As the University of Georgia’s 18th Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar, Dr. Yana Zavros will build the foundation of a strong research enterprise at the School of Medicine. She is renowned for her extensive interdisciplinary research related to gastric and pancreatic cancer, and one of her most recent grants from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases totaled $14 million.
Yana Zavros
Research Center Director and Professor of the Department of Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
Education
- Ph.D, University of Melbourne, 1998
- B.Sc (Honors), University of Melbourne, 1995
- B.Sc., Biological Sciences, LaTrobe University, 1994
Professional Appointments
- Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, University of Georgia School of Medicine, 2024-present
- Research Center Director and Professor of the Department of Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (DIBS), University of Georgia School of Medicine, 2024-present
- Professor and Associate Head for Research, University of Arizona, 2019-2024
- Director, Tissue Acquisition and Cellular/Molecular Analysis Shared Resource, University of Arizona Cancer Center, 2019-2024
- Professor with tenure, University of Cincinnati, 2017-2019
- Associate Professor with tenure, University of Cincinnati, 2012-2017
- Assistant Professor, Department of Cincinnati, 2007-2012
Awards & Honors
- 2023 Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS) Torchbearer Award
- 2023 BIO5 Rapid Grant
- 2020 Sparking bench-to-bedside Team Science Award, University of Arizona Cancer Center
- 2018 Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Grant Award, University of Cincinnati
- 2017 Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Grant Award, University of Cincinnati
- 2014 Nominated for Mrs. A.B. Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Cincinnati
- 2013 Dean’s Award for Outstanding Mentorship, University of Cincinnati
- 2012 Robert and Sally Funderburg Research Award in Gastric Cancer, American Gastrological Association
- 2011 “Hedgehog signaling mediates the proliferation and recruitment of spontaneously transformed bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells during the development of gastric cancer”, Abstract submitted to Digestive Diseases Week, Chicago, Distinguished Abstract Plenary
- 2010 Akeson Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, University of Cincinnati
- 2010 Nominated candidate for the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, University of Cincinnati
- 2010 “Restoration of Sonic Hedgehog in the Adult Stomach Results in the Recovery of the Gastric Epithelium to the Normal Differentiated State,” Abstract submitted to Digestive Disease Week, New Orleans, Distinguished Abstract Plenary
- 2010 University of Cincinnati Dean’s List
- 2010 American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award
- 2009 Akeson Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, University of Cincinnati (nominee)
- 2009 Daniel L. Kline Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring, Teaching and Service, University of Cincinnati, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
- 2008 Poster of Distinction, Abstract submitted to Digestive Disease Week (AGA), San Diego, CA
- 2006 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), University of Melbourne, Australia, RD Wright Biomedical Career Development Award
- 2006 Experimental Biology Meeting, San Francisco, APS Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology Section Awards, Research Recognition Award
- 2004 University of Michigan, Department of Internal Medicine Research Symposium Award
- 2001 Gastrointestinal Response to Injury, Montebello Canada. Travel Scholarship
- 1999 Third Conference on Gastrin, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Travel Scholarship.
- 1999 10th International Workshop on CHRO, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Young Investigator Award
- 1999 AstraZeneca/Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Grant-in-Aid for Overseas Study
Areas of Expertise
- Organoid technology
- Cancer biology
- Cushing’s disease
- Gastric cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
Publications
Patents
- Autologous Tumor Organoid and Immune Cell Co-Cultures and Methods of Use As Predictive Models For Pancreatic Cancer Treatment, 2019-071; 10738-783
- Organoid Models of Pituitary Adenomas, Patent Filed, UA22-154
- Patent Application: Genetically Engineered Human Pituitary Corticotroph Tumor Organoids Exhibit Divergent Responses to Selective Glucocorticoid Receptor Modulators Patent, Attorney Docket No.: 085178-1346305-0l 7700US
