2023
- 07/03/2023: Alice Rodriguez and Nikitha Murugavel passed the final examinations for the Degree of Master of Science in Biotechnology. Congratulations! Appreciate Drs. Alicja Copik and Shawn Li as well as Drs. Claudia Andl and Deborah Altomare for serving on the committees.
- 06/12/2023: The lab paper entitled “Antidepressant use and lung cancer risk and survival: A meta-analysis of observational studies” was published online in Cancer Research Communications. Congrats to Yongho and Alice. Thanks to our collaborators Drs. Lee and Wang. Link
- 05/15/2023: Congrats to Karen Cover on being selected as a recipient of the Summer Mentoring Fellowship for summer 2023. Thanks for the support from UCF’s College of Graduate Studies.
- 04/14/2023: Congrats to Alice Rodriguez and Luis Silva on receiving the UCF College of Graduate Studies Presentation Fellowship for Spring 2023. Thanks for the support from UCF’s College of Graduate Studies.
- 04/11/2023: Congrats to Karen Cover on passing the Capstone Exam. Appreciate Dr. Deborah Altomare for serving on the committee.
- 02/21/2023: The lab paper entitled “An intrinsic purine metabolite AICAR blocks lung tumour growth by targeting oncoprotein mucin 1” was published online in British Journal of Cancer. Congrats to Fareesa, Alice, and Luis. Thanks to our collaborators Drs. Kobayashi, Zhang, Levantini, and Politi. Link UCF Researcher Developing New Approach To Treat Lung Cancer
2022
- 09/30/2022: Congrats to Luis on receiving Wodzinski Scholarship and Synergy Scholars Graduate Fellow.
- 09/26/2022: Welcome Nastassja Luna starting a 3-week lab rotation under the Master Biotechnology Program.
- 09/06/2022: Welcome Fahim Rejanur Tasin starting a 3-week lab rotation under the Master Biotechnology Program.
- 07/15/2022: The lab paper entitled “MicroRNA-21 guide and passenger strand regulation of adenylosuccinate lyase-mediated purine metabolism promotes transition to an EGFR-TKI-tolerant persister state” was published online in Cancer Gene Therapy. Congrats to Nick, Fareesa, Cerena, Luis, and Joshua. Thanks to our collaborators Drs. Slack, Hata, and Asara. Link
- 06/25/2022: Wencai Zhang gave a talk entitled “The Dynamics of Micro and Small Molecules in Cancer” at Slack Lab Reunion (22nd-year celebration) hosted by Dr. Frank Slack (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston).
- 06/20/2022: Fareesa Aftab passed the final examination for the Degree of Master of Science in Biotechnology. Appreciate Drs. Annette Khaled and Muthu Periasamy for serving on the committee.
- 06/15/2022: Alice Rodriguez-Fuguet’s Editorial Commentary paper entitled “Targeting EGFR-steered cancer via erasing a circular RNA” was published online in ExRNA. Link
- 04/25/2022: Welcome Karen Cover joining the lab as a volunteer.
- 04/15/2022: Robert Burns passed the Honors Undergraduate Thesis defense. Appreciate Drs. Jihe Zhao and Kiminobu Sugaya for serving on the committee.
- 04/03/2022: Zhang lab and two collaborating labs (co-PIs: Drs. Eunkyung “Muriel” Lee and Xiaochuan (Sharon) Wang) received CBHRT (Center for Behavioral Health Research and Training) Award from UCF School of Social Work
- 03/30/2022: Fareesa Aftab, Alice Rodriguez-Fuguet, Nikitha Murugavel, Jessy Ntabo, and Robert Burns presented the posters at the 2022 UCF Student Scholar Symposium.
- 01/19/2022: Wencai Zhang gave a talk entitled “Crosstalk between microRNAs and metabolic pathways in cancer treatment” at UCF Biophysics monthly seminars hosted by Dr. Ellen Kang (UCF Department of Biophysics).
- 01/03/2022: Zhang lab and Li lab (co-PI: Dr. Shawn Xiaoman Li) received Exploratory Research (ER1) Award from UCF. Link
2021
- 09/07/2021: Welcome Alice Rodriguez-Fuguet and Nikitha Murugavel starting a 3-week lab rotation under the Master Biotechnology Program.
- 09/01/2021: Congratulations to Cerena Moreno for receiving the UCF Distinguished Undergraduate Research Award (DURA) for the month of September 2021.
- 07/21/2021: Welcome Luis Silva and Paul Joshua Anthony Corbilla joining the lab as technicians.
- 05/03/2021: Congratulations to Robert Burns for receiving the UCF Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) 2021 and admission to the Honors Undergraduate Thesis (HUT) Program 2021 Summer and Fall.
- 04/14/2021: Congratulations to Fareesa Aftab for receiving the UCF Student Scholar Symposium Scholarship. Link
- 04/02/2021: Fareesa Aftab, Nicholas Skiados, and Robert Burns gave the poster at the 2021 UCF Student Scholar Symposium.
- 03/05/2021: Wencai served as an Organizing and Judging Committee Member of the 15th Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences Annual Graduate Research Symposium.
- 02/26/2021: Robert Burns gave a virtual poster at the 2021 Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC).
- 01/07/2021: Welcome Jessy Ntabo joining the lab as Undergraduate Research Assistant funded by the Medical Mentorship Navigation Program (MMNP).
- 01/04/2021: Welcome Claudia Caputo joining the lab as Undergraduate Research Assistant funded through the EXCEL program.
2020
- 12/07/2020: Our lab member Ruben Mercado Santos was highlighted in the UCF Today entitled “DACA Student Prepares to Graduate with Gratitude to Family, UCF”. Link
- 11/03/2020: Congratulations to Cerena Moreno, Ruben Mercado Santos, and Robert Burns for publishing a review paper entitled “Succinate Dehydrogenase and Ribonucleic Acid Networks in Cancer and Other Diseases” in the Cancers.
- 09/25/2020: Wencai served as BSBS Lake Nona Faculty Council Representative of the Faculty Council Representative Committee.
- 09/08/2020: Welcome Fareesa Aftab starting a 3-week lab rotation under the Master Biotechnology Program.
- 07/25/2020: Welcome Nicholas Skiados joining the lab as a volunteer.
- 06/05/2020: The laboratory received a collaboration AIMS Award granted by Atomwise Inc.
- 06/01/2020: Congratulations to Robert Burns for being awarded the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) supported by the Office of Undergraduate Research, UCF.
- 05/30/2020: The laboratory was recently granted the International Lung Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award. Link
- 04/16/2020: Congratulations to Ruben Mercado Santos and Cerena Moreno for publishing a review paper entitled “Non-Coding RNAs in Lung Tumor Initiation and Progression” in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
- 03/14/2020: A review manuscript written by Ruben Mercado Santos and Cerena Moreno was submitted. Appreciate your creative thinking and hard work!
- 01/08/2020: Welcome Ruben Mercado Santos, Cerena Moreno, and Robert Burns joining the lab as Undergraduate Research Assistant.
2019
- 12/03/2019: A review paper entitled “microRNAs Tune Oxidative Stress in Cancer Therapeutic Tolerance and Resistance” was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
- 08/01/2019: The lab started.