Meet The Current Team

Heide Ford

PhD, University of Rochester
​Postdoc- Harvard Medical School- DFCI
Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology
David and Margaret Turley Grohne Chair in Basic Cancer Research
​Associate Director of Basic Research, University of Colorado Cancer Center

Jessica Hsu

​Pharmacology Graduate Student

BS, University of California, Berkeley
​
Project Focus: Zebrafish models of rhabdomyosarcoma (collaboration with Artinger Lab)

​Funding: CCTSI fellowship

Connor Hughes

MSTP (MD/PhD)/ Pharmacology Graduate Student
​
​BS, University of Richmond

Project Focus:  Tumor Heterogeneity/How EMT in Carcinoma cells influences neighboring Tumor Cells as well as the microenvironment

Funding : Pharmacology T32 fellowship

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Anthony Mangan

Postdoctoral Fellow

BS Biology, BS Chemistry, (St. John FIsher College)
MS Biochemistry (Rochester Institute of Technology)
PhD Molecular Biology (University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus).

Project Focus: Novel therapeutics for rhabdomyosarcoma

Stephen Connor Purdy

Graduate Student

BS Pharmaceutical Sciences (Purdue University)

Project Focus: Targeting epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity to reduce metastasis and chemoresistance in breast cancer.

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Art Wolin

Graduate Student

​B.S. Northern Michigan University
M.S. University of Michigan

genetic and pharmacological methods to decipher the role(s) of Eya2 in brain cancers

Graduate Student
​Biomedical Sciences Program

BS in Biochemistry from Azusa Pacific University

Kaiah Fields

BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Current program Pharmacology, PhD program

Brock Armstrong

PRA
Lab Manager
​
BS Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology CU-Boulder

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Ford Lab alumni

Hengbo Zhou                                                            

                                     
 
Moved on to:

Postdoctoral fellow with Timothy Padera (MGH/Harvard Medical School) and Matthew Vander Heiden (MIT/Koch Institute)

In the Ford lab:
​2015-2020 (PhD Cancer Biology)

Project Focus:                                                                               
Investigate the mechanism by which tumor draining lymph node regulates systemic immunosuppression.

Funding:  F99K00 from the NCI   

Michael Oliphant

Moved on to:

Postdoctoral Fellow with Senthil Muthuswamy and Joan Brugge, Harvard Medical School 

In the Ford lab:
(2013-2019, PhD in Integrated Physiology)

​Project Focus:  
​Regulation of Late Stage Metastasis in Breast Cancer

Funding:  F99/K00 from NCI

Melanie Vincent

PhD, Albany Medical College
Postdoctoral Fellow

​Project Focus:  Group 3 Medulloblastoma Progression

Funding: Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

Taylor Hotz

BA, University of Colorado Boulder
​Professional Research Assistant

Project Focus: Elucidating mechanisms by which Eya proteins influence tumor progression

 Deguang Kong

Deguang Kong                                     
Project Focus: Tumor Cell Crosstalk and EMT in Metastasis 
 Funded by Grant from the Chinese Government
MS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
 Visiting Graduate Student

                                                                                                                                    
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Rebecca Vartuli- (awarded PhD in Molecular Biology, Aug 2017)
Deepika Neelakantan- (2010-2016, PhD in Molecular Biology)
Christina Garlington Towers- Molecular Biology (awarded PhD Feb. 2016)
David Drasin- Molecular Biology (awarded PhD 2014)
Chu-An Wang- Biochemistry (awarded PhD late 2012)
Anna Smith-Gaurnieri- Molecular Biology (awarded PhD late 2012)
Tyler Robin- MD/PhD student (awarded PhD in 2012)
Susan Farabaugh- PhD student (awarded PhD in 2010)
Douglas Micalizzi- MD/PhD student (awarded PhD 2009)
Aaron Patrick- PhD student (awarded PhD in 2008)
Erica McCoy- PhD student (awarded PhD in 2008)
Kimberly Christensen- PhD student (awarded PhD in 2007)
Kelly Reichenberger- Masters Student