Fundamentals of Experimental Design and Research Techniques Mini-Course

This six-week virtual course hosted by the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) introduces modern experimental techniques commonly used in biomedical and cancer research. The series provides trainees with a conceptual framework for how laboratory experiments are designed, executed, and interpreted in contemporary research settings.

Course topics include:

Week 1: Experimental Design & Research Foundations
Week 2: Genome Engineering
Week 3: Cell Models & In Vitro Research
Week 4: Immunofluorescence & Flow Cytometry
Week 5: High-Throughput Screening & Sequencing
Week 6: Modeling Cancer In Vivo

Each session will focus on the principles behind widely used laboratory methods, how and when to apply them, and how to interpret real-world data generated from these approaches. Lectures will incorporate examples from their own cancer research to demonstrate how these techniques are used to answer meaningful biological questions.

The course is intended for undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research technicians, and any trainees who are interested in or beginning laboratory-based research. No prior advanced laboratory experience is required.

Sessions will be led by senior postdoctoral scientists and early-career faculty members with extensive hands-on experience in research methodology. Lectures will be delivered live on Zoom and will include interactive components such as live polling and Q&A to encourage engagement and discussion.

Course details

Dates: June 9 to July 14, 2026 (6 sessions, 1 session per week)
Format: Virtual (Zoom)
45-minute lecture + live Q&A
Registration link: Click here
Deadline to register: June 2, 2026
Capacity: 50

Course directors

Alice Shin, PhD
Karen J. Dunbar, PhD
Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD

Course lecturers

Karen J. Dunbar, PhD
- Week 1
Karen Dunbar, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her current research is focused on understanding how fibroblasts shape the tumor microenvironment and how their interactions with other cell types within the tumor microenvironment affect cancer initiation, progression and therapeutic responses. Her current focus is esophageal cancer and the associated precancerous conditions, including Barrett's esophagus. She integrates complex in vitro and ex vivo co-culture platforms with advanced imaging technologies to model cell-cell interactions within the tumor microenvironment. Her work is support by an American Gastroenterological Association Research Scholar Award.
Gizem Efe, PhD
- Week 2
Ricardo Cruz-Acuna, PhD
- Week 3
Robert Hincapie, PhD
- Week 4
Robert Hincapie, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Correa Lab at Columbia University. Robert’s research focuses on developing biomaterials for cellular immune engineering. These materials, such as injectable hydrogels, are engineered to present signals that recruit and modulate immune cells. Robert is particularly interested in exploring the roles of glycan-based signals to direct immunity and in developing 3D platforms for tissue cell culture. His research and training is supported by the National Institutes of Health and jointly by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Charles H. Revson Foundation.
Sam Flashner, PhD
- Week 5
Samuel Flashner, PhD is an Associate Research Scientist at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. His overarching research objective is to map and leverage therapeutic vulnerabilities to cure squamous cell carcinoma. Specifically, Dr. Flashner integrates multiomics (e.g. next generation sequencing and metabolomics), high-throughput drug and CRISPR screening, and patient derived organoid models to unwind the intersection of cancer cell metabolism and DNA damage. His work is supported by the American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Alice E. Shin, PhD
- Week 6
Alice Shin, PhD, is a postdoctoral research scientist at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her current research is on colorectal cancer and therapeutic response, with a focus on PI3K/AKT and RAS/MAPK signaling pathways. She develops and applies clinically integrated tumor modeling platforms (e.g., patient-derived organoids, in vivo models, and single-cell genomics) to identify genotype-specific therapeutic vulnerabilities. Dr. Shin leads multi-institutional translational collaborations to integrate experimental systems with real-world clinical and genomic datasets. Her work is supported by the American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship.