Principal Investigators
Jennifer R. Grandis, MD
Director, Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Associate Vice Chancellor, Clinical and Translational Research
Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor
Email: [email protected]
Patrick Ha, MD
Chief, Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery
Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Head and Neck Surgery
Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
Email: [email protected]
Research Team
Cory Hyun-su Kim l Junior Specialist I Email: [email protected]
Hyun-su, also known as Cory, graduated from University of California, Davis in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. As an aspiring pre-med with a special interest in otolaryngology, he is working closely with Dr. Patrick Ha and Dr. Oren Humtsoe to investigate the alternative splicing events and unique transcripton factor signalings in adenoid cystic carcinoma. When he is not working in the lab, Cory enjoys exploring the city, listening to music, and watching Netflix and Korean shows.
Leilani Jones l Junior Specialist l Email: [email protected]
Leilani graduated from University of California, Davis in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Microbiology. She joined the Head and Neck lab in December 2019 and works directly with Dr. Patrick Ha and Dr. Joseph (Oren) Humtsoe to elucidate the role of the MYB-NFIB gene fusion in salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma. During her free time, she loves to spend quality time with her daughter, ballroom dancing, cooking, or quenching her everlasting boba obsession.
Hadas Tal l Junior Specialist l Email: [email protected]
Hadas received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Tel Aviv University, Israel. Seeking to continue her studies and research she is working with Dr. Daniel Johnson and Dr. Zhibin Cui to reveal caspase-8 mutation function in Head and Neck cancer. When she is not working in the lab, Hadas loves playing soccer with her husband—Yoni, painting, and listening to audio books.
Hua Li, PhD l Specilaist l Email: [email protected]
Hua received her PhD from China Agricultural University and did her postdoctoral training in the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the Grandis lab in 2012 and moved to UCSF with Dr. Grandis to join the Head and Neck Cancer Lab in 2015. Her work has been focusing on developing the Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model and creating a PDX tumor library for therapeutic modeling. Outside of the lab, Hua enjoys reading, yoga, tennis and hiking.
Janice Cho l Medical Student l Email: [email protected]
Janice Cho is originally from Los Angeles. She is a medical student from Wake Forest University and a HHMI Medical Fellow. She is currently studying the oncogenic potential of non-canonical PIK3CA mutations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. She received a BA in human biology and Spanish from Pitzer College. Apart from lab work, she enjoys hiking, spinning, traveling, learning new languages, and rooting for the Dodgers.
Joseph O. Humtsoe, PhD l Assistant Researcher l Email: [email protected]
Joseph Orenthung Humtsoe/Oren comes from Nagaland, a small tribal hill state geographically located at the far east of India. He earned his MS and PhD in Biochemistry from the North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, India, and received his post-doctoral training at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX. Prior to joining the Head and Neck Cancer Laboratory and team up with Dr. Patrick Ha, he was at the Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, UCSF (Dr. Randall Kramer lab), studying the mechanistic aspects of growth factor receptor signaling in head and neck cancer.
He loves playing soccer (now retired!!), and hiking in wide open spaces.
Lanlin Hu l Visiting Scholar l Email: [email protected]
Lanlin Hu is a visiting graduate student from Sichuan University in China, where she investigated the chemo-resistance to 5-FU in colorectal cancer cell lines. In December 2016, she joined the Head and Neck Cancer Lab to study the impact of Sulforaphane on chemo-prevention and cytotoxicity induced by Natural Killer cells in HNSCC.
Lanlin is from Chengdu, a southwestern city in China that is famous for spicy cuisines, cute pandas, and the beautiful scenery. She loves eating delicious food, and she enjoys cooking, watching movies, and traveling.
Nan Jin, PhD l Post-doctoral Scholar l Email: [email protected]
Nan Jin received her PhD from the State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, China. She joined the Grandis lab in June, 2018. She always put her scientific insights into the translational challenges faced by molecularly-targeted cancer therapies. She focuses on determining the impact of targeting PI3K and examining biomarkers of PI3K inhibitor resistance by analyzing paired biospecimens and PDXs developed from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients enrolled on a window-of-opportunity trial of the PI3K inhibitor BYL719. Now she is working on delineating the oncogenic potential of non-canonical PIK3CA mutations in HNSCC. In her free time, she loves gym workout every day and enjoys traveling with family and friends.
Rodell Santuray l Medical Student l Email: [email protected]
Rodell is originally from the Los Angeles area. He received his BS in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University. After working in the biotechnology industry, he realized his passion for working with patients. He is now a medical student at UCSF and joined the Head and Neck Cancer Lab in July 2017 to study the functional consequences of PTEN loss in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Outside the lab, he enjoys cooking, eating, and traveling with his wife, Aparna.
Yan Zeng, MD l Staff Research Associate l Email: [email protected]
Yan Zeng is a staff research associate in the lab. She joined the Grandis Lab in July 2011 and moved to UCSF to join the Head and Neck Cancer Lab in July 2015. She received her MD degree in China. Her responsibility includes bench work and animal work.
Yan is married and has two children, Michelle and Devin. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, and playing tennis and ping pong.
Yun Sae (Simon) Lee, MD, PhD I Visiting Scholar I Email: [email protected]
Yun Sae Lee has joined the head and neck lab since March 2018 as a visiting scholar. He received MD and PhD degree at Ulsan University in Korea. He is, currently, an associate professor of Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center. Head and neck cancer, thyroid cancer, pediatric airway, and facial nerve reanimation are his major clinical field. The tumor phenotype changes from CYLD knock-out in HPV (+) cancer and combination therapy of anti-PD-1 agents with anthracycline are his recent research topic.
He enjoys reading, traveling, and playing tennis with his daughter.
Zhibin Cui I Assistant Professor I Email: [email protected]
Zhibin Cui, DDS, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Head and Neck Cancer Lab. His research interest focuses on understanding the mechanistic roles of genetic alterations (mutations of PIK3CA, CASP8) common to this malignancy and their interactions with the tumor microenvironment in the initiation and progression of HNSCC. And the long-term goal is to use this knowledge to identify potential therapeutic targets and develop personalized treatment strategies for patients with HNSCC. In his free time, he enjoys the happy moments with his family.