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Our Research by Faculty Member

We have a diverse set of faculty in our center whose expertise span from bench to bedside. Brief descriptions of each researcher and their work are listed here as well as links to their individual websites. Browse the Disease and Technology pages for more detailed information on specific projects they work on.

  • Dr. Joshua LaBaer (Director) moved from Harvard Medical School in 2009 to establish the Center for Personalized Diagnostic at the Biodesign Institute. His work focuses on leveraging the Center's formidable resources for the discovery and validation of biomarkers - unique molecular fingerprints of disease - which can provide early warning for those at risk of major illnesses, including cancer and diabetes. 
  • Dr. Karen Anderson, an oncologist with a joint appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, and brought expertise from her previous work at Harvard and the Dana Faber Cancer Institute in cell culture and HPV-induced cancer to her research program in the CPD when she joined the center in 2011. Along with identification of biomarkers in a variety of cancer, in collaboration with researchers at Georgetown University, her lab is growing primary tumors from breast cancer patients in culture for a variety of downstream cancer treatment applications.  Karen Anderson's Website
  • Dr. Chad Borges joined our center after several years as a research track faculty member.  Since 2007, he has been part of the Molecular Biomarkers Lab at the Biodesign Institute focused on using mass spectrometry based proteomic and glycomic techniques to identify biomarkers of disease.   He will bring his expertise to the Center to continue his studies of aberrant glycosylation in cancer and to develop novel markers of biospecimen (plasma/serum) integrity. Chad Borges' Website
  • Dr. John Chaput joined the VGPCPD in 2014 from the Center for Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics at the Biodesign Institute. His goal is to improve the fundamental understanding of biological macromolecules, the structures they adopt, and their potential applications in molecular medicine. John Chaput's Website.
  • Dr. Valentin Dinu, who is also in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at ASU, has considerable expertise in informatics and statistical platforms to better understand data from Next Generation Sequencing. Valentin Dinu's Website
  • Dr. Doug Lake uses cell biology and mass spectrometry to identify biomarkers for cancer in the blood and to potentially use this information to create a cancer vaccine.  He is also using mass spectrometry and lectins to identify the Valley Fever fungus in tissues and blood to develop a diagnostic test to detect the fungus.  Most recent studies focus on tumor biology and development of inhibitors for an enzyme (QSOX1) that is over-produced by cancer cells. Doug Lake's Website
  • Dr. Mitch Magee joined the CPD in 2009, bringing with him extensive experience in the production and utilization of peptide arrays. His current projects focus on using the center's technology to better understand infectious diseases, to map signaling pathways, and identify biomarkers for a variety of diseases.
  • Dr. Marco Mangone is an expert in genomics and C. elegans (a small worm that is a convenient model organism) biology.  He is interested in how parts of the genome located at the ends of genes called 3’UTRs affect gene expression and whether or not these change and effect disease. Marco Mangone's website
  • Dr. Ji Qiu joined the CPD in 2009. He has used his previous research experience using native protein microarrays to identify cancer biomarkers in his current project to identify autoantibody biomarkers for disease using NAPPA.
  • Dr. Wade Van Horn is a structural biologist who is interested in understanding the three dimensional structure of membrane proteins that involved in health and disease. Wade Van Horn's website
  • Dr. Garrick Wallstrom joined the CPD in 2009. He is a biostatistician who, in addition to supporting all of the biomarker studies in the center, is interested in understanding the impact of disease heterogeneity on biomarker screening.  Garrick Wallstrom's Website

Adjunct Faculty

  • Dr. Salhia Bodour is an Assistant Professor in the Integrated Cancer Genomics Division at the Translational Gemonics Research Institute studying the epigenetic mechanisms mediating cancer progression. Salhia Bodour's website
  • Dr. Shwetal Mehta was recruited from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to join Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center as an Assistant Professor in January 2013. She joined CPD as an adjunct faculty in April 2013. She brings with her the expertise in targeted therapy for glioblastoma and culturing of primary glioma cells. The main focus of her lab is to identify novel drug targets to sensitize malignant brain tumor cells. Barrow Neurological Institute | BNI-ASU Neuroscience Program
  • Dr. Kostas Petritis