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Knudsen-HCI People

Wei Zhang, PhD

University of Utah

Projects
- Cell clusters based on hematoxylin features in kidney cancer (link to paper)
- Pipeline for scoring IHC images: PD-L1 expression in lung cancer (link to paper)
- Biomarkers of aggressive prostate cancer (ONECUT2 and cell plasticity) 
- Spatial analysis (link to paper)
- Detection of small organelles in the cytoplasm of  IHC and IF stained cells in culture and in FFPE tissues.
- RNA scope quantification

I received my PhD in Biological Engineering at Utah State University. My dissertation focused on the analysis of biological samples using Raman Spectroscopy. In my current position as a project scientist, I use my technical expertise for analysis of microscopic images. My research interests include the discovery of new biomarkers through multiplexed immunofluorescence imaging of patient tissues, the prediction of protein expression from H&E stained tissue sections and spatially resolved, single cell analysis of protein and RNA expression to characterize cell neighborhoods in the tumor microenvironment.  
I enjoy my work in the field of digital pathology because it allows me to learn cutting-edge, new software and AI based platforms. I develop solutions for challenging problems in image analysis to help improve patient care and the development of new cancer treatments. 

Anne Cress, PhD

University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson

Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Vice Dean, Operations and Strategy

Collaboration in cell invasion, metastasis and chromosomal instability related nuclear membrane instability and centrosome dysfunction.
- Clonal selection during cell invasion in a mouse models of tumor metastasis
- Tissue markers of chromosomal instability
- Visualization of DNA damage repair in tissues
- Centrosome abnormalities and tissue hypoxia

4 of 11 co-authored publications:
- Biophysical phenotype mixtures reveal advantages for tumor muscle invasion in vivo. Biophys J. 2023
- Loss of CDCP1 triggers FAK activation in detached prostate cancer cells. Am J Clin Exp Urol. 2021
- Wang M, Nagle RB, Knudsen BS, Cress AE, Rogers GC. Centrosome loss results in an unstable genome and malignant prostate tumors. Oncogene. 2020
- A method of quantifying centrosomes at the single-cell level in human normal and cancer tissue. Mol Biol Cell. 201
 

Michael R. Freeman, PhD

Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

Director, Division of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Research in the Department of Biomedical Sciences
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Surgery

Collaboration in prostate cancer plasticity and metastatic progression 
- Tissue analysis of tumor cell plasticity and the transcription factor ONECUT2 regulatory network
- Translational multiplexed tissue-based analysis of cell phenotypes and tissue architecture related to changes in chromatin structure and transcriptional regulation during prostate cancer progression


4 of 12 co-authored publications
- ONECUT2 Activates Diverse Resistance Drivers of Androgen Receptor-Independent Heterogeneity in Prostate Cancer. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023
- Loss of CDCP1 triggers FAK activation in detached prostate cancer cells. Am. J Clin Exp Urol. 2021 
- ONECUT2 is a targetable master regulator of lethal prostate cancer that suppresses the androgen axis. Nat Med. 2018 
- Emerin Deregulation Links Nuclear Shape Instability to Metastatic Potential. Cancer Res. 2018