Research Leadership Council
The RLC has responsibility for coordination, planning, and oversight of HCI’s research portfolio and is accountable for the design and execution of Cancer Center goals. The Council is chaired by the Cancer Center Director, Cornelia Ulrich, MS, PhD, and includes representatives from the Director’s Cabinet, all Cancer Program Leaders, Staff Investigators, HCI-managed Shared Resource Directors, the PRMS and DSMC Chairs, and senior administrators. This group serves as the core leadership of the Cancer Center, participates actively in strategic planning for HCI research initiatives, and directs evaluation of Programs, Shared Resources, and membership. New applications for Cancer Center Membership are presented by a relevant Cancer Program Leader and put forward for an advisory vote by RLC members based on specific membership criteria; Dr. Ulrich makes final decisions on Cancer Center membership. The RLC meets monthly for two hours.
The Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Research Leadership Council is composed of the following leadership categories:
Chair
- Cornelia Ulrich, MS, PhD, Executive Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center, HCI
HCI Senior Directors
- Alana Welm, PhD, Basic Science
- Martin McMahon, PhD, Pre-Clinical Translation
- Michael W. Deininger, MD, PhD, Transdisciplinary Research
- David K. Gaffney, MD, PhD, Clinical Research
- Tracy Onega, PhD, MS, Population Sciences
- David W. Wetter, PhD, MS, Community Engagement and Cancer Health Equity Research
- Kolawole S. Okuyemi, MD, MPH, Diversity and Inclusion
- Donald E. Ayer, PhD, Cancer Training and Career Enhancement
Program Co-Leaders
Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation
- Bradley R. Cairns, PhD
- Jared P. Rutter, PhD
Cell Response and Regulation
- Alana L. Welm, PhD
- Sheri L. Holmen, PhD
Experimental Therapeutics
- Neeraj Agarwal, MD
- Martin McMahon, PhD
Cancer Control and Population Sciences
- Kathleen Mooney, PhD, RN
Clinical Leaders
- Paul J. Shami, MD, Chair, Data and Safety Monitoring
- Wallace L. Akerley, MD, Chair, Protocol Review and Monitoring
Shared Resource Directors
- Andrew Post, MD, PhD, Research Informatics
- Wendy K. Kohlmann, MS, CGC, Genetic Counseling
- David H. Lum, PhD, Preclinical Research Resource
- Brian Dalley, PhD, and David A. Nix, PhD, High-Throughput Genomics and Bioinformatic Analysis
- Christopher Fillmore, PhD, Biorepository and Molecular Pathology
- Kenneth M. Boucher, PhD and Benjamin Haaland, PhD, Cancer Biostatistics
- Karen Curtin, PhD, Utah Population Database
Staff Investigators
- Lisa A. Cannon-Albright, PhD
- Jennifer A. Doherty, MS, PhD
Administration
- Maxwell Loveless, MBA, HCI Administrative Officer, Cancer Center Support Grant Administrator
- Ellen T. Wilson, PhD, Director, Research Development
- Melanie DeJulis, Associate Director, Cancer Center Support Grant Associate Administrator
HCI Centers and Partners
Center for Cancer Genetics
- Sean V. Tavtigian, PhD, Director
Center for Health Outcomes and Population Equity (HOPE)
- David W. Wetter, PhD, MS, Director
Center for Investigational Therapeutics
- Neeraj Agarwal, MD, Director
Center for Patient and Public Education
- Donna M. Branson, Director
Center for Quantitative Cancer Imaging
- John M. Hoffman, MD and Jeffrey T. Yap, PhD, Directors
Computational Oncology Research Initiative (CORI)
- Howard Colman, MD, PhD, FAAN, Director
Division of Oncology
- Saundra Buys, MD, Chief
Huntsman Alliance for Postdocs (HAP)
- Aria Vaishnavi, PhD, Representative
Utah Cancer Registry
- Carol Sweeney, PhD, Director