News

By Katie Fite

LITTLE ROCK — Two researchers with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute have received National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards to support studies aimed at better understanding cancer and identifying new methods for prevention and treatment.

Brian Koss, Ph.D., received a five-year award for over $2.9 million from the National Cancer Institute, and Joonas Jämsén, Ph.D., received a five-year award for over $2.1 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Both Koss and Jämsén were recruited to and are members of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and assistant professors in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

“The achievements of Drs. Koss and Jämsén represent the innovative science we are working to support at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor and director of the Cancer Institute. “These highly competitive awards support research with the potential to deepen our understanding of the disease and improve cancer treatment.”

Brian Koss, Ph.D.

Koss will serve as principal investigator for this new R01 award, studying a potential strategy for making adoptive T-cell therapy — a type of cellular immunotherapy — more effective for patients with solid tumors. T-cell therapy is an effective treatment for blood cancers, but in solid tumors the T cells become “exhausted” and lose their ability to kill cancer cells. This work will build on previous successful research for Koss and his lab.

As Arkansas’ first recipient of the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, Koss joined the UAMS faculty in 2021 and used the funding for research that produced the preliminary data behind this current award.

Sydnye Shuttleworth, a graduate student in the UAMS College of Medicine and a full member of the Cancer Institute, received the highly competitive Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award in 2025 to study T-cell exhaustion under Koss’ mentorship.

Together, their work identified an enzyme called RNF166 that may prevent T-cell exhaustion. This study is designed to determine how RNF166 prevents T-cell exhaustion and whether the enzyme can increase the ability of CAR T-cells (specially engineered T cells) to kill solid tumor cells and avoid exhaustion.

“This research could help more patients benefit from cellular immunotherapies by engineering therapeutic T cells that stay active and effective for longer, bringing us closer to treatment that works against difficult-to-treat solid tumors,” Koss said.

This is Koss’ second active NIH award, reflecting the continued achievement of his lab.

This study is supported by the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health award 1R01CA315781-01.

Joonas Jämsén, Ph.D.

Jämsén’s research focuses on uncovering how cellular repair mechanisms for the most serious form of DNA damage — a double-strand break — work and why the repair process sometimes fails, causing mutations and structural changes in chromosomes that lead to cancer.

In 2023, Jamsen and colleagues discovered a distinct repair pathway that reconnects broken DNA strands in cancer. Their research suggests that this mechanism may help some tumors survive when other repair pathways are impaired, potentially affecting treatment responses.

Jämsén received a NIH Pathway to Independence Award as a postdoctoral fellow supporting his research on DNA repair and was recruited to the UAMS Cancer Institute in 2022 from the National Institutes of Health.

Jämsén and his team will combine advanced imaging techniques, biochemical experiments, single molecule approaches, computer modeling, and molecular biology to understand DNA repair in exceptional detail.

“This research will advance our understanding of DNA repair in cancer and accelerate development of novel strategies for prevention and treatment of cancers and diseases caused by defective DNA repair.”

This study is supported by the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health award 1R35GM165917-01.

The nucleoside analog CMX521 inhibits coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase via a two-pronged mechanism.
Rakib A, Gordon CJ, Anderson TK, Marecki JC, Smitskamp Q, Moorman NJ, Heise MT, Colton HM, Selleseth D, Lanier R, Raney KD, Kirchdoerfer RN, Götte M, Dulin D.
J Biol Chem. 2026

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T cell-dependent modulation of pain behaviors in a rat model of recurring paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Bakare AO, Austin PJ, Curatolo M, Stephens KE, Sivanesan E.
Brain Behav Immun Health. 2026

Dr. Miller has accepted a joint position as a Research Principal Investigator in the Department of Research at the Central Arkansas Veterans Health System. He was also awarded a four-year VA Merit Award for his project, “Drug-Drug Interaction Risks for Veterans with Substance Use Disorders.” The award, totaling $1,148,377, spans August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2030.

Dr. Miller was also honored as the 2026 Innovation Champion of the Year by BioVentures in recognition of his outreach efforts and contributions through his service on the Copyright and Patent Committee. Continuing his involvement in advancing research and innovation, he was selected to serve as a Research Innovation Ambassador, joining approximately 20 researchers from across campus in supporting BioVentures’ efforts.

Congratulations to Dr. Miller on these well-deserved accomplishments and his continued contributions to research and innovation!

By Nathan Tidwell

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Graduate School’s research induction ceremony represents a significant milestone for students in their pursuit of a doctoral degree.

Students were presented white coats at the Sept. 10 event at the Fred W. Smith Auditorium on the 12^th floor of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute. These candidates have passed the Ph.D. qualifying exam and will now begin work on their dissertation.

“This is a wonderful occasion,” said Sean Taverna, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School. “Receiving a white coat from their mentor symbolizes a student’s achievement in becoming an official Ph.D. candidate.”

“Students prepare intensely for their qualifying exams, which cover the first two years of graduate coursework, and passing it is a major accomplishment,” he continued.

Educators from the College of Health Professions, College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health comprise the faculty of the UAMS Graduate School.

Latrina Prince, Ed.D., Graduate School associate dean for academic affairs, introduced program directors, track directors, mentors, and students in the ceremonial donning of the white coats.

The ceremony concluded with students and faculty reciting the Affirmation of Scientists, an acknowledgement of the acceptance of the expected standards of honor and integrity.

Doctoral candidates expressed excitement about the road ahead.

“It’s a big step in the career of a scientist,” said Joseph Beard, a candidate in the Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Biochemistry and Molecular Biology track. “Instead of going to classes every day, I get to focus solely on research.”

For M.D./Ph.D. program candidate Mattie Nester, the ceremony represents a continued progression towards her goal.

“I’m officially halfway through the eight-year program, and I’m happy to get into the lab and do more research,” she said.

Taverna noted the role that mentors play in the success of a student.

“Choosing a mentor is the single most important decision a graduate student will make,” he said. “The mentor is a critical part of a student’s career, and the mentor-mentee relationship can often last a lifetime.”

Doctoral programs, program directors, track directors, Ph.D. candidates, and mentors follow:

Biomedical Informatics

Program Director: Horacio Gomez-Acevedo, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics

• Valentina A. Juncos (Horacio Gomez-Acevedo, Ph.D.)
• Nahiyan Bin Noor (Jonathan Bona, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics)
• Utkarsh Rai (Lawrence Tarbox, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics)

Environmental Health Sciences

Program Director: Gunnar Boysen, Ph.D., professor in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Environmental Health Sciences

• Scott Alsbrook (Igor Koturbash, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences)

Epidemiology

Program Director: Mohammed Orloff, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology

• Ravi Upadhyay (Wendy Nembhard, Ph.D., dean of the College of Public Health)

Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (GPIBS)

Program Director: Karl Boehme, Ph.D., professor in the College of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Track Director: Mari Davidson, Ph.D., professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Joseph Beard (Alicia Byrd, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
• Md Mahbub Hasan (Mohammad Rahman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
• Shegufta Tasneem Neetole (Vladimir Lupashin, Ph.D., professor in the College of Medicine Department of Cell Biology & Physiology)

Cancer Biology

Track Director: Samantha Kendrick, Ph.D., professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Alex McDonald (Ricky Leung, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology)
• Bethany C. Paxton (Jesús Delgado-Calle, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Physiology)
• Emily Cox (Katie Ryan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
• Katie Cruse (Brian Koss, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
• Thomas Williams (Brian Koss, Ph.D.)

Cell Biology & Physiology

Track Director: Melda Onal, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Cell Biology & Physiology

• Anisha Neupane (Ryan Allen, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Physiology)
• Shafina Jahan (Roy Morello, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Physiology)

Microbiology and Immunology

Track Director: Mark Manzano, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology

• Jessy Hernandez Flores (Craig Forrest, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology)
• Lidia Ketema Belete (Clay Jackson-Litteken, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology)
• Shelton L. Zeltner (Craig Forrest, Ph.D.)

Neuroscience

Track Director: Angela Odle, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Neuroscience

• Dakota Redling (Kimberly Stephens, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

Pharmacology, Toxicology & Experimental Therapeutics

Track Director: Abdel Fouda, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

• Mohamed Abdelhamed (Abdel Fouda, Ph.D.)

Health Promotion & Prevention Research

Program Director: George Pro, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Public Health Department of Health Behavior and Health Education

• Ariel Maureen Morrow (Jennifer Callaghan-Koru, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education)
• Ashley E. Spotwood (George Pro, Ph.D.)
• Brittany L. James Wilkerson (Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education)

Health Systems & Services Research

Program Director: Jure Baloh, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management

• Abdullah A. Alharthi (Stephen Bowman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management)
• Micah Bolin (Jure Baloh, Ph.D.)
• Toni Wall Jaudon (Clare Brown, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management)
• Wilberforce Twinamatsiko (Michael Thomsen, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management)
• Zihan Wang (Mick Tilford, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management)

M.D./Ph.D. Program

Program Directors Sara Shalin, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the College of Medicine Department of Dermatology; Jesús Delgado-Calle, Ph.D.

• Amie Adriana Brint (Ruud Dings, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology)
• Cole Bolen (Angus MacNicol, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Neuroscience)
• Mattie R. Nester (Jesús Delgado-Calle, Ph.D.)
• Milla Reddick (Angus MacNicol, Ph.D.)

Nursing Science

Program Director: Martha Rojo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Nursing

• Erickson Feliciano (Martha Rojo, Ph.D.)
• Heather Hunter (Corey Nagel, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Nursing)
• Lakyn Webb (Jocelyn Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Nursing)

Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy

Program Director: Laura Gressler, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy

• Batool Khattab (Laura Gressler, Ph.D.)
• Mahima Saini (Jacob Painter, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MBA, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy)

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Program Director: Nukhet Aykin-Burns, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

• Chimezie Finian Nwadinigwe (Darin Jones, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
• Daniel Stuckey (Darin Jones, Ph.D.)
• Pritam Saha Podder (Amanda Stolarz, Pharm.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
• Joyeeta T. Khan (Amit Tiwari, Ph.D., professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies in the College of Pharmacy)
• Saloni Sood (Amit Tiwari, Ph.D.)

A safety pin against BAX.
Moldoveanu T.
Nat Chem Biol. 2026

Making zombies to kill cancer.
Moldoveanu T.
Cell Chem Biol. 2026

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CRISPR-mediated Correction of Oncogenic AS-NMD in Splicing Factor Mutant Cancer.
Nagar P, Islam MR, Rahman NA, Heeamoni SA, Hasan MM, Huq S, Ali R, Hossain M, Rahman MA.
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026

Targeting EZH2 oncogenic splicing: decoding the regulatory network and antisense correction.
Islam MR, Nagar P, McNaughton N, Heeamoni SA, Hasan MM, Kandel S, Mukta IJ, Tsakiroglou P, Dalton WB, Abdel-Wahab O, Krainer AR, Rahman MA.
Genes Dev. 2026

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HuR degradation reveals dependencies in BRAF-driven cancers.
Siordia IR, Brody JR, Dixon DA.
Trends Cancer. 2026

By Katie Fite

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine and Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute made a breakthrough while studying a new therapeutic strategy for blood cancer that may lead to better future treatment options.

The successful study was published in Genes & Development, one of the top 10 research journals in the field of molecular biology and genetics.

This research was led by Mohammad Rahman, Ph.D., in collaboration with leading scholars in the field Omar-Abdel-Wahab, M.D., at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Adrian Krainer, Ph.D., at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and William Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins University. The lead authors of this study are two postdoctoral trainees in Rahman’s lab, Rafikul Islam, Ph.D., and Preeti Nagar, Ph.D.

The paper entitled, “Targeting EZH2 Oncogenic Splicing: Decoding the Regulatory Network and Antisense Correction,” focuses on the team’s efforts to use a treatment called antisense (ASO) pharmacology to correct mutations that can lead to blood cancer.

“This study exemplifies the innovative, high-impact research the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute is committed to,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor of UAMS and director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. “Breakthroughs like this bring us closer to developing more effective treatment options for certain cancers.”

Research in recent decades has established that repeated mutations in proteins called splicing factors can cause several types of blood cancer and a variety of other tumors. Splicing factors play a critical role in human cells by helping our cells read and use genetic information. When these functions do not work correctly, cells can become unhealthy. Rahman’s team previously published research studying the impact of recurrent mutations in SRSF2. This current work builds on that discovery.

“We extended our focus to develop a therapeutic strategy to correct splicing that leads to cancer and conceived this study,” said Rahman.

When mutations occur in SRSF2, the tumor suppressing gene known as EZH2 is altered, ultimately weakening one of our body’s natural defenses against cancer. For this study, EZH2 was chosen as the target for therapy. The research team successfully demonstrated that using an ASO can repair the damage to EZH2 and partially restore the body’s ability to produce new blood cells.

Ultimately, this is an important step toward developing new treatment options for blood cancers that are difficult to treat. The team plans to continue testing this treatment strategy, expanding their focus to include additional genes.

“Our future research will develop ASOs targeting multiple genes and test the efficacy of a combined treatment,” said Rahman. A provisional patent application has been filed for the lead ASO developed in this study, with Rahman, Islam and Nagar listed as the inventors.

Rahman, assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and member of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, centers his research on alternative splicing (AS) and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) two cellular processes that control genes as needed. Tumor cells often use AS and/or NMD, this work aims to detail how this happens with the goal of developing new effective cancer therapies.

This study was supported by the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health awards R35GM154991 and P20GM152281, and Edward P. Evans Foundation.

Assessing Pain Linked to High Metabolic and Glycolytic Shift in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) Patients by Using a Bioenergetic Biomarker: A Pilot Study.
Miller GP, Krager K, Eom D, Aykin-Burns N, Santos-Horta E.
Cureus. 2026

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TGF-β Is Critical for Ovarian Cancer Migration, Invasion, and Chemosensitivity.
Elms C, Wei W, Birrer MJ.
Cancers (Basel).

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Bioactivation and reactivity research advances – 2025 year in review.
Liu J, Argikar UA, Brunetti P, Chatzopoulou M, Cho S, Claesson A, Dhaware D, Lang J, Ma B, Ma S, Maw H, Miller GP, Schadt S, Seneviratne HK, Tang LWT, Wei C, Khojasteh SC.
Drug Metab Rev. 2026

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Dynamic global acetylation remodeling during the yeast heat shock response.
Hardman-Kavanaugh RE, Storey AJ, Stuecker TN, Hood SE, Barrett-Wilt GA, Krishnamurthi VR, Wang Y, Byrum SD, Mackintosh SG, Edmondson RD, Wahls WP, Tackett AJ, Lewis JA.
Genome Biol. 2026

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The nucleoside analog CMX521 inhibits coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase via a two-pronged mechanism.
Rakib A, Gordon C, Anderson TK, Marecki JC, Smitskamp Q, Moorman NJ, Heise MT, Colton HM, Selleseth D, Lanier ER, Raney KD, Kirchdoerfer RN, Götte M, Dulin D.
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026

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A peptide-based screen for cell death inhibitors identifies the cytoprotective compound CDL36.
Inde Z, Keppler S, Gelles J, Fraser CS, Presser A, Mohammed JN, Jung M, Garvey DS, Moldoveanu T, Chipuk JE, Sarosiek KA.
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026

The thirteenth Annual Arkansas Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium was held on July 29, 2026. Undergraduate students from 36 institutions in 16 states gathered at UAMS to celebrate the achievements of undergraduates pursuing research projects at colleges and universities across Arkansas.

Of the 87 student researchers who submitted abstracts for the Symposium 12 were selected for oral presentations.

• Elena Coleman from Rhodes College performed research this summer at UAMS in the SURP program.
• Lillie Ballany from the University of Arkansas performed research this summer at UAMS in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department SURF program.
• Mia Canizares from Mount St. Mary’s Academy performed research this summer at UAMS in Cell Biology and Physiology.
• Owen Bussell from the University of Central Arkansas performed research this summer at at the University of Central Arkansas.
• Bailee Brinkley from Arkansas Tech University performed research this summer at UAMS in the INBRE program.
• Fariha Alam Bushra from Southeast Missouri State University performed research this summer at UAMS in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department SURF program.
• Clara Park from Rhodes College performed research this summer at UAMS in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department SURF program.
• Bennett Dishongh from Hendrix College performed research this summer at UAMS in the INBRE program.
• Mishel Ocho from Wake Forrest University performed research this summer at UAMS in the Pharmacology and Toxicology SURF program.
• Chelsea Cliff from Howard University performed research this summer at UAMS in the SURP program.
• Kaylee Francis from Hendrix College performed research this summer at UAMS in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department SURF program.
• Spencer Stutts from Hendrix College performed research this summer at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville in the INBRE program.

Of the 80 poster presentations, the top 10 received prizes donated by MedChemExpress and the UAMS Graduate School.

• Benjamin Anderson from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• Praise Fabiya from the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
• Hannah Harshaw from Ouachita Baptist University
• Ava Lang from Arkansas State University
• Sonja Ramirez from Lyon College
• Simra Rana from Haas Hall Academy
• Ian Scarth from the University of Hawaii
• Joshua Skipworth from the University of Central Arkansas
• Paige Spicer from Ouachita Baptist University
• Rhys Wolter from Episcopal Collegiate

This annual event at UAMS is organized by the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, and was supported by the Arkansas INBRE, the Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC), the UAMS Graduate School, the Central Arkansas Chapter of Sigma Xi, and MedChemExpress.