USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
An NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center
Leadership
Senior Leadership
Caryn Lerman, PhD
Director, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
James Amatruda, MD, PhD
Associate Director, Pediatric Oncology
Vasiliki Anest, PhD
Chief Innovation Officer
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, MPH, PhD
Associate Director,
Community Outreach & Engagement
Yali Dou, PhD
Associate Director, Basic Research
David Conti, PhD
Associate Director, Data Science
Josh Neman-Ebrahim, PhD
Associate Director, Cancer Research Training and Education
Anthony B. El-Khoueiry, MD
Associate Director, Clinical Research
Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD
Associate Director, Cancer Health Disparities
Amir Goldkorn, MD
Associate Director, Translational Research
Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD
Deputy Director for Research Programs
Christopher Loertscher, MA
Associate Director for Administration & Chief Administrative Officer
Jennifer Tsui, PhD
Director for Cancer Care Delivery Research and Implementation Science (CCD/IS)
Mariana Stern, PhD
Associate Director, Population Science
Joseph Wiemels, PhD
Associate Director, Shared Resources
Program Leaders
Epigenetic Regulation in Cancer
The program is led by Bodour Salhia, PhD and Sheng Li, PhD. Dr. Salhia is a translational genomics scientist with extensive knowledge and expertise in mechanisms that underlie tumorigenesis and tumor biology. Dr. Li is a computational biologist with expertise in developing computational tools and sequencing methodologies that integrate multiple functional genomics datasets to extract the identity of the key epigenome dynamics and transcriptional programs that underpin changes in cell state or behavior.
Bodour Salhia, PhD
Co-Leader
Sheng Li, PhD
Co-Leader
Tumor Immunology & Microenvironment
The program leaders are W. Martin Kast, PhD who has recognized expertise in cancer virology, cancer immunology, and cancer immunotherapy, and Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD who has expertise in immune-oncology with a
specific interest in breast cancer and the tumor immune suppressive microenvironment.
W. Martin Kast, PhD
Co-Leader
Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD
Co-Leader
Translational and Clinical Sciences
The program leaders are Fumito Ito, MD, PhD and Mark Agulnik, MD. Dr. Ito is a nationally recognized surgical oncologist and cancer researcher who has a significant clinical interest in melanoma, sarcoma, and breast cancer. Dr. Agulnik is a oncologist at Keck Medicine of USC who specializes in the medical treatment of sarcomas — bone and soft tissue cancers — including gastrointestinal stromal tumors, or GIST.
Fumito Ito, MD, PhD
Leader
Mark Agulnik, MD
Co-Leader
Cancer Epidemiology
Wendy Setiawan, PhD
Co-Leader
Christopher A. Haiman, ScD
Co-Leader
Cancer Control Research
The program co-leaders, Myles Cockburn, PhD, and Jennifer Tsui, PhD, have complementary recognized expertise in cancer prevention and cancer survivorship.
Myles Cockburn, PhD
Co-Leader
Jennifer Tsui, PhD
Co-Leader