Lab Members
Caner Saygin, MD
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Section of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine
Committee on Cancer Biology
Dr Saygin received his M.D. from Istanbul University. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, he studied cancer stem cell biology, including mechanisms by which cancer stem cells support tumorigenesis and drive resistance to chemotherapy. During medical residency training at The Ohio State University, he focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) evolutionary patterns from a leukemia stem cell perspective. His work during clinical and research fellowship at the University of Chicago identified new therapeutic vulnerabilities for both AML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As the Principal Investigator of Saygin Lab, he continues to focus on mechanisms driving leukemogenesis from pre-existing clonal hematopoiesis (CH), and how we can leverage these unique pathways for therapeutic development. In addition to this translational research program, Dr. Saygin attends inpatient Leukemia Service at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, and runs a clinic focused on CH and high-risk leukemias.
Noreen Fulton
Lab Manager
Noreen`s work in the lab focuses on correlative studies for clinical trials, including integrated MRD analyses for leukemia studies through Alliance and investigator-initiated clinical trials at the University of Chicago.
Arda Karaoglu, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Arda received his MD from Hacettepe University in Ankara. His research aims to decipher the mechanisms driving myeloid and lymphoid leukemogenesis through multi-omic analysis of human samples and animal models.
Olivia Arnold, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Olivia received her PhD from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her research focuses on novel leukemogenic drivers and experimental therapeutics for both myeloid and lymphoid diseases.
Jommel Macaraeg
Graduate Student
Jommel is a Cancer Biology PhD student. He got his B.S. in Biology from the University of Portland. He studies novel immunologic drivers and targets in acute leukemias.
Kate Shimamoto
Research Technologist
Kate received her B.S. in Chemistry from Pomona College. Her project in the lab focuses on the role of menin inhibition in HOX-deranged T-ALL as well as transgenic animal models of clonal hematopoiesis and acute leukemia.
Ella Postich
Research Technologist
Ella received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of South Carolina. She works on correlative studies for large multicenter clinical trials, as well as studies focusing on novel experimental therapeutics for ALL.
Arjun Dhar
Research Technologist
Arjun received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Chicago. His research focuses on transgenic animal models of leukemia, along with preclinical development of new antileukemic compounds.
Lab alumni
Giorgia Giordano (Research Technologist, 2022 – 2024), currently a Cancer Biology PhD Student at The Ohio State University.