Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator - Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Current members (in alphabetical order):
Deepika Awasthi, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Jacqueline Crater
Ph.D. Student, BCMB Graduate Program
Alexander Emmanuelli
Ph.D. Candidate, IMP Graduate Program
Sung-Min Hwang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Wiam A. M. Madani
PhD Student, IMP Graduate Program
Erin McMinn, M.D.
Gynecologic Oncology Fellow
Daniel Min
PhD Student, IMP Graduate Program
Camilla Salvagno, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Chen Tan, Ph.D.
Research Specialist and Lab Manager
Lab Alumni
Tito A. Sandoval, Ph.D.
Period: 2017 – 2024
Position/Site: Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2022), Research Associate (2022-2024). Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Iron chelation-based immunotherapy for ovarian cancer.
Special Accomplishments: First author paper under final revision at Cancer Discovery (Sandoval et al. 2024).
Current Position: Senior Scientist. Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine.
Minkyung Song, Ph.D.
Period: 2014 – 2019
Position/Site: Ph.D. Student, IMP program (2014-2018) and Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2019), Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Thesis Project: ER stress sensor IRE1-XBP1 regulates T cell function in ovarian cancer.
Special Accomplishments: First author publication in Nature (Song et al. 2018).
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Integrative Biotechnology. Sung Kyun Kwan University, South Korea.
Sahil Chopra, Ph.D.
Period: September 2015 – June 2019
Position/Site: Ph.D. Student, PBSB program – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Thesis Project: Immunoregulatory programs controlled by IRE1-XBP1 signaling in myeloid cells
Special Accomplishments: First author publication in Science (Chopra et al. 2019).
Current Position: Vice President, Investment. Vertex Ventures HC, San Francisco, CA.
Chang-Suk Chae, Ph.D.
Period: September 2015 – August 2022
Position/Site: Postdoctoral Fellow – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Dept. of OB/GYN, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Phospholipid messengers and ER stress as drivers of immune cell dysfunction in ovarian cancer.
Special Accomplishments: Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2017-2020). First author publication in Cancer Discovery (Chae et al, 2022)
Current Position: Principal Investigator, Korean National Cancer Institute (KNCI), South Korea.
Zhen N. Zhou, M.D., Ph.D.
Period: June 2019 – July 2022
Position/Site: Gynecologic Oncology Fellow – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Dept. of OB/GYN, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: ER stress responses as a mechanism of resistance to ovarian cancer immunotherapy.
Special Accomplishments: ASCO Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award Recipient (2020); Ovarinnovate: Ovarcome Research Excellence Award Recipient (2020).
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Michael J. Crowley
Period: July 2017 – March 2022
Position/Site: Ph.D. Candidate, PBSB Program – Mittal Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Role of ER stress-driven IRE1-XBP1 signaling in lung cancer.
Accomplishments: NIH 1 F31 CA217032-01 grant recipient (2017-2021). First author publication in Nature Communications (Crowley et al, Nat Commun, 2023)
Current Position: Senior Scientist, eGenesis, Inc. Cambridge, MA.
Cubillos-Ruiz Role: Research Co-Mentor; F31 Co-Sponsor; Thesis Committee Chair
Eli Teran-Cabanillas, Ph.D.
Period: 2016 – 2018
Position/Site: Postdoctoral Fellow – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Dysregulation of iron metabolism in the ovarian cancer microenvironment
Current Position: Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Mexico.
Ama Buskwofie, M.D.
Period: June 2016 – May 2017
Position/Site: Gynecologic Oncology Fellow – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Dept. of OB/GYN, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Adoptive Dendritic Cell Transfer and Platinum-based Chemotherapy in Metastatic Ovarian Cancer
Current Position: Attending Physician, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, NY
Brandon Maddy, M.D.
Period: June 2018 – May 2019
Position/Site: Area of Concentration (AOC) Program – Medical Student, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Engineering Therapeutic Ovarian Cancer Vaccines Through Attenuation of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Sensors
Current Position: Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
Lina Posada, M.D.
Period: June 2018 – May 2020
Position/Site: Postdoctoral Fellow – Scherr Lab, Dept. of Urology, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Targeting Protumoral ER Stress Responses in Bladder Cancer
Current Position: Urology Resident at Weill Cornell Medicine – NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Cubillos-Ruiz Role: Research Co-Mentor
Paolo Giovanelli
Period: March 2017 – August 2018
Position/Site: Research Assistant – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Dept. of OB/GYN, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Understanding and targeting ER stress responses in dendritic cells
Accomplishments: First author publication in Trends in Immunology (Giovanelli et al, 2019). Recipient of the Dorris J. Hutchison Pre-Doctoral Fellowship – Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences (2022).
Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate – IMP Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School, Lab of Alexander Rudensky.
Stanley Yang
Period: June – September 2019
Position/Site: High School Summer Research Program – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Epigenetic alterations induced by activation of stress sensors in intratumoral T cells
Current Position: Undergraduate student at Stanford University.
Michael J. Kuharski Jr.
Period: June – September 2019; June – September 2023
Position/Site: High School Summer Research Program – Cubillos-Ruiz Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Immunosuppressive function of IRE1 in myeloid cells; Dissecting NK cell function in ovarian cancer
Current Position: Undergraduate student and MD candidate at Brown University