Comprehensive Cancer Center Leadership

Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, an expert in immunotherapy and vaccine therapy for cancer, is Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. Odunsi also serves as Biological Sciences Division Dean for Oncology and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago.

Odunsi is a gynecologic oncologist whose research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of immune recognition and tolerance in ovarian cancer and translating these findings to immunotherapy clinical trials. He pioneered the development of antigen-specific vaccine therapy and “next generation” adoptive T-cell immunotherapies to prolong remission rates in women with ovarian cancer.

He came to Chicago from Buffalo, New York, where he served as Deputy Director at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also served as Executive Director of the Center for Immunotherapy and Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at Roswell Park.

Odunsi’s honors and awards include election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018 and the Rosalind Franklin Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Award in 2019. He has authored or co-authored more than 360 publications and contributed to several books and book chapters. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Alliance, among others. He serves or has served on 10 editorial boards and multiple NIH study sections, and held numerous visiting professorships and guest lectureships. He also holds leadership positions in several national organizations such as Co-chair of the NCI Cancer Moonshot Immuno-Oncology Translational Network and Chairperson-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research’s Cancer Immunology Working Group.

Odunsi received his medical degree from the University of Ife in Nigeria, and his PhD degree from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford, United Kingdom. He completed his residencies in obstetrics and gynecology at the Rosie Maternity and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals, University of Cambridge, in the U.K., and Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut. His fellowship in gynecologic oncology was at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Buffalo, New York, where he joined the faculty in 2001.

M. Eileen Dolan, PhD, professor of medicine, is the Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In this role, Dolan works closely with Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, the Cancer Center’s Director and Dean of Oncology, on the organization’s vision, mission and strategy. She is responsible for monitoring strategic research-related initiatives and milestones, ensuring widespread faculty involvement in center initiatives and supporting team science efforts.

Previously, she was the long-time co-leader of the center’s Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics Program. She also served as the Associate Director for Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination, working to expand, integrate and coordinate all cancer-related educational efforts in the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Dolan is considered a leader in pharmacogenomics of anticancer agents. She is known for developing cell-based methods to identify genetic variants contributing to chemotherapeutic induced toxicity. Her laboratory lead the way in using International HapMap lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) to demonstrate that chemotherapeutic induced cytotoxicity is a heritable trait and demonstrated differences in gene expression and sensitivity to chemotherapy in LCLs derived from individuals of European, African, African American and Asian descent. More recently, her laboratory is employing induced pluripotent stem cell derived neuronal cells to evaluate chemotherapeutic induced neuropathy, the most common non-hematologic adverse effect of chemotherapy. She is involved in a number of clinical genome wide association studies to identify and functionally validate genetic variants/genes contributing to chemotherapeutic-induced toxicities.

Samuel Armato, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology, is an Executive Committee member the Associate Director for Education at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. Having spent the past nine years as the Chair of the Committee on Medical Physics, through which he serves as Director of the Graduate Program in Medical Physics, Armato has an established track record as a leader and mentor for promising young cancer researchers. The Graduate Program in Medical Physics is recognized internationally for its research excellence and the caliber of its faculty, students and graduates.
 
Armato's research broadly involves the development and evaluation of computerized techniques for the quantitative analysis of medical images and the assessment of tumor response to therapy through a variety of interdisciplinary image-based projects. He is also the Faculty Director of the Human Imaging Research Office (HIRO). In his role as the Associate Director of Education, Armato works closely with leadership to expand, integrate and coordinate all cancer-related educational efforts in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Jing Chen, PhD, is the Associate Director for Translational Sciences for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. As a renowned researcher in cancer metabolism, Dr. Chen is interested in elucidating the signaling basis underlying cancer metabolism and nutritional influences on cancer and response to cancer therapy for improved clinical outcomes.
 
In his role as the first Associate Director for Translational Sciences at the UCCCC, he has oversight of translational research activities across the Center and oversees the current infrastructure, which includes existing working groups and the newly developing Translational Groups of Research Excellence. 
 
He partners closely with other Associate Directors to develop a translational research strategy and foster team science grants such as P01s, U01s and SPOREs. Under Dr. Chen’s leadership, the UCCCC aims to improve its translational capabilities and foster its translational pipeline from basic scientific discoveries to clinical research and future clinical application.

Geoffrey Greene, PhD, is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor, chair of The Ben May Department for Cancer Research, co-director of the Ludwig Center for Metastasis, and executive committee member and strategic advisor at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Greene oversees the implementation, organization, and activities of the Comprehensive Cancer Center research programs and core facilities that support these programs. He assists and advises the Comprehensive Cancer Center director on strategic and operational decisions and participates in philanthropic fundraising efforts, especially with The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation (UCCRF).

Dr. Greene is internationally recognized for his many contributions to the field of steroid hormone action and breast cancer. His contributions have improved not only our understanding of the nature and function of steroid receptors, but also their measurement and utility in cancer. In addition, his ongoing structural studies have helped define novel selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) that may be suitable for breast and uterine cancer prevention in women, as well as for use in promoting many of the desirable effects of estrogen, such as maintenance of bone density and cardiovascular function, while reducing undesirable side effects.

Yu-Ying He, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Section of Dermatology, focuses her research on the molecular mechanisms in skin carcinogenesis induced by environmental ultraviolet (UV) radiation and the development of chemopreventive and therapeutic strategies to reduce the skin cancer burden. Her current research focuses on identifying previously unrecognized novel molecular/cellular processes that determine susceptibility to skin carcinogenesis. Her laboratory uses molecular, genetic, and translational approaches in cell culture models and clinically relevant animal models to investigate how DNA repair and DNA damage responses of skin cells are regulated in vivo and what their impact is on skin carcinogenesis.
 
She completed her PhD in Organic Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Nita K. Lee, MD, MPH, is the Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. As an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Section of Gynecologic Oncology, she specializes in the diagnosis, surgery, and survivorship care for patients with gynecologic malignancies. 

In addition to her clinical practice, she focuses on patient-centered research in cancer survivorship and disparities, such as lifestyle changes, patient navigation, and psychosocial needs of gynecologic cancer survivors. She has a long history of collaboration with community organizations and survivors in their advocacy and education efforts.  

In her role, she oversees all COE activities across the Cancer Center as well as OCECHE, the UCCCC Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Health Equity, which focuses on community education, collaborations for linkages to care, and promoting community-academic collaborations for research. Dr. Lee partners closely with other Associate Directors to influence the research strategies that focus on key UCCCC priorities that are responsive to community cancer burden and needs. She works closely with the UCCCC Clinical Trials Support Office to increase enrollment of underrepresented populations to cancer clinical trials.

Kay Macleod, PhD, is the Associate Director for Basic Sciences for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Macleod is a basic science researcher who uses cutting-edge approaches in cell and molecular biology, systems biology, novel mouse models and human patient samples to ask some of the most important questions about how mitochondria control tissue homeostasis, and how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to cancer progression and metastasis. 

In this role, she has oversight of basic research activities across the Center and oversees the current infrastructure, including oversight of the Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer and Immunology and Cancer programs. She partners closely with other Associate Directors to develop a research strategy that fosters team science grants such as P01s, U01s, and SPOREs.

Drew Memmott leads the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center administrative unit. He joined the leadership team in 2021. He has extensive experience in scientific administration and managing NCI designated Cancer Centers. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, he oversaw all research administrative functions for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and served as Associate Director for Administration for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. He was previously the Associate Director for Administration at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and Director of Research Administration at Columbia University Medical Center. He currently serves on the External Advisory Board of several national Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Drew has graduate degrees from the University of Washington and Columbia University.  
 
As Associate Director for Administration at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, he has broad oversight for the administrative and fiscal management of the center, including financial management, personnel, IT infrastructure to support clinical trials operations, pre- and post-awards for the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) and multiple interdepartmental grants, Cancer Center public relations and communications, and philanthropic activities. In addition, he works collaboratively with Cancer Center leadership in strategic planning activities and implementation of plans for programmatic growth.  

Mitchell Posner, MD, is the Thomas D. Jones Professor of Surgery, Professor of Radiation Cellular Oncology, Chief Clinical Officer of Cancer Services, and Chief of the Section of General Surgery. With a reputation earned as a leading authority in the management of upper gastrointestinal cancers, Dr. Posner couples his skill as a cancer surgeon with a commitment to multidisciplinary care, providing his patients with optimal outcomes.

Dr. Posner’s work goes beyond the operating room. In the lab, he focuses on the molecular basis of malignancies, which has enabled him to design and guide groundbreaking clinical trials for cancers of the pancreas, esophagus, colon, stomach, rectum, and liver. With more than 30 years of experience, he has won dozens of awards and published 200 articles, abstracts, and book chapters.

He has won the University of Chicago’s Robert J. Baker Award for Excellence in Teaching, as well as the Basic Science and Clinical Research Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Posner has held several leadership positions during his distinguished career. He is past-president of the Society of Surgical Oncology. He is deputy editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. He served as chairman of the Gastrointestinal Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG).

Mark Ratain, MD, Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine, is an Executive Committee Member and Strategic Advisor at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and leader of the Pharmacology Core Facility.

Dr. Ratain oversees the implementation, organization, and activities of the programs and core facilities that support clinical research. He advises the Comprehensive Cancer Center director on strategic planning and operational and budgetary issues in the area of clinical research. Dr. Ratain also serves as chair of the Clinical Research Advisory Committee (CRAC), which meets quarterly to review operations and policy related to clinical research, including the CCTO and PRMS.

Dr. Ratain’s research interests are in the pharmacogenetics of anticancer agents and Phase I and Phase II drug studies. Pharmacogenetics is the study of how genetic variation among individuals contributes to differences in the way they respond to medicine. Dr. Ratain’s research is focused on the metabolism of specific anticancer agents. He has demonstrated the critical importance of genetic variants in determining variability in the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of certain anticancer drugs. His research has become a model for understanding variability in response to newer targeted drugs.

Dr. Sonali M. Smith, Elwood V. Jensen Professorship of Medicine and Section Chief of Hematology/Oncology at UChicago Medicine, is an expert in the care and treatment of adults with all types of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She has a special interest in new agents for lymphoma, as well as stem cell transplantation and its role in improving the survival of patients with relapsed lymphomas.
 
An active researcher, Dr. Smith is involved in the development of promising agents for patients with non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma. She is principal investigator on a number of innovative clinical trials. Many of the trials incorporate the collection of tumor and blood samples to study the effects of treatment on cancer cells through collaborative laboratories.
 
Dr. Smith frequently lectures to both physicians and patient groups on these topics. She serves on several national committees charged with improving treatment options for patients with lymphoma, providing physician education, and providing reliable information for patients through established websites. Dr. Smith also frequently performs peer reviews of research being considered for publication in major medical journals. Additionally, she has won several teaching awards at the University of Chicago.

Russell Szmulewitz, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program, is the UCCCC Associate Director for Clinical Investigations and member of the UCCCC Executive Committee. He is also a co-leader of the UCCCC Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics Program. His research bridges the clinic and laboratory and focuses on the development of novel therapeutic strategies for advanced prostate cancer. In particular, his translational laboratory explores resistance mechanisms to hormonal therapies and efforts to develop new therapeutics coupled with predictive biomarkers to target therapy resistance with precision.
 
Dr. Szmulewitz is the principal investigator of many clinical research trials across the phases of clinical research and has led multiple high-impact investigator-initiated therapeutic trials. He was recently funded by the U.S. Department of Defense to establish The University of Chicago Prostate Cancer Clinical Research Program. In his role as AD for Clinical Investigations, he oversees the Clinical Protocol and Data Management (CPDM), Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC), and Protocol Review and Monitoring System (PRMS), which are Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) components critical to the success of our clinical trials program.

Jasmin A. Tiro, PhD, MPH, Professor of Public Health Sciences, is the UCCCC Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Population Science. As a recognized leader in HPV vaccination and cancer screening, Dr. Tiro brings the experience and skillset needed to expand the program’s strengths to include the design and implementation of health behavior interventions that address well-documented disparities on the South Side of Chicago. As the Director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Inequity (CinEQUITY), she will work to pioneer transformative research that addresses biological, social and structural factors that adversely affect excluded or marginalized people in the Chicagoland area.
 
She works closely with cancer center leadership in shaping and refining the population research programmatic goals and activities within the context of the overall cancer center mission. Dr. Tiro leads faculty recruitment and pilot research programs to augment existing programmatic strengths, catalyze new innovative programs, and bridge intra- and inter-programmatic interactions. She also partners with the Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Health Equity led by Dr. Nita K. Lee to translate cancer prevention and control discoveries into outreach programs that benefit the community. 

Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, is a radiation oncologist investigating tumor and host factors that limit metastasis and novel methods of treatment of metastasis. One of his most distinguished accomplishments includes when he and Samuel Hellman, dean of biological sciences at the University at the time, discovered oligometastasis, an intermediate state of metastasis that could be successfully treated and controlled. He and Hellman maintained that many patients with oligometastatic disease could be cured, depending on the extent of disease burden, with either surgery or targeted radiation therapy. This notion, the spectrum theory of metastasis, has slowly been accepted, backed by a mounting series of reports of successful treatments.
 
He has published more than 850 academic papers or reports across multiple fields. Throughout his career,  he has received numerous awards and honors. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) honored Weichselbaum as the 2018 recipient of the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award and, in that same year, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) awarded him with the Gold Medal, one of its highest honors. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Physicians.
 
Weichselbaum was born in Chicago, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and attended medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago. After medical school, he did his residency at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard University. He later joined the faculty there, rising quickly to associate professor status. In 1984, he was recruited to the University of Chicago to become Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology. He is now the Daniel K. Ludwig Distinguished Service Professor, Co-Director of the Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research, and Director of the Center for Molecular Oncology.

Diane Yamada, MD, is the Joseph Bolivar De Lee Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UChicago Medicine. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecologic cancers. She is the principal investigator at the University of Chicago for the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), a cooperative clinical trials group supported by the National Cancer Institute.
 
Her areas of interest include: Surgery for gynecologic malignancies including ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers, as well as minimally invasive surgery; Prophylactic surgery for women at high risk for the development of hereditary ovarian and endometrial cancers; Management of high grade uterine cancers; Intraperitoneal chemotherapy; and Clinical trials. Her recent research focuses on the regulation and radiologic imaging of ovarian cancer metastasis and the unique biology of aggressive uterine cancers. She conducts clinical trials targeting ovarian cancer as well as endometrial and cervical cancer through the GOG.
 
Dr. Yamada is an editorial reviewer for a number of academic medical journals, including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer. She is also the author or co-author of numerous book chapters and reviews concerning gynecologic cancers.

Email CancerCenterDEI@bsd.uchicago.edu with questions.

Gina Curry, MPH, MBA, is an experienced community engagement specialist with over 15 years in community engaged academic research. Curry is well versed in community-academic partnership development, program development, training design and delivery, coalition building and multi-institutional collaborations.

Prior to joining the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Curry served as the Community Campus Coordinator for Northwestern University’s Community Based Participatory Research Program for 11 years. She was instrumental in brokering more than 500 partnerships, resulting in dozens of community-engaged research projects, scientific manuscripts, as well as Foundation, PCORI and NIH funding. Curry is particularly interested in the intersection of faith and health and has been an active member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) for more than a decade, frequently moderating sessions and presenting in their Faith Caucus, Community Based Public Health Caucus, and Cancer Forum.

Stephanie Dahl serves as Assistant Vice President for the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Development Department. Dahl joined the University of Chicago in 2007, and has over 20 years of experience in academic fundraising. In her role as AVP, she works closely with cancer faculty, leadership and University administration to advance institutional priorities and develop funding plans for a wide variety of cancer research, educational and social and community facing programs. 
 
In her role, she builds partnerships with donors who share the goals of advancing excellence in cancer research, education and patient care and aspire to facilitate philanthropy at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. Philanthropy provides an opportunity for individuals to connect their passions and aspirations to leaders at the University of Chicago Medicine in order to solve complex problems, educate the country’s future leaders in science and medicine, and provide the best and most advanced healthcare to our patients. 

Robyn Egan, BA, is the Director for Finance for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. Egan joined the UCCCC in June 2002 with a background in economics and biological/physical sciences and has over 15 years of specialized experience in biomedical research administration: financial management and budgeting/accounting, grant and contract administration, clinical trial development, initiation, and implementation, regulatory affairs, data management, patient advocacy and preclinical laboratory technology.

Egan oversees all fiscal operations of the Center, including pre- and post-award sponsored research finances of large, complex, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, multi-investigator program project and center grants (type P01, P30, P50, U10, U54, UG3, SPORE, etc.) as well as non-federal grants, subcontracts, and gift & endowment activity. She manages daily operations in the areas of finance, purchasing, grants, and recharge mechanisms, and directly supervises the Center’s finance team. Egan works in partnership with University Research Administration, Financial Services, Cancer Center members and their departments, and the IT and finance teams to develop comprehensive financial statements and operating budgets.

Jolanta (Jola) Glotzer, MD, MS, is the Assistant Director for Administration for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. She transitioned to this position in 2022 from the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division (BSD) Dean’s Office, where she served as Associate Director for Research Initiatives. She brings a background in medicine, basic biomedical sciences and over 12 years of experience in varied administrative duties.
 
In her role, Dr. Glotzer serves as a liaison to UCCCC programs, shared resources, grants management personnel, and other administrative units of the UCCCC and the University. She manages and coordinates programmatic activities of the UCCCC, prioritizing those related to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). In addition, Dr. Glotzer manages the UCCCC’s robust portfolio of internal funding opportunities relying on both CCSG developmental funds and philanthropy to support new initiatives and pilot projects.

Rajan Gopalakrishnan, MS, is the director for informatics and information technology (IT) at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. Gopalakrishnan joined in May 2011 with 16 years of experience in healthcare and public health IT consulting where he worked with several large regional hospital systems and state and public health organizations.

As the director for informatics, Gopalakrishnan is responsible for the design, maintenance, upkeep of all informatics and IT capabilities within the Cancer Center. In addition, he participates in setting future strategy and the roadmap for cancer informatics functions that will provide cutting-edge support for Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and staff. Gopalakrishnan is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and likes to pursue interesting developments in public health informatics within the cancer domain.

Jane Kollmer, BA, is the director for communications at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. As a communicator with more than 15 years of experience, Kollmer is well-versed in marketing strategies that attract and engage audiences through the strategic use of compelling content.

In her role, Kollmer is responsible for elevating the UCCCC’s profile as a leading cancer research institution and raise visibility of and positive affiliation for the UCCCC among members, staff, medical and research communities, news media, and the public. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Public Affairs & Marketing Network (PAMN).

Megan Mekinda, PhD, is the director for education, training and evaluation at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC). Mekinda joined the UCCCC in 2016 and is an expert in positive youth development, career development, program design and mixed-methods program evaluation.

Mekinda works closely with university and community partners to strengthen cancer-related education initiatives at UChicago. She manages a robust network of early research training and career development opportunities, enrolling more than 60 high school and college students annually. She also oversees initiatives to support those at more advanced stages of their training and careers, including the UCCCC’s membership category for graduate and medical students, and postdoctoral and clinical fellows, engaged in cancer-related research. These efforts help to fulfill the UCCCC’s mission to build a diverse and highly skilled cancer workforce to help all people live longer, healthier lives.

Amanda Spratt, BS, CCRP, is the director for clinical research operations and technical director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office (CCTO). She joined the Comprehensive Cancer Center in October 2004. Spratt is responsible for the day-to-day administrative oversight of office operations and staff, including hiring and training of new staff, and developing, updating and overseeing implementation of Standard Operating Procedures for all regulatory services. She serves as a resource to both her staff and clinical investigators in issues of clinical research operations, and federal and institutional regulations, and is responsible for the coordination of continuing education workshops.

Lauren Wall has over 16 years of experience in cancer clinical research spanning industry and academic healthcare. She assists in developing and executing strategic and operational plans for clinical research conducted by the UCCCC, including new business practices and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). In addition, Wall is an appointed Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Clinical Trial Scientific Review (CTRC) committee member at the University of Chicago. Wall is an instructor for the University of Chicago Professional Education, teaching courses in the Clinical Trials Regulatory and Compliance program and Northwestern University teaching courses in the Master of Science in Regulatory Compliance.