Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute
Category
September 29, 2026
Throughout September, we’ve taken you behind the gold ribbon to show what childhood cancer research really looks like—from understanding cancer’s genetic blueprint to studying DNA damage, RNA biology, tumor behavior, and potential new treatments. At the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute at UT San Antonio, these questions are more than research topics. They are the [...]September 23, 2026
Daohong Zhou, MD TIF Director What if researchers could switch off a gene inside a cancer cell and discover that the cancer could no longer survive without it? Finding vulnerabilities like that is part of the work the Target Discovery Core (TDC) at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute makes possible. Cancer research can generate an enormous [...]September 22, 2026
Before researchers can understand what makes childhood cancer different, they must first see those differences. That is where the Genome Sequencing Facility (GSF) at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute plays a critical role. Cancer begins with changes inside cells. Some involve DNA. Others affect how genes are turned on or off, how RNA carries [...]September 21, 2026
Every cancer leaves clues in its DNA. The challenge is finding the clues that matter. At the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, the Zheng Lab, led by Siyuan Zheng, PhD, uses cancer genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology to search enormous amounts of molecular data for changes that help cancers begin, grow, and respond—or fail to respond—to [...]September 18, 2026
Why does one child develop cancer while another doesn’t? That question drives the work of Gail Tomlinson, MD, PhD, and her team at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute. The Tomlinson Lab studies the genetic origins of childhood cancer, with a particular focus on hepatoblastoma and other pediatric liver tumors. Their research has helped identify [...]September 16, 2026
Our cells constantly repair DNA damage. Understanding how that repair works—and what happens when it fails—can reveal important clues about cancer. At the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute at UT San Antonio, Patrick Sung, DPhil, leads the Sung Lab, which studies the molecular machinery that repairs damaged DNA. Think of DNA as a cell’s instruction manual. When those instructions [...]September 15, 2026
What if childhood cancer depends on a communication system researchers could learn to interrupt? At the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, the Shiio Lab, led by Yuzuru Shiio, studies the molecular signals that help childhood cancers grow and survive. The team combines proteomics—the large-scale study of proteins—with molecular and cellular biology to identify previously unknown [...]September 14, 2026
A tumor doesn’t grow alone. Cancer cells live within a complex neighborhood of immune cells, supportive cells, blood vessels and other structures. Together, they form what scientists call the tumor microenvironment—and that environment can help cancer grow, spread, and resist treatment. At the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, the Rao Lab, led by Manjeet Rao, PhD, is working [...]September 11, 2026
Some of the most important instructions inside a cancer cell may come from genetic material that doesn’t make proteins at all. At the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute, the Pertsemlidis Lab, led by Alexander Pertsemlidis, PhD, combines computational biology, cancer biology and genetics to study molecules called non-coding RNAs—including microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. Despite their name, these molecules are [...]September 10, 2026
What if we could stop an aggressive childhood brain tumor by disrupting the instructions it depends on to grow? At the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, the Penalva Lab, led by Luiz O.F. Penalva, PhD, studies RNA—the molecules that help cells decide when, where, and how genetic instructions are used. The lab is particularly interested [...]