Guan Named Chair of Cancer Biology Deparment; Leader for UCCI and CCC

CINCINNATI—Jun-Lin Guan, PhD, professor in the division of molecular medicine and genetics at the University of Michigan, has been named chair of the University of Cincinnati Department of Cancer Biology, effective Dec. 31, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

Guan also will serve as the Francis Brunning Endowed Chair and professor of cancer biology, associate director for research of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute (UCCI) and co-leader of molecular and cellular basis of cancer of the Cincinnati Cancer Center (CCC).

The UC Cancer Institute is a UC College of Medicine and UC Health partnership to coordinate the organizations’ shared missions of cancer research, patient care and education. The Cincinnati Cancer Center is a collaborative initiative of UC, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and UC Health to create a world-class comprehensive center leading in innovation to eliminate cancer.

Previous to his role at the University of Michigan, Guan was director of graduate studies and professor of molecular medicine at Cornell University and a member of the Cornell Nanobiotechnology Center.

"We are excited to have Dr. Guan join our faculty and lead our cancer efforts for the College of Medicine as well as the UCCI and the CCC,” says Thomas Boat, MD, Christian R. Holmes Professor, Dean of the College of Medicine and UC Vice President for Health Affairs. "His incredible research expertise coupled with over 20 years of experience in the basic sciences will ensure success for the university and our cancer institute and cancer center alike.”

"I would like to thank Dr. Boat and the search committee for their confidence and trust in me and the tremendous opportunity to lead the department of cancer biology at UC,” Guan says. "I am very excited about assuming the chair position and joining such a wonderful community of basic and clinical cancer researchers in Cincinnati.

"I see the enthusiasm, energy, dedication and collegiality of the faculty in the department as well as the leaders and other faculty throughout UC and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity, as I see this as the right environment for my research and leadership style.”

Guan will be charged with recruiting researchers who will become funded, independent investigators participating in the UCCI and the CCC programs as well as encouraging other UC faculty with cancer-targeted discovery research programs to seek secondary appointments in cancer biology. 

He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Science and Technology of China before receiving his doctorate in biology from the University of California at San Diego. He later completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2011, Guan was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He serves on the editorial boards of Cell Adhesion and Migration, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and the Journal of Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy. He also has been a member the American Association for Cancer Research and of several National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections.

Guan’s research focuses on the fundamental principles of cell signaling in the regulation of basic cellular functions in normal cell and developmental processes and to determine how the disruption of normal signaling pathways lead to diseases such as cancer. He currently holds three NIH R01 grants. He is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters and was editor of Signaling Through Cell Adhesion Molecules (1999) and Cell Migration: Developmental Methods and Protocols (2005).  

"Dr. Guan is nationally and internationally recognized for his contribution to our understanding of how cancer cells gain prolonged survival and aggressive or metastatic phenotype through the process of self-digestion,” says Shuk-Mei Ho, PhD, director of the CCC and Jacob G. Schmidlapp Professor and Chair of Environmental Health. "His innovation, originality and excellence in discovery science will undoubtedly elevate the stature of cancer biology at the university and the cancer center.”