Laura Hansen, PhD, has been appointed associate dean for research in the School of Medicine. In this role, Hansen will provide leadership, guidance and mentorship of research to faculty and staff, oversee internal and external collaborations in research, develop and expand major research programs and monitor research and grant compliance. The appointment was effective August 2019.
In additional to her new role, Hansen will continue to serve as a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and as director of its Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis Program.
Hansen is a productive investigator with an international reputation. She has published in some of the most prestigious journals in her field and is highly regarded by her colleagues for her innovative and in-depth research focus and for her collegial approach to science. Her research has been continuously funded since she joined Creighton in 2000.
In 2018, Hansen was honored with the Distinguished Research Career Award by School of Medicine faculty colleagues for her significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of the understanding of mechanisms of skin cancer development progress, while exemplifying the finest qualities of leadership research at Creighton and beyond.
Research in the Hansen lab revolves around the question, “How do environmental exposures reprogram molecular pathways to lead to cancer and how does this provide novel targets for cancer treatment or prevention?” Current research projects are focused on dysregulation of checkpoint signaling pathways to suppress apoptosis, novel estrogen receptor signaling, and cell competition through Flower signaling in skin cancer.
