Michael W. Drazer, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Michael Drazer is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago. He was raised on a family farm before graduating from Indiana University with degrees in Biochemistry, Biology, and English. He earned an MD and a PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Chicago. He cares for patients with hereditary blood disorders and hereditary cancer syndromes as a member of the Hematology, Leukemia, Stem Cell Transplant/Cellular Therapy, Mesothelioma, Myeloma, and Cancer Risk programs at UChicago. He is a trainer in the Human Genetics PhD program at UChicago. He also serves as the Associate Program Director of the Physician Scientist Development Program in the Department of Medicine, where he is responsible for directing the development of physician scientists pursuing accelerated residency and fellowship training.
Outside of the lab and hospital, you can find him running long distances through the woods of the Midwest and up/down the mountains of the western United States.
Kelsey McNeely
Data Analyst
Kelsey is the group’s data analyst and is responsible for implementing our genetic engineering work with patient-derived cell lines, analyzing data from these experiments, and implementing genomics pipelines for this work. She also teaches these approaches to trainees in our group.
Before joining our group, Kelsey majored in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She also worked as a Statistician at the University of Michigan.
Her work has most recently been published in Blood, Blood Advances, JAMA Network Open, Science Immunology, Advances in Oncology, and Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Karolina Dudek, MS
Graduate Student, Cancer Biology
Karolina is a Graduate Student in the Cancer Biology program at the University of Chicago, where she is using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to study hereditary blood cancer syndromes. In the dry lab, she is developing novel diagnostic approaches for improving the care of patients with these disorders.
Before joining our group, she was a Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher and Research Analyst in Dr. Ralph Weichselbaum’s group at UChicago. Her work in the Weichselbaum group used in vivo CRISPR screening to identify novel cancer cell-intrinsic targets and to develop universal CART platforms. Her work has been published in Science Advances and Cell Death and Differentiation.
Owen Mitchell, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Owen is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the University of Chicago Medicine, where he is responsible for leading and coordinating biobanking efforts for the Mesothelioma Program. Originally from Michigan, he graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Genomics and Molecular Genetics. While at MSU he worked in the lab of Dr. Karen Liby, where he investigated the role of PARP inhibitors on murine mammary gland development. He then worked as a Research Technician at the Van Endel Institute in Grand Rapids before moving to the University of Chicago. He has co-authored manuscripts in Cell Genomics and Scientific Reports.
Outside of the hospital, Owen enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking his neighbor’s dog, going to the beaches in and around Chicago, and (secretly) building his collection of LEGOs.
Alumni:
Aubrianna S. Ramsland, BS
Research Technologist
Current position: MD/PhD student at University of Chicago
Aubrianna was raised in Minnesota before earning degrees in Biological Sciences (with a specialization in Cancer Biology and Research Honors) and Biological Chemistry from the University of Chicago. She wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on the role of FGFR3 in mediating T cell exclusion during anti-PD-L1 therapy, under the guidance of Dr. Randy Sweis. Her work has been presented at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.
While in the Drazer Group, she co-authored manuscripts in Haematologica, Blood Cancer Journal, Leukemia, JAMA Network Open, and Advances in Oncology. She was responsible for designing and implementing new gene-editing protocols, genomics protocols, and models of hereditary blood disorders (using both cellular and murine systems).
Outside of the lab, she enjoys running, playing the flute, and studying biology and mathematics.
Joseph Cannova, MD, PhD
Advanced Fellow
Joe is an Advanced Fellow in the Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Biological Sciences before completing his MD/PhD at Loyola University, where he completed his thesis work in the group of Dr. Jiwang Zhang. He then completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Hematology/Oncology Fellowship in the University of Chicago’s Physician Scientist Development Program.
His work in the group involves using patient-derived cell lines to model high-risk myeloid blood cancers and to inform the development of new personalized treatment approaches for patients with these disorders. Clinically, he cares for patients with blood cancers at the University of Chicago.
His recent research has been published in Cell, Haematologica, Blood Advances, EJHaem, Oncotarget, Leukemia, and Frontiers in Medicine. His work studying CUX1 has most recently been supported by the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Young Investigator Award.
Zara Khosravi, MS
Laboratory Manager
Zara was born in Iran before coming to the United States to earn a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Ohio University. She then worked at Stanford University and the University of Chicago in a series of molecular engineering projects. She was recruited to the Drazer group where she is now responsible for the genetic engineering and design of our patient-derived cellular models as well as the immunologic profiling of our murine models. Her work has most recently been featured in Biointerphases and Advances in Oncology.
Outside of the lab, Zara enjoys traveling, enjoying new foods, playing chess (she is a former national-level player), designing jewelry, formulating skin care products, and cooking.
Kaina Millan, MS
Bioinformatician
Kaina is the group’s bioinformatician and is responsible for implementing our ‘standard’ bioinformatics pipelines and developing novel approaches to improve the diagnosis of patients with hereditary blood and hereditary cancer syndromes. She also teaches these pipelines to other members of our group, with a particular interest in assisting our graduate and post-doctoral trainees in their ‘dry lab’ work.
Before joining our group, she was an undergraduate student at Benedictine University, where she majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She then earned a Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics from Boston University before joining our group.
Her work has most recently been presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology and the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Feighanne Hathaway, CGC
Clinical Genetic Counselor
Feighanne Hathaway is a licensed and board certified genetic counselor in the section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago Medicine. Feighanne received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and her Masters of Science Degree in Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Feighanne established genetic counseling services at the New York University (NYU) Clinical Cancer Center, was part of the National Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Program at NYU, and started a support group for young women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations at NYU.
Recently, she served as the Program Chair for the Chicago Urological Society’s meeting and presented at the 2nd Annual NYC Prostate Cancer Summit. Her research interests include genetic susceptibility to prostate cancers and hematological malignancies. Additionally, she is interested in making genetic services available to underrepresented or underserved populations and training more professionals in genetics to meet the growing demands/needs of genetic testing. She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) and the Genetic Task Force of Illinois. She has also served as an author of publications in the Journal of Genetic Counseling and Cancer.
Outside of the hospital she enjoys snowboarding, coaching and playing soccer, crossword puzzles, and reading.
Rotation students:
Anna Goncalves: University of Chicago Human Genetics program
Henry Raeder: University of Chicago Human Genetics program
Quinn Hauck: University of Chicago Human Genetics program
Karolina Dudek: University of Chicago Cancer Biology program
Students:
Azaii Calderon: summer student, MD candidate at Harvard Medical School
Julia Dorr: summer student, undergraduate at Loyola University Chicago
Remicia Germeille: summer student, undergraduate at San Diego State University
Desiree Hall: summer student, student at Kouts High School
Rachel Hodge: summer student, undergraduate at Furman University
Shaili Smith: summer student, undergraduate at the University of Chicago
Marcy’Anna Murphy: summer student, undergraduate at Emory University
Gregory W. Roloff, MD
Hematology/Oncology Fellow
Current position: Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago
Gregory Roloff joined the group during his Hematology/Oncology fellow at the University of Chicago. During that time, he was selected to serve as the chief fellow during the 2023-24 academic year. He graduated from the State University of New York with a degree in Biology and earned his medical degree from the University of Buffalo. He completed his residency at Loyola University Medical Center before moving to UChicago for his fellowship training.
Greg has a particular interest in applying contemporary genomics to the clinical care of patients with hematopoietic malignancies. During his time in the group, he authored manuscripts in Haematologica, Blood Advances, JCO Precision Oncology, Journal of Genetic Counseling, Genetics in Medicine, Frontiers in Oncology, and Leukemia & Lymphoma.
He enjoys exercising, playing golf, eating guacamole, and petting dogs - although only one at a time.
Tadeusz Kubicki, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Assistant Professor, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland
During his time in the group, Tadeusz Kubicki was a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He earned an MD from Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland and is a hematology fellow at University Hospital in Poznan. He is a member of the myeloma team at University of Chicago, with a particular focus on clinical trials and drug development. In the Drazer group, his projects involve the design and interpretation of next generation sequencing studies with a particular focus on identifying novel drivers of malignant disease.
He has authored publications in journals such as Blood, Leukemia, Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Blood Cancer Journal, Blood Neoplasia, Hemasphere, Leukemia & Lymphoma, Oncotarget, The British Journal of Haematology, and Current Opinions in Oncology.
After work he enjoys family life, good books (but Charles Bukowski would do, too) and lengthy discussions on everything from sports and global politics to modern architecture.