Pancreatic Transdisciplinary Cancer Team

group of people standing together in a hallway with some holding purple star balloons

The goal of the Pancreatic Transdisciplinary Cancer Team is to bring expertise from different disciplines in basic and clinical research to advance our understanding of pancreatic cancer and to translate that information to clinical trials to improve patient care in South Carolina.

The team consists of members with expertise in basic biology, oncology, pathology, surgery, population science, pharmacology, engineering, and informatics and biostatistics.

Co-Leaders

Denis Guttridge headshot 

Denis Guttridge, Ph.D.

Dr. David Mahvi 

Bill Hawkins, M.D.

Team Members

Hollings Members

Tim Barnoud, Ph.D.
Hazel Breland, Ph.D.
Toros Dincman, M.D., Ph.D.
Nathan Dolloff, Ph.D.
Richard Drake, Ph.D.
Marvella Ford, Ph.D.
Saverio Gentile, Ph.D.
Mark Hamann, Ph.D.
Lu Han, Ph.D.
William G. Hawkins, M.D.
Aaron Hobbs, Ph.D.
Brenda Hoffman, M.D.

Nancy Klauber-DeMore, M.D.
Craig Lockhart, M.D.
David Marshall, M.D.
John O’Bryan, Ph.D.
Besim Ogretmen, Ph.D.
Michael Ostrowski, Ph.D.
Sophie Paczesny, M.D., Ph.D.
Kevin K. Roggin, M.D.
Russell Spencer-Smith, Ph.D.
Ozlem Yilmaz, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Non-Member Faculty

Badih Joseph Elmunzer, M.D.
Erin Forster, M.D.
David Lewin, M.D.
Robert Moran, M.D.

Reeder Robinson, Ph.D.
Sudarshana Sharma, Ph.D.
David Wang, M.D., Ph.D.
Hongjun Wang, Ph.D.

Trainees

Farah Alfatyan, Ph.D.
Lucas Bialousow
Rachel Burge
Xiaoyan Chen, Ph.D.
Ben Christopher
Emma Funk
George Hanna
Nour Hijazi
Caroline Kittrell
Katie Marelia, Ph.D.
Dian Mayasari, Ph.D.
Spencer Miller, Ph.D.

Mubashir Mintoo, Ph.D.
Roushney Mukti
Krishna Ramajayam, Ph.D.
Lety Reyes
Ulyss (Karl) Roesner
Samaneh Saberikashani, Ph.D.
Devadoss Samuvel, Ph.D.
Kamala Sundararaj, Ph.D.
Nadia St. Thomas
Tarah Trebino, Ph.D.
Abasi-ama Udeme
Arash Velayati, M.D.

Patient Advocate

Jane Talbot

Staff

Elizabeth O’Quinn

2025 Presentation Schedule

January 14

“Function of GDF15/GFRAL as an Immune Modulator in PDAC Development”

Emma Funk
Graduate Student (Guttridge Lab)
MUSC

February 11

“Progress on Targeting RAS: Insights from Anti-RAS Biologics”

John O'Bryan, Ph.D.
Professor, Pharmacology and Immunology
MUSC

March 11

“The Role of Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 in a Murine Model of PDAC-related Skeletal Muscle Wasting”

Calvin Cole, Ph.D.
University of Rochester

April 8

“KRAS(G12R) Murine Models Reveal Distinct Tumor Microenvironment Characteristics and Differential KRAS-PI3K Signaling Reliance in Pancreatic Cancer”

Rachel Burge
Graduate Student (Hobbs Lab)
MUSC

May 13

“Is a picture only worth a thousand words? Imaging Mass Cytometry at Hollings Cancer Center”

Jacob Kendrick
Director of Operations, Flow Cytometry Shared Resource, HCC
MUSC

June 10

“Updates from the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Office of Community Outreach and Engagement”

Marvella Ford, Ph.D.
Professor, Public Health Sciences
MUSC

July 8

“Multimodal Spatial-omic Tissue Analysis of the Pancreatic Tumor, Stroma and Immune Microenvironment”

Caroline Kittrell
Graduate Student (Drake Lab)
MUSC

August 12

Reeder Robinson, Ph.D.
Postdoc (Dolloff Lab)
MUSC

September 9

“Persistence of Fetal Gene Programs Regulates Heterogeneity, Lineage and Function of Pancreatic Cancer Associated Fibroblasts”

Farah Alfatyan, Ph.D.
Postdoc (Han Lab)
MUSC

October 14

“HSP70 in Pancreatic Cancer — Novel Functions and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities”

Tim Barnoud, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
MUSC

November

“Talbot Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Reception”

December 9

“FOLFIRINOX and Immunity in the Battle against Pancreatic Cancer”

Ramsay Camp, M.D.
Baylor University