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Members

Amir Goldkorn, MD

Amir Goldkorn is a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine and a board-certified medical oncologist specializing in genitourinary malignancies. As a physician-scientist, he serves as Associate Director for Translational Research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he also founded and directs an NCI-designated Liquid Biopsy Core. Dr. Goldkorn leads liquid biopsy studies in phase III multi-center prostate and bladder cancer trials conducted by the NCI Southwest Oncology Cooperative Group (SWOG), where he serves as translational medicine chair for prostate cancer trials.

Amir Goldkorn smiling
Photo: Steve Cohn Photography

Dr. Goldkorn received a Bachelor’s Degree in Neurobiology from Harvard University and a Medical Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he also completed Internal Medicine residency. Subsequently, Dr. Goldkorn trained in Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he remained for 3 additional years of postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Elizabeth Blackburn, recipient of the Nobel Prize for her discovery of telomerase.

When not in the lab or clinic, Dr. Goldkorn enjoys hiking, cooking, and watching old Seinfeld episodes with his wife and daughters and with Tigger, their absurdly energetic boxer.

Current Members

  • Tong Xu, MD-PhD

    Senior Research Associate

    Ph.D. Cellular and Molecular Biology, UCSD

    M.D. Shandong University

    From: Shandong, China

  • Daniel Bsteh, PhD

    Research Associate/Liquid Biopsy Core Manager

    Ph.D. Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, 2021

    M.S. Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, 2016

    From: Salzburg, Vienna

  • Emmanuelle Hodara

    MD-PhD Student, Cancer Biology & Genomics

    B.S. Biochemistry, UCLA, 2015

    From: Lyon, France

  • Close up of Maheen in front of a research poster. Maheen Iqbal

    Ph.D. Candidate, Cancer Biology & Genomics

    M.S. Biotechnology, New York University, 2019

    B.S. Biotechnology, Government College University, Lahore, 2014

    From: Lahore, Pakistan

  • Smruthi Maganti

    Research Lab Technician

    B.S. Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 2019

    From: Cerritos, California

  •  Lisa Swartz

    M.S. Student, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine

    B.S. Biological Sciences, UCSB, 2021

    From: Los Gatos, California

  •  Aubree Mades

    M.D. Student

    B.S. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, USC, 2020

    From: Pembroke Pines, Florida

  • Chentzu “Betty” Yu

    M.S. Student, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine

    B.S. Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University, 2022

    From: Taipei, Taiwan

  • Alex Renn

    M.D. Student

    B.S. Biochemistry, UCB, 2019

    From: Sacramento, California

  • Nathan Lin

    B.S. Student, Biochemistry, USC

    From: Diamond Bar, California

  • Marcos D. Cervantes

    M.D. Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine, MX

    B.A. Chicano Studies, UCSB

    From: Oxnard, California

 

Former Lab Members

Research Associates

Gareth Morrison, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Tong Xu, Ph.D., Medical Oncology
Yucheng Xu, Ph.D., Medical Oncology
Lijun Xue, Ph.D. Medical Oncology

Clinical Fellows

Cory Hugen, M.D., Urologic Oncology
Brian Hu, M.D., Urologic Oncology
Mehrdad Alemozaffar, M.D., Urologic Oncology
Adrian Fairey, M.D., Urologic Oncology
Navneet Virk, M.D., Medical Oncology
Sujie Tang, M.D., Medical Oncology
Umair Ghani, M.D., Medical Oncology
Irene Kang, M.D., Medical Oncology
Daniel Zainfeld, M.D. Urologic Oncology
Yi-Tsung (“John”) Lu, Hematology Oncology Fellow

Medical & Surgical Residents

Holly Rochefort, M.D., General Surgery
Kari Kubalanza, M.D., Internal Medicine
Kristopher Wentzel, M.D., Internal Medicine
Phillip Kim, M.D., Urology
David Hermel, M.D., Internal Medicine​

Research Technicians

Alexander Cunha

Visiting Scholars

Lilie Ong, Masters, Netherlands
Blerta Thaqi, University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim, Germany
Tien-Chan Hsieh, MD, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

Graduate Students

Shijia Wang, Masters Program
Kaijie He, Ph.D. Program
Anisha Madhav, Masters Program
Nita Jojo, Masters Program
Satheesh Ganesan, PIBBS Program
Max Serowoki, PIBBS Program
Shuting Hung, PIBBS Program
Nofar Avihen Schahaf, Masters Program

Medical Students

Jamie Brush, M.D. Program, USC
Piyanka Chandra, M.D. Program, USC
Carrie Li, M.D. Program, USC
Quinn Howard, M.D. Program Howard University
Fortis Gaba, M.D. Program University of Edinburgh
Jenny Wei, M.D. Program, USC​

Undergraduate Students

Brandon Lee, University of Pennsylvania
Niloofar Kosari, USC
Harsh Chawla, USC
Kais Rona, USC
Justin Allen, USC
Sahil Patel, USC
Andrew Mecum, Emory University
Kevin Delijani, Emory University

University of Southern California