OUR TEAM

Daniel Wahl, M.D., Ph.D.

Achtenberg Family Research Professor in Radiation Oncology

Principal Investigator

Dr. Wahl completed his MD, PhD and radiation oncology training at the University of Michigan, which included a research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Theodore Lawrence. Dr. Wahl is now an Associate Professor and a physician scientist in the Department of Radiation Oncology where he cares for patients with brain tumors in the clinic. His laboratory studies the relationship between abnormal metabolism and therapy resistance in glioblastoma and other brain tumors. Dr. Wahl has received numerous honors for this work including an American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award, career development grants from the NIH and the American Cancer Society and has been named a Senior Scholar by the Forbes Institute and an Emerging Scholar by the Taubman Institute. He is delighted to be leading a team of talented researchers, all of whom are dedicated to improving treatments for patients with aggressive brain tumors.

Co-Investigator

Weihua Zhou, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Zhou’s research focuses on discovering new mechanisms linking signaling pathways and DNA damage & repair and identifying their function in health and diseases. Following her newly discovered GTP-Rac1-Abi-1-S323A pathway in regulating DNA repair and genotoxic treatment resistance (Cancer Discovery, 2024), Dr. Zhou’s research interests include: 1) developing new strategies to enhance genotoxic treatment efficacy in cancer; 2) exploring the function of the newly discovered GTP signaling pathway in tumorigenesis in genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs); 3) identifying the biological function of the GTP signaling pathway in physiological processes.

Research Staff

Kari Wilder-Romans

Kari is from Ann Arbor, MI and holds an MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In the Wahl lab, Kari manages day to day lab operations as well as performs many in vivo experiments studying glioblastoma metabolism. Outside of lab, Kari likes to hike with their dogs, watch and play soccer, and is a frequent volunteer at live music venues around town.

Angelica Lin

Angelica graduated from MSU with a BS in Microbioiology. As a research specialist in the Wahl lab, she performs a wide variety of both in vitro and in vivo research focusing on glioblastoma metabolism. Outside of lab Angelica enjoys spending time with family and friends and traveling.

Alex O'Brien

Alex was born and raised in Pinckney, Michigan. She attended Western University her freshman year but transferred to Colorado State. After enjoying a few years of snowboarding and schooling out west she came back home to finish up her bachelor's at Michigan State. Alex has always enjoyed science and the problem-solving nature of medicine. In the lab Alex helps with many of our in vivo mouse experiments and has been focusing on experiments involving the potential dependence Glioblastomas have on Serine metabolism. We are hoping to exploit the cancers' dependence on this metabolite to improve therapeutic response.

Jie Xu

Jie Xu is a senior scientist who completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan. His research in the Wahl lab focuses on the effect of protein methylation on the sensitivity of radiotherapy in glioblastoma.

Post-doctoral Fellows

Andrew Scott, Ph.D.

Dr. Scott’s translational research focuses on mapping and targeting the rewiring of glioma and brain metabolism across systems including in vitro organoid and gliomasphere models, in vivo intracranial models, and studies of human patients with brain cancer. His interdisciplinary work spans the labs of Dr. Wahl and Drs. Costas Lyssiotis and Jack Parent, encompassing clinical measurements of human intracranial metabolic activity alongside mechanistic laboratory studies, which collectively drive his work in development of personalized metabolic therapies. His research has been supported by awards including the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32), the University of Michigan Cancer Biology T32 Training Program, and the Rogel Cancer Center Postdoctoral Scholarship.

Link to publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/andrew.scott.4/bibliography/public/

Sravya Palavalasa, Ph.D.

Sravya is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Wahl lab. Sravya completed her medical training (MBBS) after earning a PhD in Neuro-Oncology from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in India. Her research focused on mitochondrial DNA content and its role in radiation resistance in Glioblastoma(GBM). In the Wahl lab, Sravya's research is centered on metabolism in the tumor microenvironment and its role in repair of radiation induced DNA damage in GBMs. The goal of her research is to identify strategies to sensitize GBM to radiation therapy. Outside the lab, Sravya likes to sing, dance, read English fiction and paint

Ningning Liang, Ph.D.

Ningning obtained his PhD in Physiology from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health under the direction of Prof. Huiyong Yin studying how fatty acids influence hepatic urate synthesis by activating the purine salvage pathway. Ningning is co-mentored by Dr. Costas Lyssiotis, and in the Wahl and Lyssiotis labs, he is using mass spectrometry to study how serine metabolism influences brain tumors after radiation. Outside of lab he enjoys reading, running, and carpentry.

Erik Peterson, Ph.D.

Erik is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Wahl lab and is from Elmwood Park, Illinois. Erik received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2024, as well as a B.S. (2014) and M.S. (2017) from Northern Michigan University (NMU), where he worked in the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center studying glioblastoma tumors. After NMU, he worked for two years at the Van Andel Research Institute as a research technician studying Ewing sarcoma tumors. Currently, he is studying how metabolism affects radiation therapy resistance in H3K27M-mutant pediatric gliomas. Erik is co-mentored by Dr. Maria Castro. Outside of lab he enjoys cooking, video games, hunting, fishing, and frisbee golf.

Graduate Students

Ziqing Zhu

Ziqing is a student from the U-M/CSU Xiangya School of Medicine (XYSM) MD/PhD Dual Degree Program and studied Clinical Medicine in CSU XYSM in China. She is interested in DNA repair and translational cancer research and is interested in helping to fill in the gap between bench and bedside.

Baharan Meghdadi

Baharan is a graduate student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and is co-mentored by Dr. Deepak Nagrath. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. In her free time she enjoys drawing and making new recipes as well as gathering with her friends and new people.

Liddy McCulla

Liddy graduated from the University of Delaware in 2021 with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Genetics and minors in History and Public Policy. While in undergrad, she studied early embryonic development using the purple sea urchin as a model. Upon graduation, Liddy joined Dr. Meera Murgai's Lab at the National Cancer Institute, where she investigated the role of perivascular cells in the pre-metastatic microenvironment. She is currently co-mentored between Drs. Dan Wahl and Yatrik Shah, where she studies metabolic alterations in IDH1 mutant gliomas. Outside of the lab, Liddy enjoys trying out new recipes, getting outside to hike and camp, and listening to live music.

Luke Hess

Luke graduated from the University at Buffalo with a B.S. in Biochemistry. At UB, Hess worked in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Surtees, focusing on investigating the role of elevated dNTPs in trinucleotide repeat expansion. Additionally, he worked at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Dr. Katerina Gurova’s lab, where he investigated type-1 interferon activation in response to chromatin damage. Hess is currently co-mentored by Drs. Dan Wahl and Meredith Morgan, studying the use of impiridones such as ONC201 and ONC206 to sensitize DIPG to standard-of-care radiation therapy. Outside the lab, Hess is an avid romance novel reader and loves singing in his a cappella group, The Gradtones.

Undergraduate Trainees