Karolina Palucka, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director of the JAX Cancer Center
Dr. Palucka is a clinical oncologist and cancer immunologist specializing in human immunity with a focus on experimental immunotherapy. The Palucka laboratory focuses on understanding, controlling and ultimately learning how to manipulate the body’s own immune response as the basis for developing new vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious diseases and human cancers. Her research centers on the exploitation of dendritic cells (DC) and their unique antigen-presenting capabilities to develop novel DC-based vaccines for the treatment of HIV and various cancers. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Palucka pioneered the field of ex vivo-generated DC-based vaccines and immunotherapy, including clinical trials for metastatic melanoma and HIV. Her laboratory also studies the function of the human immune system implanted in immunodeficient mice, using existing models to study the pathophysiology of breast cancer and melanoma.
As part of her current research, her lab seeks to understand how the networks of immune cells in the human lung regulate innate and adaptive immunity to respiratory viruses and how inflammation driven by the microbiome and/or neoplastic processes affects such responses. A better understanding of the central principles of lung immunological function could form the basis for next-generation therapies for the treatment of lung diseases.
Katerina Politi, Ph.D. – Co-Leader, Cancer Signaling Networks, Yale Cancer Center; Scientific Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers
Co-Leader, Cancer Signaling Networks, Yale Cancer Center; Scientific Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers
Katerina Politi studied Biology at the University of Pavia in Italy. She then moved to New York, where she obtained her PhD in Genetics and Development working with Argiris Efstratiadis at Columbia University. Following graduate school, she joined Harold Varmus’s lab at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and began her work on the molecular basis of lung cancer. She continues this work at Yale as a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Yale Cancer Center.
Jeffrey Chuang, Ph.D., Professor and Deputy Director, JAX Cancer Center
Jeffrey Chuang is a Professor at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and the University of Connecticut Health Center. He received his PhD in 2001 from MIT in physics, after which he moved into computational biology during a postdoc at UCSF. The focus of his lab is computational understanding of tumors from genomics and imaging data, especially projects analyzing spatial protein and spatial transcriptomics data to predict outcome for cancer patients. The lab’s recent projects have included deep learning-based digital pathology studies to better predict triple negative breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer outcomes; identification of the earliest characteristics of the tumor environment in incipient tumors; and development of new data-driven approaches to predict cancer outcome based on cell morphology and immune cell interactions. Dr. Chuang is PI for the NCI PDXNet Data Commons and Coordination Center, co-PI for the NCI PIVOT Coordinating Center, and Deputy Director of the JAX Cancer Center.
Dr. Karen Walters, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Fellow in Drug Safety, Research & Development, at Pfizer.
Dr. Karen Walters (she, her) is an Associate Research Fellow in Drug Safety, Research & Development, at Pfizer, CT. Karen joined Pfizer in the Ann Arbor, MI Laboratories in 2000, and relocated to CT in August 2007.
Karen was born and raised in Kansas City, KS. As an undergraduate, Karen attended St. Mary’s College (Leavenworth, KS) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BS) majoring in biology, chemistry, and math. Karen holds several graduate degrees that include Master of Science (MS), Physical Chemistry, St. Louis University; Master of Business Administration (MBA), Fairleigh Dickinson University; Master of Public Health (MPH), University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Pharmaceutical Science/Pharmacokinetics, University of Missouri, Kansas City.
In addition to Karen’s contributions to the scientific portfolio, including involvement in the development of Paxlovid (Pfizer’s oral therapeutic for COVID-19), she contributes to Pfizer’s efforts to increase and elevate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Karen holds leadership positions with Pfizer’s Colleague Resource Groups and is a Talent and Scientific Ambassador. She has led several initiatives that function to foster Pfizer’s Core Values of Courage, Excellence, Equity and Joy. Karen is a strong advocate for community service and focuses her efforts on outreach. Dr. Walters’ currently serves on several community boards at various levels, across disciplines and industries, including the United Way of Southeastern CT, CorePlus/Scient Federal Credit Union, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Scholarship Board of Trustees.
Ranjit S. Bindra, M.D., Ph.D. – Scientific Director, Yale Brain Tumor Center
Vice Chair for Translational Research, Therapeutic Radiology; Scientific Director, Chênevert Family Brain Tumor Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center; YCC Co-Leader Radiology/Radiotherapy Program, Therapeutic Radiology; Chief, Pediatrics Central Nervous System Radiotherapy Program, Therapeutic Radiology; Chief, Central Nervous System Radiotherapy Program, Therapeutic Radiology
Dr. Ranjit Bindra is a physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Yale Brain Tumor Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital. In the laboratory, his group recently led a team of four major laboratories at Yale, which reported the stunning discovery that IDH1/2-mutant tumors harbor a profound DNA repair defect that renders them exquisitely sensitive to PARP inhibitors. This work was published in Science Translational Medicine, and Nature, and it has received international attention with major clinical implications Dr. Bindra is now translating this work directly into patients, in four phase I/II clinical trials, including an innovative, biomarker-driven trial specifically targeting the Adolescent/Young Adult (AYA) cancer patient population. In addition, he is lead co-PI of a 35-site, NCI-sponsored Phase II trial testing the PARP inhibitor, olaparib, in adult IDH1/2-mutant solid tumors (NCT03212274). As a biotech entrepreneur he recently co-founded Cybrexa Therapeutics, a Series B round-funded company focused on developing an entirely new class of small molecule DNA repair inhibitors, which directly target the tumor microenvironment. Dr. Bindra received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1998, and both his MD and PhD from the Yale School of Medicine in 2007. He completed his medical internship, radiation oncology residency, and post-doctoral research studies at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in 2012.
Steven Shichman, M.D. Physician in Chief of the Tallwood Urology and Kidney Institute, Hartford HealthCare, and Medical Director of the HHC Center for Education, Simulation, and Innovation.
A board-certified urologist, Dr. Shichman specializes in robotic surgery, renal cancer and adrenal disorders. Following his education and work experience as a chemical engineer, Dr. Shichman went on to complete both his medical degree and his General Surgery and Urology residency at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Shichman pursued advanced training at New York Hospital and Cornell Medical Center where he completed his fellowship in Laparoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery.
Dr. Shichman is a pioneer in urologic minimally invasive surgery and is recognized internationally as a leader in the field. He is among the country’s most experienced surgeons in laparoscopic adrenalectomy, laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy. As a course director for the American Urological Association postgraduate courses from 1998 to 2013, he taught laparoscopic techniques to over 1,200 urologists from around the world. Dr. Shichman has been recognized as one of Connecticut’s Top Doctors in urology by Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Magazine. Over the past twenty-five years, Dr. Shichman has been instrumental in advancing Hartford HealthCare’s international reputation for innovation in laparoscopic and robotic urologic surgery. Under his leadership, Hartford HealthCare has hosted numerous post-graduate courses in minimally invasive surgery, including national symposiums on robotic urologic surgery.
Dr. Shichman is also the Executive Director of Hartford Hospital’s Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation which is recognized as one of the largest and most comprehensive medical simulation training complexes in the United States.
Mary E. Dickinson, Ph.D. | Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer | The Jackson Laboratory
Mary E. Dickinson, Ph.D. leads JAX’s research enterprise, overseeing scientific strategy and operations to build on JAX’s unique strengths in genetics and genomics. JAX’s research mission has more than 50 faculty and over 100 staff scientists at 3 research sites with over $122 million in external funding. Prior to JAX, Dickinson served as Senior Vice President and Dean of Research at Baylor College of Medicine until 2024. At the helm of Baylor’s research mission, Dickinson partnered with nearly 30 faculty chairs and center directors to achieve a 37% growth in sponsored awards.
Dickinson earned her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, doctorate from Columbia University and carried out her postdoctoral fellowship at California Institute of Technology. She has authored more than 150 manuscripts, holds several patents and disclosures for new microscope technologies and has received numerous awards. In addition to her many awards and accolades, Dickinson was recently recognized with the lifetime honor of being elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Francesca Menghi, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.
Francesca is a Senior Research Scientist at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine. Her research explores the genome-wide patterns of genetic and transcriptional alterations that are implicated in the origin, evolution and treatment response behavior of breast and ovarian cancer, with the goal of identifying novel genomic vulnerabilities that may help the management of patients with cancer in the clinic.
She recently revealed how a previously overlooked genomic configuration, the tandem duplicator phenotype (TDP), contributes to the oncogenic burden of more than half of all triple-negative breast cancers and ovarian carcinomas by orchestrating the coordinated disruption of several cancer genes throughout the genome. More recently, her research has focused on understanding how different modes of disruption of the BRCA1 gene, one of the genes most affected in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, result in different therapeutic response outcomes, suggesting that stratification of patients carrying BRCA1 inactivation is warranted to achieve optimal clinical care.
This work is the foundation for her current explorations to utilize genomic and epigenetic classification as a stratification tool to identify precision therapies tailored to the genomic features of a patient’s cancer and ultimately improve clinical care.
She came to JAX from the Genome Institute of Singapore where she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Prof. Ed Liu’s lab.
Kyla Elizabeth Driscoll, Ph.D., Lilly Head, Discovery Strategy and Scientific Operations Oncology Research
Dr. Kyla Driscoll is an accomplished drug hunter and leader with nearly 20 years of drug discovery and development experience. Driscoll has demonstrated expertise in leading strategy and execution of programs and modalities spanning all of oncology (small molecule inhibitors/degraders/glues, vaccines, biologics/monoclonal antibodies/bispecific/multispecific T cell engagers/antibody drug conjugates). Driscoll completed a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer vaccines. Since joining Eli Lilly in 2008, Driscoll has had held roles with increasing responsibilities including project and group leadership roles. Driscoll served as the Chief Scientific Officer for the Immuno-Oncology research group at Eli Lilly followed by a role leading the Large Molecule Biology and Discovery Technologies groups at Loxo Oncology at Lilly. Currently, Driscoll serves as the Head, Discovery Strategy and Scientific Operations in Oncology Discovery. In addition to responsibility for internal assets, Driscoll has led external partnerships and diligence teams, most recently including collaborations with Merus and Immunogen. In 2017, Driscoll was named on of Business Insiders “30 under 40 young leaders in biopharma”. Driscoll lives with her family in the NYC metro area.