Jane Churpek, MD, MS is a physician‑scientist and Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine, fellowship in Hematology and Oncology, and a master’s degree in Public Health Sciences at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Churpek’s clinical work focuses on diagnosing and managing patients and their families with inherited blood disorders and cancer predisposition syndromes. She incorporates state-of-the-art clinical and research-based genetic testing into care strategies to help patients and families get a diagnosis and optimize management of their often complex hereditary conditions. Dr. Churpek is passionate about partnering with her patients to perform key research studies to understand how each hereditary disorder causes health problems, how to detect these health problems early, and ultimately get closer to prevention. She leads multiple clinical and laboratory-based research efforts at UW Health/University of Wisconsin-Madison. At UW Health. she is the site Principal Investigator of their Tier 1 Team Telomere Center of Excellence, coordinating multiple subspecialists and researchers to improve care for these patients. She also co-leads an international, multicenter registry studying ANKRD26-associated thrombocytopenia and contributes to national registries focused on inherited bone marrow failure syndromes like telomere biology disorders, Li Fraumeni syndrome, and multiple other cancer predisposition syndromes (e.g. DDX41-associated Familial MDS/Leukemia, BAP1 Tumor Predisposition syndrome, etc.).

Dr. Churpek’s lab research combines human genetics, molecular biology, and biochemical approaches to uncover mechanisms underlying inherited blood, lung, and cancer disorders. Her group applies cutting-edge functional genomics—including CRISPR-based assays, protein modeling, animal models and cell-based reporter systems—to determine the impact of rare and novel germline variants. By integrating biochemical insights with clinical phenotypes, her work reveals how inherited mutations disrupt cellular pathways such as homologous recombination, replication stress response, and telomere stability. Her laboratory also studies the earliest stages in cancer and blood disorder development trying to understand the multi-step process taking an individual from at-risk to developing overt disease and how exposures may impact this process.

All of these efforts have one ultimate goal: help more patients at risk for cancer or blood disorders to lead long, healthy lives.

Publications

Awards:

• 2022 – Department of Medicine Junior Faculty Excellence in Research Mentoring Award, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2022 – Elizabeth Silverman, MD Excellence in Teaching Award, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2018 – The Biological Sciences Division of The University of Chicago Distinguished Investigator, Junior Investigator Award
• 2016 – The American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award
• 2012 – Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator Award
• 2011 – Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award

Dalton’s research career has focused on translational models and molecular mechanisms of various cancers. Dalton received his BS from Cornell University and upon graduation, he joined the Cancer Biology program at UW-Madison where he received his PhD. As a graduate student, he investigated drivers of castration-resistant prostate cancer, examining how YAP1 and FGF5 regulate androgen receptor expression. Dalton stayed at UW-Madison as a postdoctoral fellow for the UW-Biotechnology Center. During this time, he investigated Neurofibromatosis Type I, examining and validating the first RNA-sequenced porcine model of plexiform neurofibromas. As a scientist in the Churpek lab, Dalton’s primary focus is on investigating the impact of PARP inhibitors in vitro and in vivo. His work studies how these drugs affect patients with germline pathogenic variants in DNA damage repair genes such as BRCA1 and ATM. Using in vitro and in vivo models, he is studying how these drugs alter hematopoiesis with the goal of helping to prevent serious bone marrow toxicities in people.

Dalton is a dedicated cancer biologist with 10+ years of in vivo and in vitro experience and an interest in unraveling the complexities of cancer to drive advancements in the field of oncology research. He is committed to making a meaningful impact on diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes.

Sarah received her BS degree in Zoology and MS degree in Biological Sciences from Western Illinois University. Sarah has over 10 years of experience working with a variety of animals in both laboratory and field research settings and has been a certified RLAT since 2020. During her master’s studies she investigated the role of habitat type on raccoon microsatellite diversity and genetic differentiation. She now works in the Churpek lab where her research is focused on modeling the effects of PARP inhibitor treatment on hematopoietic cells in mice. Sarah presented her work as first author in an oral presentation at the annual American Society of Hematology meeting in 2024. Sarah is also the lab R and adobe illustrator expert, aiding other lab members in data analysis and visualization.

Bianca graduated from UW-Madison in 2024 with a major in biology and a certificate in Southeast Asian Studies. She has been doing cancer research at the Wisconsin Institute of Medical Research since high school, with hopes of applying to medical school in the coming years. Currently, as the clinical research assistant for the Churpek Lab, Bianca works to consent patients seen in Dr. Churpek’s Hereditary Cancer Clinic to our research registry where we use medical information, family history, and a patient specimens to study how genes play a role in health conditions of blood, lung, or cancer. Additionally, she works in collaboration with the Precision Medicine Tumor Board to facilitate Wisconsin-wide multidisciplinary discussions about interesting genetic changes and their impact on the diagnosis and management of hematologic disorders and cancers.

Billy received his BS in Natural Science with a major in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He spent nearly 20 years as a researcher in the Hector DeLuca UW Biochemistry lab, focusing on the role of vitamin D in human health. In the Churpek lab, Billy leads the day-to-day operational activities of the research program, ensuring alignment with the lab’s scientific objectives and strategic goals. He facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration, oversees budgeting and resource allocation, and develops internal processes, policies, and institutional agreements to support efficient and impactful research.

Paloma received her medical degree from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil. In Dr. Churpek’s lab, she analyzed whole exome sequencing data to identify clonal hematopoiesis and germline variants in cancer susceptibility genes. Her work included developing a pipeline for variant analysis and interpretation of whole exomes, which was later adapted to whole genomes. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she currently works as a fellow physician in Hematology and Oncology.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Cabral PL, Aimalla N, Shoger K, Caskey JR, Zurbriggen L, Shah N, Basharat A, Moat LF, Reinig E, Long K, Pozzo P, Kitchner T, Eickhoff J, Carter TC, Churpek JE. Clonal Hematopoiesis Prevalence Years Before a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis: A Case-Control Study. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Aug;9:e2400760. doi: 10.1200/PO-24-00760. Epub 2025 Aug 6. PMID: 40768677.
• Banaszak, Lauren G et al. “Implementation of and Systems-Level Barriers to Guideline-Driven Germline Genetic Evaluation in the Care of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” JCO precision oncology vol. 8 (2024): e2300518. doi:10.1200/PO.23.00518

Nikhila completed her Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at Marshfield clinic, where she served as their Chief Resident during her fourth year. Nikhila was the first resident from Marshfield Clinic to do an away research rotation. During this research rotation in the Churpek laboratory, she partnered with Paloma Cabral to analyze whole exome sequencing data for clonal hematopoiesis and germline cancer susceptibility variants. She also analyzed whole genomes of patients with rare hereditary hematology disorders. She is now a hematology oncology fellow at the University of Nebraska.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Cabral PL, Aimalla N, Shoger K, Caskey JR, Zurbriggen L, Shah N, Basharat A, Moat LF, Reinig E, Long K, Pozzo P, Kitchner T, Eickhoff J, Carter TC, Churpek JE. Clonal Hematopoiesis Prevalence Years Before a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis: A Case-Control Study. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Aug;9:e2400760. doi: 10.1200/PO-24-00760. Epub 2025 Aug 6. PMID: 40768677.

Kelcy graduated from Drake University with Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and in Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology, and later earned her Master of Medical Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Emory University School of Medicine. She is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Senior Genetic Counselor at UW Health, where she provides comprehensive genetic evaluations for individuals across the lifespan, addressing a broad range of conditions including benign and malignant hematologic disorders, solid tumors, and pulmonary diseases. Kelcy partners with Dr. Jane Churpek in the Adult Hereditary Hematology and Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Clinic and collaborates with the Churpek Lab team to identify eligible participants, facilitate study enrollment, and advance ongoing research initiatives.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• • Vagher, J., Zakas, A., Donovan, L., Shoger, K., Naumer, A., Bly, J., Smith-Simmer, K., Maese, L., Schiffman, J., Kohlmann, W., Garzon, R., Churpek, J. E., & Osman, A. E. G. (2025). Hematologic Malignancy Frequency, Phenotypes, and Outcomes in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. JCO precision oncology, 9, e2400860. https://doi.org/10.1200/PO-24-00860. PMID: 40540701.
  • Sande, C. M., Chen, S., Mitchell, D. V., Lin, P., Abraham, D. M., Cheng, J. M., Gebhard, T., Deolikar, R. J., Freeman, C., Zhou, M., Kumar, S., Bowman, M., Bowman, R. L., Zheng, S., Munkhbileg, B., Chen, Q., Stanley, N. L., Guo, K., Lapite, A., Hausler, R., Taylor., D., Corines, J., Morrissette J. J., Liberman, D. B., Yang, G., Shestova, O., Gill, S., Zheng, J., Smith-Simmer, K., Banaszak, L. G., Shoger, K, N., Reinig, E. F., Peterson, M., Nicholas, P., Walne, A. J., Dokal, I., Rosenheck, J. P., Oetjen, K. A., Link, D. C., Gelman, A. E., Reilly, C. R., Dutta, R., Lindsley, R. C., Brundige, K. J., Agarwal, S., Bertuch, A. A., Churpek, J. E., Tague, L. K., Johnson, F. B., Olson, T. S., & Babushok, D. V. (2025). ATM-dependent DNA damage response constrains cell growth and drives clonal hematopoiesis in telomere biology disorders. The Journal of clinical investigation, 135(8), e181659. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI181659. PMID: 40179146.
  • Banaszak, L. G., Cabral, P. L., Smith-Simmer, K., Hassan, A., Brunner, M., Fallon, M., Shoger, K., Lovrien, L., Golner, D., Zurbriggen, L., Mattison, R., Gahvari, Z., Hall, A., Nadiminti, K., Reinig, E., & Churpek, J. E. (2024). Implementation of and Systems-Level Barriers to Guideline-Driven Germline Genetic Evaluation in the Care of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. JCO precision oncology, 8, e2300518. https://doi.org/10.1200/PO.23.00518. PMID: 38848520.
  • Banaszak, L. G., Smith-Simmer, K., Shoger, K., Lovrien, L., Malik, A., Sandbo, N., Sultan, S., Guzy, R., Lowery, E. M., & Churpek, J. E. (2023). Implementation of a prospective screening strategy to identify adults with a telomere biology disorder among those undergoing lung transplant evaluation for interstitial lung disease. Respiratory medicine, 220, 107464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-023-07173-x. PMID: 37951311.
  • Kim, J. A., Shen, S., Matson, D. R., Lovrien, L. N., Smith-Simmer, K. J., Keles, S., Churpek, J. E., & Bresnick, E. H. (2023). Discriminating activities of DEAD-Box Helicase 41 from myeloid malignancy-associated germline variants by genetic rescue. Leukemia, 37(1), 235–239. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-022-01753-4. PMID: 36347925.
  • Walker, M., Folstad, M., Smith-Simmer, K., Reinig, E., Nadiminti, K., Lovrien, L., Churpek, J. E., & Banaszak, L. G. (2022). A Case of Isolated Myeloid Sarcoma Associated With Germline EGFR T790M Variant: The Importance of Recognizing Potential Germline Variants on Somatic Tumor Sequencing Panels. Journal of hematology, 11(2), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.14740/jh983. PMID: 35573754. 
  • Churpek, J. E., & Smith-Simmer, K. (2021). DDX41-Associated Familial Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In M. P. Adam (Eds.) et. al., GeneReviews®. University of Washington, Seattle. PMID: 34723452.
  • Zurbriggen, L., Smith, K., Churpek, J. E. (2020). Hereditary Hematologic Malignancy Syndromes in Adults: From AYA to AARP. The Hematologist, 17(5).

Conference Abstracts from work in the Churpek lab:

• • Kelly, A., M., Banaszak, L., G., Smith-Simmer, K., Shoger, K., Donohue, S., M., Lowery, E., & Churpek., J. E. Prevalence and Spectrum of Autoimmune Diseases Among Patients with Telomere Biology Disorder. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting; 2023; San Deigo, CA. Https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2023-181333.
  • Sande, C. M., Chen, S., Mitchell, D. V., Lin, P., Gebhard, T., Deolikar, R. J., Freeman, C., Zhou, M., Kumar, S., Zheng, S., Munkhbileg, B., Stanley, N. L., Guo, K., Hausler, R., Taylor., D., Corines, J., Morrissette J. J., Liberman, D. B., Yang, G., Smith-Simmer, K., Banaszak, L. G., Shoger, K, N., Nicholas, P., Walne, A. J., Dokal, I., Rosenheck, J. P., Churpek, J. E., Johnson, F. B., Olson, T. S., & Babushok, D. V. DNA Damage Response Constrains Cell Growth and Drives Clonal Hematopoiesis in Telomere Biology Disorders. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, 2023; San Deigo, CA. Https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2023-173666.
  • Banaszak, L. G., Cabral, P., Smith-Simmer, K., Hassan, A., Brunner, M., Fallon, M., Lovrien, L., Golner, D., Zurbriggen, L., Mattison, R., Gahvari, Z., Hall, A., Nadiminti, K., Reinig, E., & Churpek, J. E. A quality improvement initiative to improve implementation of guideline-concordant hereditary myeloid malignancy syndrome evaluation. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting; 2022; New Orleans, LA. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2022-167969.

Rachel is in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) and began her training at UW-Madison after completing her undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics at The Ohio State University. She is currently in the Cellular and Molecular Biology program and is primarily interested in medical genetics and rare disease research. Her project in the Churpek Lab focuses on Telomere Biology Disorders where she aims to improve our abilities to diagnose these diseases by integrating functional variant testing, genetic analysis, and clinical data.

Awards from work in the Churpek lab:

• NIH TL1 Predoctoral Training Program via UW Madison Institute for Clinical and Translational Research

Sharanya is a Cancer Biology PhD student in the Churpek Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she is investigating the role of homologous recombination repair deficiencies (HRD) in mesothelioma. Her research focuses on characterizing the genome-wide mutational landscape associated with HRD to develop a prediction model for platinum-based chemotherapy response in mesothelioma. She employs a multifaceted approach that integrates functional HR assays, mesothelioma cell line models, CRISPR-based perturbation, and comprehensive genomic profiling, including whole-genome and transcriptomic analyses, to construct clinically relevant HRD classification systems. Sharanya earned her Master’s of Research in Medical Genetics degree from Newcastle University, UK, where she contributed to multiple projects in translational oncology, including liquid biopsy characterization in neuroblastoma and the influence of exercise-induced IL-6 on DNA repair in colorectal cancer.

Awards from work in the Churpek lab:

• 2025 Thomas and Bonnie Minter Graduate Student Cancer Research Award Honorable Mention

Julia completed a two-year pre-pharmacy fast-track program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree at the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy. As a member of Dr. Eisenstein’s Lab, she received the Sophomore Research Fellowship in 2023 for her project investigating the role of the FBXL5 protein in erythropoietin (EPO) regulation and red blood cell production using an in vivo mouse model. Building on this work, her current research focuses on elucidating the interplay between iron regulatory protein 1 (IRP1), FBXL5, and EPO-mediated erythropoiesis through studies with a floxed FoxD1 mouse model. With the Churpek lab, she will be pursuing a Path of Distinction in Research Certificate. Her project in the Churpek Lab focuses on investigating the mechanisms underlying anemia patients treated with PARP inhibitors, integrating clinical data with in vivo models to advance breast cancer treatment strategies.

Alayna is an undergraduate student studying Biology and Global Health. She has a strong interest in pursuing medicine and is gaining valuable experience working in the Churpek lab. This is her first experience as part of a lab, and she is excited to learn more about inherited genetic factors that cause increased risk of cancer and bone marrow disorders. She is currently involved in mouse work as well as processing and assessing the samples taken in the lab.

Sariya Benslimane is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studying Biology and Global Health, with certificates in Biocore Honors and Leadership. She serves as a Genetic Data Analyst in the Churpek Lab, working under Sharanya Nath on the mesothelioma project. She is dedicated to pursuing a career as a Physician-Scientist with interests in genetics, oncology, and data science.

Sabirah is an undergraduate student at UW-Madison studying Biology and Entrepreneurship. In the future, she plans on attending Dental School and earning her DDS. She is working to determine the prevalence of rare hereditary hematology disorders among patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. She is also contributing to the Precision Medicine Tumor Board dataset.

Sarah Elghannam is an undergraduate studying at UW-Madison, studying Biology with a certificate in Global Health. In her future, she hopes to attend Medical School. In the Churpek Lab, she is working to determine the prevalence of inflammatory phenotypes among patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. She is also contributing to the Precision Medicine Tumor Board dataset.

Ayden is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology. He is interested in pursuing a career in medicine and potentially medical research, which led him to join the Churpek Lab to gain hands-on research experience. Under the mentorship of Rachel Kirchner, he contributes to the Telomere Biology Disorder project.

Lauren graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and received her MD degree from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She then completed internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her fellowship, she worked in Dr. Churpek’s lab conducting human genetics research, focusing on identifying new genes that cause inherited bone marrow failure and hereditary predisposition to hematologic malignancies. She also helped to develop and study clinical workflows to streamline germline genetic testing of patients with blood cancers and pulmonary fibrosis. Currently, Lauren is co-leading an international, multicenter registry of patients with ANKRD26-associated thrombocytopenia in order to better understand hematologic malignancy risk, spectrum, and clinical outcomes.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Banaszak, Lauren G et al. “Implementation of and Systems-Level Barriers to Guideline-Driven Germline Genetic Evaluation in the Care of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” JCO precision oncology vol. 8 (2024): e2300518. doi:10.1200/PO.23.00518
• Banaszak, Lauren G et al. “Implementation of a prospective screening strategy to identify adults with a telomere biology disorder among those undergoing lung transplant evaluation for interstitial lung disease.” Respiratory medicine vol. 220 (2023): 107464. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2023.107464
• Gao, Xin et al. “Role of ASXL1 in hematopoiesis and myeloid diseases.” Experimental hematology vol. 115 (2022): 14-19. doi:10.1016/j.exphem.2022.09.003

Awards from work in the Churpek lab:

• NIH T32 Postdoctoral Training Grant in Hematology
• UW Department of Medicine Trainee Pilot Grant
• UW Department of Medicine Fellow Outstanding Research Award

John collaborated with the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) in a DevOps capacity to set up and manage an on-premises computational server for the lab and managed analytical software on lab computing devices. He developed and implemented novel workflows in R and Python for both germline and somatic variant detection. Additionally, John supported ongoing research efforts by creating data visualization and analysis workflows, providing programming instruction, and conducting code reviews for lab members. He also established and maintained version control repositories for lab workflows using GitLab.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Cabral PL, Aimalla N, Shoger K, Caskey JR, Zurbriggen L, Shah N, Basharat A, Moat LF, Reinig E, Long K, Pozzo P, Kitchner T, Eickhoff J, Carter TC, Churpek JE. Clonal Hematopoiesis Prevalence Years Before a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis: A Case-Control Study. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Aug;9:e2400760. doi: 10.1200/PO-24-00760. Epub 2025 Aug 6. PMID: 40768677.

Current Position: Data Engineer II at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Oswaldo received his Biologist, Masters in Sciences (Immunology), and Doctorate (Immunogenetics) degrees at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Brett Finlay Laboratory in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. In 2023, he worked as a scientist in the Churpek Lab focused on homologous recombination defects in human mesothelioma tumors.

Current Position: Independent Health and Science writer and editor

Sarah joined the Churpek Lab as a part of an independent project for one of her biology courses as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For this project she focused on the process of genetic sequencing for one patient from start to finish. After the completion of this project, Sarah joined the lab for research credit for the rest of her time as an undergraduate and focused on genetic sequencing for patients and their families with potential hereditary cancer syndromes. She designed primers, ran PCR and gel electrophoresis, and once prepared, sent the patient samples for genetic sequencing. For another project, Sarah stained red blood cells and imaged them to quantify the number of Howell Jolly bodies induced by chemotherapy or by genotype.

Current Position: Medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin

Madilynn graduated from UW-Madison in May of 2025 with a B.S. in Genetics & Genomics and Health Promotion & Health Equity. While in the lab, Madilynn investigated genetic variation in patients with hematologic disorders. Projects she assisted in included TERT promoter sequencing to detect low variant allele frequency hotspot mutations, analysis of multiple tissues to identify common somatic mutations and copy number variants in patients with telomere biology disorders, and rare variant discovery for patients with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Sande, Christopher M et al. “ATM-dependent DNA damage response constrains cell growth and drives clonal hematopoiesis in telomere biology disorders.” The Journal of clinical investigation vol. 135,8 e181659. 3 Apr. 2025, doi:10.1172/JCI181659

Current Position: Genetic Counseling Assistant at the Medical College of Wisconsin

Kyle worked for two years as a clinical research coordinator in the Churpek lab from 2022 to 2024. Prior to working in the lab, he received a B.S. degree in biochemistry from UW-Madison in 2018 and a Master of Bioethics (MBE) from Johns Hopkins University in 2022. As a part of the Churpek lab, he was responsible for obtaining informed consent from research subjects, managing the collection of samples to be stored in our biobank, and maintaining detailed records of the pertinent health information and family histories of research participants. He presented a poster at the UW Department of Medicine Research Day 2024, and he received an award for his poster, “Hematologic Malignancy Frequency, Phenotype, and Outcomes in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.” He left the lab in 2024 to be a medical student at the UW School of Medicine and Public health where he hopes to promote ethics in both health care and clinical research.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Sande, Christopher M et al. “ATM-dependent DNA damage response constrains cell growth and drives clonal hematopoiesis in telomere biology disorders.” The Journal of clinical investigation vol. 135,8 e181659. 3 Apr. 2025, doi:10.1172/JCI181659
• Banaszak, Lauren G et al. “Implementation of and Systems-Level Barriers to Guideline-Driven Germline Genetic Evaluation in the Care of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” JCO precision oncology vol. 8 (2024): e2300518. doi:10.1200/PO.23.00518
• Vagher, Jennie et al. “Hematologic Malignancy Frequency, Phenotypes, and Outcomes in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.” JCO precision oncology vol. 9 (2025): e2400860. doi:10.1200/PO-24-00860
• Donovan, Lauren et al. “Hematologic malignancies in Li-Fraumeni syndrome.” JCO vol. 42, Num 16_suppl (2024)
• Sande, Christopher et al. “DNA Damage Response Constrains Cell Growth and Drives Clonal Hematopoiesis in Telomere Biology Disorders” Blood vol. 142, suppl 1 (2023)
• Kelly, Alaina et al. “Prevalence and Spectrum of Autoimmune Diseases Among Patients with Telomere Biology Disorder” Blood vol. 142, suppl 1 (2023)
• Banaszak, Lauren G et al. “Implementation of a prospective screening strategy to identify adults with a telomere biology disorder among those undergoing lung transplant evaluation for interstitial lung disease.” Respiratory medicine vol. 220 (2023): 107464. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2023.107464
• Cabral PL, Aimalla N, Shoger K, Caskey JR, Zurbriggen L, Shah N, Basharat A, Moat LF, Reinig E, Long K, Pozzo P, Kitchner T, Eickhoff J, Carter TC, Churpek JE. Clonal Hematopoiesis Prevalence Years Before a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis: A Case-Control Study. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Aug;9:e2400760. doi: 10.1200/PO-24-00760. Epub 2025 Aug 6. PMID: 40768677.

Awards from work in the Churpek lab:

• 2024 Department of Medicine Research Day: Researchers, Scientists, Research Staff Clinical Research Poster Award

Current Position: Medical student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

During Miguel’s time in the Churpek Lab through the MSTP Summer Program, he worked on a project aimed at sequencing the TERT promoter region in blood from patients with telomere biology disorders. Miguel worked on developing a PCR protocol to sequence this promoter region, amplified and cleaned PCR products, and analyzed the resulting long read sequencing data.

Current Position: Recent graduate from Fordham University and planning to apply to medical school

Lauren graduated from UW-River Falls in 2019 with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. She joined the Churpek Lab in early 2020 and worked as a clinical research coordinator. Her work included patient and specimen database development, data collection, patient recruitment, and study regulatory management. She left the lab in 2022 to pursue Genetic Counseling and has since graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin with her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling.

Publications from work in the Churpek lab:

• Walker M, Folstad M, Smith-Simmer K, Reinig E, Nadiminti K, Lovrien L, Churpek JE, Banaszak LG. A Case of Isolated Myeloid Sarcoma Associated With Germline EGFR T790M Variant: The Importance of Recognizing Potential Germline Variants on Somatic Tumor Sequencing Panels. J Hematol. 2022 Apr;11(2):71-76. doi: 10.14740/jh983. Epub 2022 Apr 12. PMID: 35573754
• Kim JA, Shen S, Matson DR, Lovrien LN, Smith-Simmer KJ, Keles S, Churpek JE, Bresnick EH. Discriminating activities of DEAD-Box Helicase 41 from myeloid malignancy-associated germline variants by genetic rescue. Leukemia. 2023 Jan;37(1):235-239. doi: 10.1038/s41375-022-01753-4. Epub 2022 Nov 8. PMID: 36347925; PMCID: PMC9981304.
• Banaszak LG, Cabral PL, Smith-Simmer K, Hassan A, Brunner M, Fallon M, Shoger K, Lovrien L, Golner D, Zurbriggen L, Mattison R, Gahvari Z, Hall A, Nadiminti K, Reinig E, Churpek JE. Implementation of and Systems-Level Barriers to Guideline-Driven Germline Genetic Evaluation in the Care of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. JCO Precis Oncol. 2024 Jun;8:e2300518. doi: 10.1200/PO.23.00518. PMID: 38848520; PMCID: PMC11234342.
• Banaszak LG, Smith-Simmer K, Shoger K, Lovrien L, Malik A, Sandbo N, Sultan S, Guzy R, Lowery EM, Churpek JE. Implementation of a prospective screening strategy to identify adults with a telomere biology disorder among those undergoing lung transplant evaluation for interstitial lung disease. Respir Med. 2023 Dec;220:107464. doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2023.107464. Epub 2023 Nov 10. PMID: 37951311.

Current Position: Laboratory Genetic Counselor at Ocshner Health

Julia Shen is an undergraduate student at UW-Madison, majoring in Computer Science with a certificate in Biology. In the Churpek Lab, she worked at the intersection of computational and clinical research, developing tools to integrate genomic and clinical data from mesothelioma patients. She focused on visualizing patterns in homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) scores alongside clinical features such as histology, treatment response, and survival. In her previous responsibilities, she contributed to pipeline automation efforts, writing code to enable efficient and parallelized processing of whole genome data.