Highly Collaborative and Translational Program
The Cancer Therapeutics program at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute focuses on developing hypotheses and evidence-based translational strategies for improved cancer treatment.
Learn MoreMission Statement
The NCI Cancer Centers Program was created as part of the National Cancer Act of 1971 and is one of the anchors of the nation’s cancer research effort. Through this program, NCI recognizes centers around the country that meet rigorous standards for transdisciplinary, state-of-the-art research focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.
Emphasis is placed on technology associated with the discovery and development of small molecule drug agents and biological therapies followed by validation using preclinical and clinical models.
Our objective is to optimize therapies through the generation, integration and translation of scientific information between the bench and the bedside, the patient and the population.
Program members have a wide range of expertise and practical experience in applying for Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and conducting IND studies and clinical trials.
Entrepreneurship and positive impact on the local economy.
Primary Areas of Research

Discovery
Identifying new therapeutic targets/biomarkers, drug lead and diagnostic tool.

Preclinical Studies
In vivo animal model development and the validation of drug lead/ diagnostic tool in the model.

Clinical Trials
Conducting the PI-initiated clinical trials.
Featured Publications
- Birrer MJ, Moore KN, Betella I, Bates RC. Antibody-drug conjugate-based therapeutics: State of the science. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2019 Jun 1;111(6):538-549. PMID: 30859213.
- Dillmon MS, Kennedy EB, Anderson MK, Brodersen M, Cohen H, D Amato SL, Davis P, Doshi G, Genschaw S, Makhoul I, Ormsby W, Panikkar R, Peng E, Raez LE, Ronnen EA, Wimbiscus B, Reff M. Patient-Centered Standards for Medically Integrated Dispensing: ASCO/NCODA Standards. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2020;38(6): 633-644.
- Fajgenbaum DC, Wu D, Goodman A, Wong R, Chadburn A, Nasta S, Srkalovic G, Mukherjee S, Leitch H, Jayanthan R, Ferrero S, Sato Y, Schey S, Dispenzieri A, Oksenhendler E, Zinzani PL, Lechowicz MJ, Hoffmann C, Pemmaraju N, Bagg A, Fossa A, Lim MS, van Rhee F. Insufficient evidence exists to use histopathologic subtype to guide treatment of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease. American journal of hematology. 2020;():
- Galanzha EI, Menyaev YA, Yadem AC, Sarimollaoglu M, Juratli MA, Nedosekin DA, Foster SR, Jamshidi-Parsian A, Siegel ER, Makhoul I, Hutchins LF, Suen JY, Zharov VP. In vivo liquid biopsy using Cytophone platform for photoacoustic detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with melanoma. Science translational medicine. 2019;11(496).
- Jenjaroenpun P, Wongsurawat T, Wadley TD, Wassenaar TM, Liu J, Dai Q, Wanchai V, Akel NS, Jamshidi-Parsian A, Franco AT, Boysen G, Jennings ML, Ussery DW, He C, Nookaew I. Decoding the epitranscriptional landscape from native RNA sequences. Nucleic acids research. 2020.
- Yan W, Lakkaniga NR, Carlomagno F, Santoro M, McDonald NQ, Lv F, Gunaganti N, Frett B, Li HY. Insights into Current Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase (TRK) Inhibitors: Development and Clinical Application. Journal of medicinal chemistry. 2019;62(4): 1731-1760.
Meeting Time
The Cancer Therapeutics Program meets monthly on the 1st Wednesday at 4:00pm. Please contact Ariel Washington awashington3@uams.edu