Newsworthy Items
Spring 2026
Dr. Sunyoung Kim, Professor of Genetics, has been awarded a five-year $7.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue research efforts on understanding the rules that govern the dynamics of nanomotor motion. Nanomotors are tiny protein machines, crucial for all life, that convert energy into motion. Nearly 100 different biological nanomotors are known to perform a wide range of coordinated cellular tasks under varying and often extreme conditions of temperature, pressure, crowding, and time, allowing our bodies to adapt, thrive, and survive. Funding will support nanomotor research and workforce development through training and mentoring of junior faculty and trainees to broaden scientific perspectives of protein design and mechanics, and actively encourage development of novel, critical technologies. This project promises to enhance the research capability of LSUHSC and promote the next generation of bioscience leaders to drive new technology-based discoveries and increase the economic impact of research innovations.
Fall 2025
Fokhrul Hossain published a P20 manuscript in NPJ Breast Cancer.
Sun Young Kim published in JAMA Network Open. The paper also appears on GenomeWeb. To view a direct copy of the article on JAMA Network Open, click here!
Brionna King (M4 Medical Student - Honors Research Program) won the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center Travel Award for her research on nucleoside analogs as novel immunotherapeutics leveraging the adenosine pathway. She will present her research at the AACR annual meeting 2026 in San Diego with the travel award support.
Laura Naldi (PhD student): Laura's image of a tumor-derived organoid was selected for the Agilent BioTek 2026 imaging calendar. Organoid models are at the forefront of preclinical cancer research, and a key component of Laura's work on sodium-dependent regulation of antitumor T-cell responses through the vasopressin pathway. The project is a collaboration between Dr. Giulia Monticone's lab at LSUHSC and Dr. Alessandro Peri at the University of Florence (Italy).
Dr. Giulia Monticone, Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and the LSU LCMC Health Cancer
Center, was awarded a highly competitive FDA - AACR Oncology Educational Fellowship
for the 2025–2026 cycle. This prestigious fellowship, jointly sponsored by the American
Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
provides fellows with unique opportunities to deepen their understanding of regulatory
science and policy in oncology drug development. As part of the fellowship, Dr. Monticone
will receive support to attend two key in-person events: the AACR Annual Meeting in
San Diego, CA, in April 2026, and Project ODAC Odyssey in May 2026 at the FDA’s White
Oak Campus. During these events, fellows participate in specialized sessions within
the Regulatory Science and Policy Track, engage directly with FDA staff, and culminate
their experience by leading a mock FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee meeting.
We congratulate Dr. Monticone on this remarkable achievement and look forward to their
contributions to advancing oncology research and drug development at LSUHSC.
Spring 2025 Graduates
