Dr. Mingjia Tan has over twenty years of experience in basic and translational oncology. He is a Research Scientist in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, working under the direction of Dr. Mukesh Nyati. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, P.R. China in 1997 and his Master of Science in Genetic Toxicology from Tongji Medical University, P.R. China in 1994. Dr. Tan received his postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular Biology, Parke- Davis Pharmaceutical Research, division of Warner-Lambert Company and the Department of Biochemistry, University of Michigan. He was recruited to the Radiation Oncology Department faculty in 2014.

Dr. Tan is currently focusing on developing a small molecule (DPI-503), an orally active small molecule, which can degrade activated EGFR by blocking the protein-protein interactions that promote the stability of onco-proteins to improve the outcome of lung and pancreas cancer treatment using transgenic and xenograft mouse model. He also focuses on SAG (Sensitive to Apoptosis Gene), which is an essential RING component of SCF (Skp1, Cullins, F-box protein) E3 ubiquitin ligase. By promoting ubiquitination and degradation of various key regulatory proteins which control several important biological processes. The major goals are to determine the involvement of EGFR and SAG in tumor development in lung and pancreas. They are seeking to validate EGFR and SAG E3 ubiquitin ligase as a novel anti-cancer target and provide proof-of-concept evidence for future discovery of specific inhibitors.