Team photo | Stephen Gruber Lab | City of Hope

Research Lab Overview

Dr. Gruber and Bita Nehoray, senior genetic counselor | City of Hope — Dr. Gruber and Bita Nehoray, senior genetic counselor

Our lab utilizes statistical modeling to understand the development of colorectal cancers in different populations, such as the Ashkenazi Jewish community. Our research specializes in cancer risks related to the APC I1307K founder mutation.

We are a collaborating site to The Li-Fraumeni & TP53: Understanding & Progress (LiFT UP) study, an international effort to better understand cancer risk, modifiers of risk, and clinical outcomes for individuals and families with mutations, variants and pathogenic variants in the TP53 gene.

Principal Investigator: Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.

An internationally recognized cancer geneticist and oncologist, Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., leads City of Hope's Center for Precision Medicine and is a principal investigator for Cancer Genetics Research Registry, a cornerstone of our Clinical Cancer Genomics Community Research Network.

Full bio

Lab Members

Heather Hampel, M.S., CGC

Associate Director, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics

Recruited to the Department of Medical Oncology in November 2021 from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heather Hampel is an internationally-recognized cancer genetic counselor and researcher with a particular emphasis on universal tumor screening of all colorectal and endometrial cancer patients for Lynch Syndrome. Full bio

Gregory E. Idos, M.D., M.S.

Gastroenterologist

Dr. Idos is a board-certified gastroenterologist and trained cancer geneticist who specializes in caring for patients with Lynch syndrome, FAP (familial adenomatous polyposis) and other inherited syndromes. The goal of his research is to find new ways to prevent cancer and to improve treatment and care for cancer patients. Full bio

Kevin McDonnell, M.D., Ph.D.

Medical Oncologist

Dr. McDonnell specializes in medical oncology and clinical cancer genetics. Named a Top Cancer Doctor by Los Angeles Magazine, Dr. McDonnell brings more than two decades of expertise to his current role at City of Hope. Full bio

Ilana Soloman | Manager | Precision Medicine | City of Hope | Duarte, CA

Ilana Solomon, M.A., Sc.M., CGC

Manager, Center for Precision Medicine

Ilana Solomon, Sc.M., CGC, is manager of the Precision Medicine Program and a licensed board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She received her master’s degree in genetic counseling from the Johns Hopkins/National Human Genome Research Institute. Ilana joined City of Hope's Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2013, where she provides cancer genetics services for patients and families suspected of having a hereditary predisposition to cancer. Since 2019, she has also managed and developed City of Hope’s Precision Medicine Program to provide all City of Hope patients with genomic-driven care. Ilana has research interests in health care communication and implementation, genetic literacy, and ELSI in genomics. She helped co-develop Helping Oncology Patients Explore (HOPE) Genomics: a patient-directed IT platform for cancer genome sequencing education and return of results. She is faculty for City of Hope's Intensive Course in Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment. She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and Southern California Genetic Counselors.

Joe Bonner, faculty, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics

Joseph Bonner, Ph.D.

Associate Research Professor

Mai M. Castillo

Administrative Program Coordinator, Center for Precision Medicine

Project Manager, Center for Precision Medicine

Sidney Lindsey

Data Analyst

Bita Nehoray | Genetic Counselor | Clinical Cancer Genomics | City of Hope | Duarte, CA

Bita Nehoray, M.S., CGC

Senior Genetic Counselor, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

Bita Nehoray, M.S., CGC, is a licensed, board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She received her master's in human genetics and genetic counseling from Stanford University. Bita joined City of Hope's Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2012, where she provides cancer genetics services for patients and families suspected of having a hereditary predisposition to cancer, focusing on Li-Fraumeni syndrome and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential.Full bio

Lawrence A. Shaktah, M.S.

Data Analyst

Lawrence A. Shaktah, M.S., is a data analyst harnessing the power of R programming and bioinformatics to derive meaningful insights from complex clinical datasets. His research aims to support data-driven decision-making and explore new methodologies.

Lorena Reynaga, M.P.H.

DCC Project Administrator, Center for Precision Medicine

Katherine Roth, M.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Precision Medicine

Research Focus Cancer genomics DNA damage response pathways Mutational signatures Education 2022-present, T32 Training Program DNA Damage Response and Oncogenic Signaling (DNADRS) 2018-2021, Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program, City of Hope, Duarte, CA and Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 2015-2018, Internal Medicine Residency Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 2011-2015, Doctor of Medicine, Houston Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX Awards 2017-2018, Excellence in Primary Care Award, Department of Medicine, USC 2015-2016, Intern of the Year, Department of Medicine, USC 2015, Travel Award, Society for Melanoma Research Congress Memberships 2016-present, American College of Physicians 2015-present, Society for Melanoma Research 2013-present, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Jessica Wang

Clinical Research Associate I

Xiaoyu Xia, Ph.D.,

Program Manager, Center for Precision Medicine

Join Our Team

Join one of our labs and help us on our mission to save lives.

Lab Alumni

Crystal Adams — Reno, Nevada
Kandace Amend — Optum Health
Erin Blake — Presbyterian Healthcare Services
Chase Bowen — University of Texas
Marci Ciccone — University of Southern California
Talie Cloud — Health Plan of San Mateo
Michelle Cote — Karmanos Cancer Center, Wayne State University
Jonathan Dakubo — University of Ghana
Michele Gornick — University of Michigan
Sharon Hensley-Alford — Henry Ford Health System
Maria Dolores Iniesta — MD Anderson
Joanne Jeter — University of Utah
Kirsten Kangelaris — University of San Francisco
Charalampos Lazaris — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Asaf Maoz — Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Marilena Melas — New York University Genome Center
Leah Naghi — City of Hope
Bethany Niell — Moffitt Cancer Center
Jen Poynter — University of Minnesota
Blake Powell — Tulane University
Kristen Purrington — Karmanos Cancer Center, Wayne State University
Chenxu Qu — Beijing, China
Leon Raskin — Abbvie
Laura Rozek — Georgetown University
Sumita Roy — Wayne State University
Jewel Samadder — Mayo Clinic
Stephanie Schmit — Cleveland Clinic
Sana Shakour — University of Michigan
Eduardo Villar — MD Anderson
Joann Yuan — Optum Health

Partnerships

Who We Partner With

We collaborate with organizations in progressing the development of new treatments in our specialized areas of research.

Dr. Gruber and Josef Herzog, scientist | City of Hope

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Support Us

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Our Publications

Deciphering colorectal cancer genetics through multi-omic analysis of 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of European and east Asian ancestries.

Fernandez-Rozadilla, C., Timofeeva, M., Chen, Z., Law, P., Thomas, M., Schmit, S., Díez-Obrero, V., Hsu, L., Fernandez-Tajes, J., Palles, C., Sherwood, K., Briggs, S., Svinti, V., Donnelly, K., Farrington, S., Blackmur, J., Vaughan-Shaw, P., Shu, X. O., Long, J., Cai, Q., … Peters, U. (2023).

Associations between glycemic traits and colorectal cancer: a Mendelian randomization analysis.

Murphy, N., Song, M., Papadimitriou, N., Carreras-Torres, R., Langenberg, C., Martin, R. M., Tsilidis, K. K., Barroso, I., Chen, J., Frayling, T. M., Bull, C. J., Vincent, E. E., Cotterchio, M., Gruber, S. B., Pai, R. K., Newcomb, P. A., Perez-Cornago, A., van Duijnhoven, F. J. B., Van Guelpen, B., Vodicka, P., … Gunter, M. J. (2022).

A human MUTYH variant linking colonic polyposis to redox degradation of the [4Fe4S]2+ cluster.

McDonnell, K. J., Chemler, J. A., Bartels, P. L., O'Brien, E., Marvin, M. L., Ortega, J., Stern, R. H., Raskin, L., Li, G. M., Sherman, D. H., Barton, J. K., & Gruber, S. B. (2018).

Cumulative exposure to medical radiation for children requiring surgery for congenital heart disease.

Glatz, A. C., Purrington, K. S., Klinger, A., King, A. R., Hellinger, J., Zhu, X., Gruber, S. B., & Gruber, P. J. (2014).

Common variation in ISL1 confers genetic susceptibility for human congenital heart disease.

Stevens, K. N., Hakonarson, H., Kim, C. E., Doevendans, P. A., Koeleman, B. P., Mital, S., Raue, J., Glessner, J. T., Coles, J. G., Moreno, V., Granger, A., Gruber, S. B., & Gruber, P. J. (2010).

Genetic anthropology of the colorectal cancer-susceptibility allele APC I1307K: evidence of genetic drift within the Ashkenazim.

Niell, B. L., Long, J. C., Rennert, G., & Gruber, S. B. (2003).

BLM heterozygosity and the risk of colorectal cancer.

Gruber, S. B., Ellis, N. A., Scott, K. K., Almog, R., Kolachana, P., Bonner, J. D., Kirchhoff, T., Tomsho, L. P., Nafa, K., Pierce, H., Low, M., Satagopan, J., Rennert, H., Huang, H., Greenson, J. K., Groden, J., Rapaport, B., Shia, J., Johnson, S., Gregersen, P. K., … Offit, K. (2002).

Familial colorectal cancer in Ashkenazim due to a hypermutable tract in APC.

Laken, S. J., Petersen, G. M., Gruber, S. B., Oddoux, C., Ostrer, H., Giardiello, F. M., Hamilton, S. R., Hampel, H., Markowitz, A., Klimstra, D., Jhanwar, S., Winawer, S., Offit, K., Luce, M. C., Kinzler, K. W., & Vogelstein, B. (1997).