Meet MCB: Professor Erik Nelson

Dr. Nelson’s lab focuses on determining how different hormones and metabolite factors impact breast and ovarian cancer progression.

Erik Nelson receives $4.5M grant to study prevention and treatment of metastatic breast cancer

Erik Nelson, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has won a $4.5 million Era of Hope Scholar Award from the United States Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.This prestigious award supports individuals early in their careers who have demonstrated significant potential...

Cancer compound originating from U of I scientists leads to major licensing deal

University of Illinois researchers are leading the science behind a new global licensing agreement between the pharmaceutics company Bayer AG and the cancer drug development company Systems Oncology for a new breast cancer drug called ERSO.

Cholesterol metabolite causes immune system to attack T cells instead of breast cancer, study finds

In breast cancer tumors, a molecule produced when the body breaks down cholesterol hijacks the myeloid immune cells that normally arm T cells to fight cancer, a new study in mice found. Instead, the hijacked myeloid cells disarm the T cells and even tell them to self-destruct.

Researchers: Breast Cancer Deadlier in Heart Attack Survivors

Breast cancer patients are 60 percent more likely to die of cancer after surviving a heart attack, according to a new study published in Nature Medicine.

MIP Professor Benita Katzenellenbogen named Senior Advisor for the Cancer Center at Illinois

Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been appointed Senior Advisor to the Director of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), Rohit Bhargava.

Liqian Ma awarded Mead Graduate Fellowship

The University of Illinois School of Molecular and Cellular Biology is pleased to announce the inaugural recipient of the Julie and David Mead Graduate Fellowship.

Erik Nelson named Gunsalus Scholar

Erik Nelson, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, has been named the 2020-2021 Gunsalus Scholar by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for his work on cholesterol metabolism and cancer.

New compounds block master regulator of cancer growth, metastasis

Scientists have developed new drug compounds that thwart the pro-cancer activity of FOXM 1, a transcription factor that regulates the activity of dozens of genes. The new compounds suppress tumor growth in human cells and in mouse models of several types of human breast cancer.

Shapiro lab: Investigating breast cancer metastasis

The latest paper by the Shapiro lab looks at the effect of mutations in the estrogen receptor on the growth and spread of breast cancer cells. The findings were published in a paper titled "Estrogen-independent Myc overexpression confers endocrine therapy resistance on breast cancer cells...