Joann Sweasy, PhD, an expert in DNA repair and genomic instability, has joined the University of Arizona Cancer Center as Associate Director for Basic Sciences. Dr. Sweasy also has been appointed to a joint faculty position at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, in the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Radiation Oncology.
Joann Sweasy, PhD
In her new role as Associate Director for Basic Sciences, she will develop and promote research for the growth in cancer basic sciences. She also will work closely with the University of Arizona Cancer Center research programs, ensuring that basic science is well integrated across the four established programs: cancer biology, therapeutic development, cancer imaging, and cancer prevention and control.
Dr. Sweasy’s research focuses on genomic instability and how it leads to mutations that result in human diseases, such as cancer. A major focus of her laboratory is to understand how single nucleotide polymorphisms found in DNA repair genes, such as the genes that function in homology-directed repair, nonhomologous end-joining, and base-excision repair in the germline and somatic tissues, impact cancer risk and treatment.
Prior to joining the University of Arizona, Dr. Sweasy was Associate Director for Basic Sciences and Co-Leader of the Radiobiology and Radiotherapy Program at the Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center. While at Yale, she had oversight of pilot funding for the Yale Cancer Center and all cancer-focused internal grant competitions at Yale University.
Dr. Sweasy received her doctorate in microbiology at Rutgers University and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington. ■
