Program Scholars
Benjamin E. Lawler
Year of Entry: 2001 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL Title of Research Project or Topic: Clinical and Molecular Markers of Prognosis for CNS Lymphoma Current position & Institution: Neurologist, Marshfield Clinic Health System Inc. - Marshfield Medical Center - Marshfield, Marshfield, WI Attending Physician, MCHS Hospitals Inc. d/b/a Marshfield Medical Center
Ramsis Benjamin
Year of Entry: 2002 Degree/Institution: MD from Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL Title of Research Project or Topic: Molecular and Clinicals in Spinal Cord Astrocytomas Current position & Institution: Neurologist at The UTRGV Institute of Neuroscience (ION) in Harlingen, TX
Joanna N. Capparella
Year of Entry: 2002 Degree/Institution: DO, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Title of Research Project or Topic: Molecular and Clinicals in Spinal Cord Astrocytomas Current position & Institution: Neurologist, Beth Israel Deaconess, Plymouth, MA
Alfredo Voloschin
Year of Entry: 2002 Degree/Institution: MD from Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires Title of Research Project or Topic: Genetics of log grade markers in spinal cord astrocytomas Current position & Institution: Neurologist at the Orlando Health Cancer Institute
Suriya A. Jeyapalan
Year of Entry: 2002 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine Title of Research Project or Topic: Characterization of the immune response to viral vector therapy of gliomas Current position & Institution: Neurologist, Tufts Medical Center
Alice B. Brown
Year of Entry: 2003 Degree/Institution: MD from Meharry Med Coll Sch of Med, Nashville Tn Title of Research Project or Topic: Surrogate biomarkers in glioblastoma Current position & Institution: Family practice, Neurologist in Boston
Scott Plotkin
Year of Entry: 2003 Degree/Institution: MD from Tulane University School of Medicine Title of Research Project or Topic: Role of angiopoietin-1 and VEGF in maintenance of the blood-brain barrier Current position & Institution: Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
William Curry
Year of Entry: 2004 Degree/Institution: MD from Cornell Title of Research Project or Topic: Antitumor Immunity in Patients with Malignant Glioma Current Position & Institution: Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Testimonial: The K12 program set the stage very significantly for almost every component of my career in clinical and translational research. The skills that I acquired via the didactic clinical research training program have made me a stronger researcher and have significantly enhanced my ability to design and interpret clinical studies. Most importantly the two years of protected and mentored time created the foundation for the clinical and preclinical work in brain tumor immunology that I have accomplished to date and continue to pursue. The opportunity and the time to really “dig in” in that specialized environment made all the difference.
Santosh Kesari
Year of Entry: 2004 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Univ. of Penn. Title of Research Project or Topic: Clinical Research Training Program in Neuro-Oncology Current Position and Institution: Director, Neuro-oncology; Chair and Professor, Department of Translational Neurosciences; Regional Medical Director, Research Clinical Institute, Providence Southern California
Helen Shih
Year of Entry: 2005 Degree/Institution: MD from Univ. of Penn. Title of Research Project/Topic: (1) Proton radiation for CNS tumors, (2) Translational radiation development in treatment planning optimization & verification of proton therapy delivery Current Position and Institution: Chief, CNS & Eye Services; Professor in Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Testimonial: The K12 program provided me with the opportunity to jump start my career in a structured academic environment with a combination of identified mentors, research interests, with parallel clinical responsibilities and classroom enrichments. It enabled me to pursue a MPH which has provided a valuable foundation to understanding and leading clinical research with a more critical and trained eye. My mentored research studies have developed into fruitful clinical and translational projects and publications which have led to further ongoing investigational opportunities.
Milan Chheda
Year of Entry: 2006 Degree/Institution: MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine Title of Research Project/Topic: Functional Genomics of Glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine Testimonial: The K12 enabled me the time, funding, and freedom to ask the questions and acquire the data that has formed the basis of my own independent laboratory. The mentorship from William Hahn, my laboratory PI, and Tracy Batchelor and Robert Martuza, PIs of the K12, was instrumental in my career development.
Samuel Blackman
Year of Entry: 2006 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from University of Illinois at Chicago Title of Research Project/Topic: Role of sonic hedgehog in high grade glioma biology Current Position and Institution: Entrepreneur-in-residence at Google Ventures and Founder/Former Head of R&D at Day One Biopharmaceuticals
Andrew Chi
Year of Entry: 2007 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Chicago Medical School Title of Research Project/Topic: Epigenomic Profiling of Glioblastoma Stem Cells Current Position and Institution: Drug Developer, Physician Scientist, Senior Editor at Clinical Cancer Research
Clark Chen
Year of Entry: 2008 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Harvard Medical School Title of Research Project/Topic: Targeting Oncogenic Stress in Glioblastomas Current Position and Institution: Professor, Lyle French Chair in Neurosurgery and Department Head, University of Minnesota Medical School
Jorg Dietrich
Year of Entry: 2009 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Regensburg, Giessen, London Title of Research Project/Topic: Brain tumor microenvironment and biomarkers of treatment response Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Elizabeth Gerstner
Year of Entry: 2007 Degree/Institution: MD from Columbia University Title of Research Project/Topic: Evaluation of anti-angiogenic therapy in glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Eudocia Quant Lee
Year of Entry: 2008 Degree/Institution: MD from Washington University Title of Research Project/Topic: Comprehensive clinical and pathological analysis of correlates of survival in a matched case-control study of patients with glioblastoma
Christine Lu-Emerson
Year of Entry: 2010 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Washington Title of Research Project/Topic: Cellular and Molecular Biomarkers of Glioblastoma Resistance to Anti-angiogenic Therapy in Humans Current Position and Institution: Neuro-oncologist at Maine Medical Partners, Maine Medical Center
Fawn Leigh
Year of Entry: 2009 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Chicago Title of Research Project/Topic: Genetic Modifiers-NF1 tumor burden Current Position and Institution: Senior Director, Medical Intelligence & Patient Insights, Patient Centricity Astellas Pharma, Inc (Northbrook, IL)
Priscila Brastianos
Year of Entry: 2010 Degree/Institution: MD from John Hopkins Title of Research Project/Topic: Genomic Characterization of Brain Metastases Current Position and Institution: Director of Brain Metastasis Program and Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Testimonial: The K12 training grant provided me with phenomenal training opportunities at an early stage in my career. Importantly, I was able to bring together a team of mentors and collaborators to study a challenging clinical problem in cancer, that of brain metastases. We made some key scientific discoveries that are being translated to clinical care.
Matija Snuderl
Year of Entry: 2011 Degree/Institution: MD from Charles University, Prague Title of Research Project/Topic: Investigating the role of Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) in Biology of Medulloblastoma Current Position and Institution: Director, Molecular Pathology and Professor, Department of Pathology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Mikael Rinne
Year of Entry: 2011 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Indiana University Title of Research Project/Topic: Identifying novel genetic dependencies associated with PTEN loss in glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Head of Development at Blueprint Medicines, a Sanofi Company, Cambridge, MA
Brian Nahed
Year of Entry: 2012 Degree/Institution: MD from Yale, MSc from Harvard School of Public Health Title of Research Project/Topic: Identification of Circulating Tumor Cells in Glioblastoma Patients Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Jennie Taylor
Year of Entry: 2012 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Kentucky, MPH from Harvard School of Public Health Title of Research Project/Topic: Molecular mechanisms of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy in malignant gliomas Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, University of California San Francisco
Soma Sengupta
Year of Entry: 2013 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Cambridge University, UK Title of Research Project/Topic: Elucidating Signaling Pathways for GABA-A Receptor Alpha5 in an Aggressive Subtype of Medulloblastomas Current Position and Institution: Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine | Department Chair, Neurology, Tufts Medical Center
Isabel Arrillaga-Romany
Year of Entry: 2013 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Tufts University Title of Research Project/Topic: Chemotherapy-induced cognitive and brain imagining changes in older adults with breast cancer Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Justin Jordan
Year of Entry: 2014 Degree/Institution: MD from UT Southwestern Medical Center Title of Research Project/Topic: Somatic Mutations Promoting Tumor Formation in NF2 Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Ashley Plant
Year of Entry: 2014 Degree/Institution: MD from Stanford Title of Research Project/Topic: Describing Immune landscape of pediatric brain tumors Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Martha Neagu
Year of Entry: 2015 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Columbia Title of Research Project/Topic: Elucidating and Overcoming Immune Evasion by Glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Medical Director, Oncology Early Development at AbbVie
Mariella Filbin
Year of Entry: 2015 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Medical University of Graz, Austria Title of Research Project/Topic: Epigenetic dependencies in pediatric high grade glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Julie Miller
Year of Entry: 2016 Degree/Institution: MD-PhD from Stanford University Title of Research Project/Topic: Altered metabolism in IDH mutant glioma Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Nancy Wang
Year of Entry: 2016 Degree/Institution: MD from University of Chicago Title of Research Project/Topic: Effects of Wnt inhibition on glioblastoma vasculature Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Ina Ly
Year of Entry: 2017 Degree/Institution: MD from King's College London, United Kingdom Title of Research Project/Topic: Characterizing glioma microenvironment with ultra-high gradient diffusion MRI Current Position and Institution: Associate Medical Director, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Clayton Hess
Year of Entry: 2017 Degree/Institution: MD from Penn State University Title of Research Project/Topic: Patterns of Circulating Tumor-Derived Material and Biomarkers in the Peri-Radiation Therapy Period on Childhood Tumors Current Position and Institution: Medical Director of Radiation Oncology, Dignity Health, Sierra Nevada Memoria Hospital
Pamela Jones
Year of Entry: 2018 Degree/Institution: MD from Tulane University Title of Research Project/Topic: Plasma Exosomal Biomarkers Following 5-ALA use in Malignant Glioma Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Jose Ricardo "Ricky" McFaline-Figueroa
Year of Entry: 2018 Degree/Institution: MD, PhD from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons Title of Research Project/Topic: CDK4/6 inhibition in the treatment of high-grade gliomas Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology; Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; Director of Research, Neuro-oncology; NYU Grossman School of Medicine
John Prensner
Year of Entry: 2019 Degree/Institution: MD, PhD from University of Michigan Title of Research Project/Topic: Integrative profiling of cell state transitions in glioma Current position and institution: Barry J Glick Early Career Professor of Pediatric Oncology, Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; University of Michigan
L. Nicolas Gonzalez Castro
Year of Entry: 2019 Degree/Institution: MD, PhD from Harvard University Title of Research Project/Topic: Genomic and epigenomic analysis of IDH-mut and IDH-wt gliomas Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor in Neurology, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School
Julian Bryan
Year of Entry: 2020 Degree/Institution: MD from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University; MPH / Harvard School of Public Health Title of Research Project/Topic: Defining tumor-intrinsic and tumor-extrinsic biomarkers of immune checkpoint blockade response in glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor, Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Brian Andersen
Year of Entry: 2020 Degree/Institution: MD, PhD, University of Minnesota Title of Research Project/Topic: Characterization and Inhibition of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling in Glioblastoma-Associated Macrophages Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Tamar Berger
Year of Entry: 2021 Degree/Institution: MD, Ph.D at Thomas Jefferson University Title of Research Project/Topic: Targeting essential genes that are associated with truncal chromosome deletions in GBM Current Position and Institution:Instructor in Neurology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
Bryan Choi
Year of Entry: 2021 Degree/Institution: MD, PHD at Duke University School of Medicine Title of Research Project/Topic: BiTE-Armored CAR T cells for Glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Annie Hsieh
Year of Entry: 2022 Degree/Institution: MD at Tzu Chi University College of Medicine, Hualien Taiwan; PhD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Title of Research Project/Topic: Identifying Gene Targets that Contribute to Glutamate Release in Gliomas Current Position and Institution:Instructor in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Thomas Nelson
Year of Entry: 2022 Degree/Institution: MD at University of Kansas School of Medicine Title of Research Project/Topic: Electrical Aberrations in the Tumor Microenvironment: Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS) in the Management of Medically Refractory Epilepsy in Patients with Primary Brain Tumors Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor, Neurology, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
Diana Shi
Year of Entry: 2023 Degree/Institution: MD at Harvard Medical School Title of Research Project/Topic: Molecular Dynamics of Glioma Formation and DNA Damage Response by Mutant IDH1 Current Position and Institution:Instructor in Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
David Gritsch
Year of Entry: 2023 Degree/Institution: MD at Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; PhD at University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany in cooperation with Harvard Medical School Title of Research Project/Topic: Identification of Novel Biomarkers of Immunotherapy Response in Patients with Brain Metastases Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Daniel Chiu
Year of Entry: 2024 Degree/Institution: MD at SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, MPH at Yale School of Public Health Title of Research Project/Topic: NeuroTransitions: A Psychoeducational Intervention for Patients with IDH-mutant Gliomas Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Albert Kim
Year of Entry: 2024 Degree/Institution: MD at Medical College of Georgia Title of Research Project/Topic: Enhancing precision medicine for brain metastases using integrative and interpretable deep learning techniques Current Position and Institution: Assistant Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Benjamin Johnston
Year of Entry: 2025 Degree/Institution: MD at Brown University, PhD at UT Arlington & UT Southwestern Medical Center Title of Research Project/Topic: Cancer Neuroscience Drivers of MPNST Growth: Mechanisms and Therapies Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Landon Oetjen
Year of Entry: 2025 Degree/Institution: MD and PhD at Washington University in St. LouisTitle of Research Project/Topic: The Role of Necroptosis in the Immune Response to Glioblastoma Current Position and Institution: Clinical Neuro-Oncology Fellow (Dept of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital)
Amy Wisdom
Year of Entry: 2026 Degree/Institution: MD and PhD at Duke University Title of Research Project/Topic: Using radiation therapy to understand and activate anti-glioblastoma immunity Current Position and Institution: Instructor in Radiation Oncology (7/2026) at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Simon Gritsh
Year of Entry: 2026 Degree/Institution: MD at University of Heidelberg, Germany Title of Research Project/Topic: Single-cell spatial profiling of T-cell programs and immunotherapy resistance in glioblastoma