Our goal is to do impactful, rigorous science in a supportive, collaborative and inclusive environment
Priya received her Bachelor of Science degree at the California Institute of Technology and her PhD in Biophysics from the University of California. She was a Leukemia and Lymphoma Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute/MIT. She started her independent career at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UMMSOM) as an Assistant Professor. She is currently a tenured Professor of Radiation Oncology at UMMSOM and the co-Leader of the Tumor Biology program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (https://umiamihealth.org/en/sylvester-comprehensive-cancer-center/research/research-areas/research-programs/tumor-biology-program). She is also the founding director of the NCI-funded Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)/CREATE program (https://med.miami.edu/graduate-studies/summer-programs). Her research has been continuously funded since 2009 through NCI, DOD, Florida Dept of Health and private foundations.
She is a member of the graduate programs in Cancer Biology and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, and teaches graduate-level classes on p53, cellular senescence, apoptosis, DNA damage and cancer, ROS biology, and targeting the RAS oncogene.
Read more about her scientific journey and philosophy here (https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20230328/cancer-program-coleader-says-lean-into-clinical-research-stay-persistent-seek-mentors).
Sheela Pokharel
(Senior Research Associate)
Beatriz Mateo-Victoriano
(Cancer Biology PhD student; NCI F31 awardee)
Shomita Ferdous, PhD
(Postdoctoral Associate)
Haley Chandler
(Undergraduate Researcher)
Ola Umeh
(Undergraduate Researcher,
Co-mentored with Dr. Landolf Rhode Barbarigos, College of Engineering)
"It's all about the U!" Lab picture, Spring 2025
Active recruitments:
We are accepting PIBS rotation students, please email Dr. Rai with a statement of interest
We are recruiting highly motivated candidates looking for experience in multidisciplinary basic/translational cancer biology projects. Must have strong verbal and written communication skills in English. Please apply to the following positions through the UMiami Careers website. At this time, we can only accept applicants who are US citizens or permanent residents.
1) A postdoctoral associate with demonstrated expertise in cancer biology (R100087392) - at a minimum, must have cancer research publications as a first or co-first author in PubMed-indexed journals.
2) A research associate (R100079931) - must be competent in core molecular biology skills (DNA amplification/cloning, qPCR, immunoblotting etc.) and in mammalian cell culture. Experience with animal models is strongly preferred.
