CU ASPIRE Program Awardees 2025
Team Appel: Molecular Mechanisms of Activity-Regulated Myelination
Human brain function requires that neuronal axons are ensheathed by myelin, a specialized, lipid-rich membrane produced by oligodendrocytes, one of the principal glial cell types of the central nervous system. Myelin, the white matter of the brain, insulates axons, improving electrical impulse conduction and enhancing cognitive and motor functions. Importantly, white matter abnormalities are commonly associated with many neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. Groundbreaking work from our labs using animal models has shown that neuronal activity influences myelination in development and adulthood. Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that neuronal activity signals a need for myelination by regulating oligodendrocyte gene expression. The three projects of our research program are designed to identify these activity-regulated genes using zebrafish and mouse models. Because abnormal neural circuit activity is characteristic of ASD and schizophrenia, we predict that the genes we discover will significantly advance our understanding of associated white matter deficits, thereby opening new pathways of therapeutic development.
Bruce Appel, PhDDiane G. Wallach Chair of Pediatric Stem Cell Biology
Professor and Head, Section of Developmental Biology, Department. of Pediatrics
Dr. Appel uses zebrafish as a model system to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural cell fate specification and developmental myelination.
Santos Franco, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Developmental Biology
Boettcher Investigator
University of 麻豆传媒高清 School of Medicine
Dr. Franco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Developmental Biology. His lab studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in formation of neural circuits in the developing brain, including fate specification of neural stem cells into different classes of neurons and glia.
Wendy Macklin, MS, PhDDistinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Dr. Macklin investigates glial cells, in particular oligodendrocytes, in normal brain development and in leukodystrophies, neurodegenerative disorders and autoimmune diseases. She has served on and chaired review panels at NIH, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Shriners, and the NINDS Board of Scientific Counselors. She is a Distinguished Professor and a Fellow of AAAS.
Ethan G. Hughes PhDAssociate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Boettcher Investigator
University of 麻豆传媒高清 School of Medicine
Dr. Hughes is an associate professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. His lab seeks to understand how neuron-glial interactions modulate brain function and contribute to pathology in neurodegenerative disease using advanced optical imaging, mouse genetics, and animal behavior.
Caleb Doll, PhDAssistant Research Professor
Department of Pediatrics, Section of Developmental Biology
Dr. Doll is a developmental neurobiologist. His research explores mechanisms of developmental myelination in the spinal cord and the origins of hyperactive motor behavior in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Team Bitler: Translation of Novel Therapies to Improve Outcomes for Individuals with Ovarian Cancer
The Universities of 麻豆传媒高清 and New Mexico are uniquely positioned to develop a multi-institutional SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) application to improve outcomes for individuals with ovarian cancer. The Gynecologic Oncology Divisions at both institutions collectively represent the largest physician-scientist practices in the field. We aim to fill a critical gap in ovarian cancer research, both in basic science and clinical care.
This SPORE will focus on independent research projects alongside a population science project. The therapeutic options for patients with ovarian cancer are severely lacking, with the FDA approval of only three new treatment modalities since 2014. For the SPORE, we propose three research projects that explore novel treatment modalities beyond traditional approaches, including epigenetic, metabolic, and immune therapies. Also, the population science team, which has a collaboration track record and are experts in gynecologic cancers, will make a unique contribution—there are currently no ovarian cancer SPOREs that include a population science project.
The APSIRE award will support the development of these projects, facilitate the integration of proposed cores, and help identify barriers to clinical trial enrollment, advancing the overall effort to improve ovarian cancer outcomes.
Dr. Benjamin Bitler, PhDAssociate Professor Department of OB-GYN, Division of Reproductive Sciences
Dr. Bitler’s research is focused on gynecologic cancers, and he holds the Kay L. and Thomas Dunton Endowed Chair for Ovarian Cancer Research. His current research program focuses on defining novel biomarkers for early ovarian cancer detection, developing strategies to overcome therapy resistance, and improving understanding of ovarian cancer etiology.
Bradley Corr, MDAssociate Professor Department of OB-GYN, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Director of Clinical Research for the Division
Dr. Corr has led multiple national and international clinical trials and has a focus on developmental therapeutics and translational science to support clinical trial development.
Matthew Sikora, PhDAssociate Professor of Pathology
Dr. Sikora studies estrogen receptor pharmacology and signaling in women's cancers, focusing on lobular breast cancer and genetic drivers of health disparities in ovarian cancer. The Sikora Lab investigates how processes broadly linked to dysregulation of estrogen signaling drive cancer risk, therapy response, progression, and metastasis.
Jennifer Richer, PhD
Professor with tenure Department of Pathology
Graduate School Dean, CU Anschutz Medical Campus
Dr. Richer has studied the action of steroid hormone receptors and novel therapeutic approaches for breast and gynecologic cancers for 30 years. The Richer lab discovered a mechanism by which carcinomas co-opt a program of immune-suppressive factors typically made by trophoblasts to ensure fetal tolerance during pregnancy.
Miria Kano, PhDAssociate Professor of Community & Behavioral Health, 麻豆传媒高清 School of Public Health, Anschutz Medical Campus
Associate Director, the Office of Engagement, Access and Success, University of 麻豆传媒高清 Cancer Center
Dr. Kano conducts mixed-methods, multilevel and population-based healthcare research designed to improve patient-centered cancer care and enhance the health and well-being of cancer survivors, their families, and caregivers.
Aaron Clauset, PhD
Professor Department of Computer Science and BioFrontiers Institute, University of 麻豆传媒高清 Boulder
Dr. Clauset’s laboratory develops advanced computational methods to unravel the intricacies of complex social and biological systems, including ovarian cancer, structural variants, and the scientific ecosystem.
Sarah Adams, MDProfessor of Gynecologic Oncology The University of New Mexico Cancer Center
Co-Founder and -Director, SGO/GOG-F BRIDGES Research Initiative
Dean, Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trials Academy
Dr. Adams leads a lab focused on ovarian tumor immunology and immune therapy. Her work has been translated into national clinical trials.
Rita Serda, PhD
Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, Molecular Medicine, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Serda is a materials scientist with a focus on bio-inspired immunotherapy platforms for the treatment of metastatic cancer. Cell and nanoparticle trafficking and immunogenicity are studied in vivo to enhance optimization of platform formulation, delivery route, and underlying immune interactions.
Assistant Professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
Stephanie Rieder is an Assistant Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is also a medical sociologist, who conducts population-based cancer research using qualitative and mixed methods. The primary focus of Dr. Rieder’s research is the promotion of access to treatment and survivorship care for all gynecologic oncology patients, with a particular focus on access and enrollment to cancer clinical trials.
Team Prekeris: Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Cell Division and Genomic Stability in Cancer Cells
Aberrant chromosome segregation and increased genomic instability are recognized as key drivers in tumorigenesis. Defining the mechanisms that promote accurate chromosome segregation is therefore fundamental to understand the origins of cancer and developing new treatments. This program project focuses on defining the defective molecular machineries that cause mis-segregation of chromosomes and chromosome fragmentation during cell division in cancer cells. The project builds on existing collaborations between the Principal Investigator and Project Lead investigators to dissect the mechanistic defects impacting centrosome duplication, bipolar mitotic spindle formation, and the regulation of the abscission checkpoint during cancer cell division. The project will also study how defects in all these processes promote and sustain tumorigenesis.
Rytis Prekeris, PhDProfessor, Director of Molecular Biology Graduate program Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Rytis Prekeris started at CU Anschutz in 2001. His laboratory works on understanding molecular mechanisms governing cell polarity during cell migration, cell division and epithelial tissue organogenesis.
Michael McMurray, PhDAssociate Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Dr. McMurray is an associate professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. His lab studies the highly conserved septin family of cytoskeletal proteins, focusing on the mechanisms by which cells assemble septin filaments, how these filaments support cellular processes, and how mis-regulation of septin filament assembly perturbs cellular functions, particularly cell division.
Jeff Moore, PhDAssociate Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
The Moore Lab studies the molecular regulation of the microtubule cytoskeleton. We seek to understand how molecular-level diversity in tubulins and microtubule-binding proteins gives rise to complex biology at the level of cells and during development, and how this goes wrong in human disease.
Chad G. Pearson, PhDProfessor, Vice Chair in the Cell and Developmental Biology Department Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
The Pearson Lab focuses on investigating centrioles, centrosomes, and cilia, with particular emphasis on understanding how defects in these cellular structures contribute to cancer, Down syndrome, and ciliopathies.
Matthew Taliaferro, PhDAssistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Matthew Taliaferro started at CU Anschutz as an Assistant Professor in 2017. The Taliaferro lab studies mechanisms underlying subcellular RNA localization using high-throughput functional approaches and single molecule microscopy as well as phenotypes associated with its misregulation.