T32 Genome and Epigenome Integrity in Cancer (GEIC) Training Program

Program Overview

The Genome and Epigenome Integrity in Cancer (GEIC) Training Program is a university-wide, NIH-supported T32 program designed to train the next generation of cancer researchers in the mechanisms and roles of genomic and epigenomic instability in cancer. GEIC supports predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows pursuing careers in basic and translational cancer research, with a strong emphasis on mechanistic discovery, interdisciplinary training, and rigorous experimental design.

Trainees in GEIC conduct research in the laboratories of faculty investigators at Columbia University, spanning diverse disciplines including cancer genetics, epigenetics, DNA damage and repair, chromatin biology, computational biology, and translational oncology. Through integrated mentorship, structured training, and professional development, GEIC prepares trainees for successful careers in academia, industry, and other research-intensive settings.

Program Goals

The overarching goal of GEIC is to serve as a premier national training program for emerging researchers who will elucidate the biological processes underlying genome and epigenome instability and translate these insights into cancer treatment.

Specific goals of the program are to:

  • Train scientists to bridge genome and epigenome integrity research, recognizing chromatin as the unifying framework linking genetic mutation and epigenome reprogramming in cancer.
  • Foster interdisciplinary research that integrates molecular biology, genomics, epigenetics, computation, and cancer biology
  • Increase the pool of future scientists engaged in this kind of research.
  • Leverage the expertise of our faculty, state-of-the-art resources at Columbia University and exceptional support from the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
  • Prepare trainees to translate mechanistic insights into novel cancer prevention, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies
  • Cultivate strong skills in critical thinking, scientific communication, grant writing, and leadership

GEIC emphasizes individualized training plans, team-based mentorship, and exposure to multiple scientific perspectives, while maintaining high standards for rigor, reproducibility, and ethical research conduct.

Program Leadership

  • Alberto Ciccia, PhD

    • Professor of Genetics and Development
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  • Chao Lu, PhD

    • Associate Professor of Genetics and Development
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  • Lorraine S. Symington, PhD

    • Harold S. Ginsberg Professor of Molecular Pathogenesis in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Genetics and Development
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  • Zhiguo Zhang, PhD

    • Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Epigenomic and Molecular Biology (in Pediatrics, Genetics and Development and in the Institute of Cancer Genetics)
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Faculty Mentors

The GEIC program includes a multidisciplinary group of faculty mentors from across Columbia University. Participating faculty represent a broad range of expertise in cancer biology, genomics, epigenetics, DNA repair, computational biology, and translational research.

Trainees

Current Trainees

Tiffany Butcher (predoc)

  • Mentor: Eric Greene, PhD
  • Project: The functions and mechanisms of Rad51 family of recombinases in DNA repair.

Gizem Efe, PhD (postdoc)

  • Mentors: Anil K. Rustgi, MD, and Carol Prives, PhD
  • Project: To elucidate the functional and mechanistic diversity among distinct TP53 mutations in driving invasion and metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Joanna Modi (predoc)

  • Mentor: Alison Taylor, PhD
  • Project: Dosage-specific effects of aneuploidy

Rayan Murtada (predoc)

  • Mentor: Dr. Yonghao Yu, PhD
  • Project: Elucidating the therapeutic mechanisms of nimbolide, a natural product that causes potent PARP1 trapping and synthetic lethality of BRCAmut cancer cells.

Filko Prugo (predoc)

  • Mentor: Kenneth P. Olive, PhD
  • Project: Understanding how Brca2 heterozygosity contributes to inflammation and early pancreatic tumorigenesis

Dhriti Tandon, PhD (postdoc)

  • Mentor: Chao Lu, PhD
  • Project: Transposon-derived neo-antigens in NSD1 mutant Cancers

Amanda Wilson, PhD (postdoc)

  • Mentor: Laura Landweber, PhD
  • Project: Modeling the Cascade of Genome Rearrangements in the Ciliate Oxytricha Trifallax

Past Trainees

Luis Flores, PhD (postdoc, 2024 cohort)

  • Mentor: Shawn Liu, PhD
  • Project: 3D genome dynamics in neuronal activity and pancreatic cancer. 

Harrison Cullen (predoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentor: Stephen P. Goff, PhD
  • Project: Examining the relationship between the cell cycle and expression of endogenous retrovirus during DNA Replication in dividing cancer cells due to dilution of epigenetic markings

Samuel Flashner, PhD (postdoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentors: Ciccia, Alberto, PhD, and Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, PhD
  • Project: Fanconi Anemia pathway as a potential therapeutic vulnerability in squamous cell carcinoma

Matthew J. Johnson (predoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentor: Lorraine S. Symington, PhD
  • Project: Roles of the Mre11 Complex in Repair of Collapsed Replication Forks

Alexandra Nogueira Ketcham, PhD (postdoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentor: Iva S. Greenwald, PhD
  • Project: DAF-18/PTEN and nonautonomous maintenance of blast cell quiescence

Michael Lu, PhD (postdoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentor: Laura Landweber, PhD
  • Project: Comparative genomics and proteomics in Oxytricha

Lingting Shi, PhD (postdoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentors: Elham Azizi, PhD, and José McFaline-Figueroa, PhD
  • Project: Tumor immune interactions in vitro in glioblastoma

Eric Whisenant (predoc, 2023 cohort)

  • Mentor: Uttiya Basu, PhD
  • Project: DNA repair and chromatin loop extrusion mechanisms in B cell development and leukemias.

Eligibility and Application Process

GEIC appointments are open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are conducting relevant research and have a GEIC mentor or GEIC co-mentor (see list above).

Application materials typically include a cover page, trainee CV, letters of support from mentor, and a research plan that includes background, specific aims, rationale, experimental plan, and references. The cancer relevance of the research will be an essential criterion in evaluating the application.

Applications usually open in the fall in InfoReady.

Contact Us

For additional information about the GEIC Training Program, please contact the CRTEC Office at canceredu@cumc.columbia.edu.