News | Duke Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology

Event to honor graduate research brings together students and faculty mentors (from left) Colin Duckett, Charlie Gersbach, Christian McRoberts Amador, Danai Pasaradelli, Mary Klotman, Simon Gregory, Odmaa Bayaraa, Dennis Ko and Trisha Dalapati.

Christian McRoberts Amador (Pharm '26) Receives the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence

May 5, 2026

Chi Lab [secondary]: Hidden enzyme may explain muscle loss tied to cancer treatment

April 30, 2026

Alman Lab [secondary]: New Approaches to Joint Repair for Osteoarthritis Patients

April 30, 2026

Lee Zou, PhD, and Yunhao Song, PhD, found a surprising reason why ATR inhibitors work for only a subset of cancer patients with ATM kinase mutations

Zou Lab: Study suggests how to predict which cancer patients will benefit from ATR inhibitors

April 29, 2026

A new study led by Lee Zou, PhD, with key contributions from postdoctoral associate Yunhao Song, PhD, suggests the answer may lie in cGAS, a protein best known for activating immune “alarm signals” inside cells. Researchers found that cGAS levels strongly influence how well ATR inhibitors work in tumors with ATM mutations. Without cGAS, ATM-deficient cancer cells were far less sensitive to these experimental drugs — pointing to a potential new way to identify patients most likely to benefit.