in early traumatic stress.
Her career focus to provide psychiatric care for children with cancer, while researching the relationship between psychological factors, genetics, and the immune system permit her to work closely with the children who have inspired her with their strength and resilience and provides her with an opportunity to improve their comprehensive care. Her current appointment at Tulane will permit her to be actively involved in the pediatric oncology service, while conducting psychosocial rounds and providing both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care to these children and their families.
Selected Publications:
Chris T. Dvorak, M.S. Biographical Narrative:
Chris Dvorak earned his bachelor's degree in the biological sciences, with a concentration in molecular and cell biology, in 1999 from Northwestern University. He completed his master's degree in genetic counseling at the same institution in 2001. In 2002, he became certified in his profession by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. He is currently the only board-certified genetic counselor working in the field of cancer genetics in the state of Louisiana. His research interests include hereditary susceptability testing (BRCA1, BRCA2, etc.) and cancer syndromes.
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