Janaye Stephens

Assistant Research Scientist

Janaye Stephens received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from New York University. For her master’s thesis in Dr. Robert Froemke’s lab, she studied the role of oxytocin in reproductive and maternal physiology, graduating with distinction.

Her research experience spans multiple fields, including lung cancer biology in the lab of Dr. Kwok-Kin Wong, as well as neurobiology and animal behavior. She brings a strong background in animal care, mouse neurosurgical techniques, and histological methods. Janaye is particularly interested in the intersection of research and veterinary medicine and is currently preparing to apply to veterinary school.

In the Liddelow Lab, she works with graduate student Michael O’Dea to investigate astrocyte heterogeneity and how it interfaces with responses to disease.

KEY PUBLICATIONS

  1. Minder JL, Winokur SB, Stephens J, Tong J, Cassel NL, Schuster L, Issa HA, Cammer M, Khatri L, Moisan G, Alvarado-Torres M, Aristizábal O, Wadghiri YZ, Kim SY, Valtcheva S, Lu CPJ, Chao MC, Froemke RC (2025) Oxytocin induces embryonic diapause. Sci Adv 11(10):eadt1763. PMID: 40043121.

  2. Okato A, Utsumi T, Ranieri M, Zheng X, Zhou M, Pereira LD, Chen T, Kita Y, Wu D, Hyun H, Lee H, Gdowski AS, Raupp JD, Clark-Garvey S, Manocha U, Chafitz A, Sherman F, Stephens J, Rose TL, Milowsky MI, Wobker SE, Serody JS, Damrauer JS, Wong KK, Kim WY (2024) FGFR inhibition augments anti–PD-1 efficacy in murine FGFR3-mutant bladder cancer by abrogating immunosuppression. J Clin Invest 134(2):e169241. PMID: 38226620.

  3. Li D, Geng K, Hao Y, Gu J, Kumar S, Olson AT, Kuismi CC, Kim HM, Pan Y, Sherman F, Williams AM, Li Y, Li F, Chen T, Thakurdin C, Ranieri M, Meynardie M, Levin DS, Stephens J, Chafitz A, Chen J, Donald-Paladino MS, Powell JM, Zhang ZY, Chen W, Ploszaj M, Han H, Gu SS, Zhang T, Hu B, Nacev BA, Kaiza ME, Berger AH, Wang X, Li J, Sun X, Liu Y, Zhang X, Bruno TC, Gray NS, Nabet B, Wong KK, Zhang H (2024) Targeted degradation of oncogenic KRAS G12V triggers antitumor immunity in lung cancer models. J Clin Invest 135(2):e174249. PMID: 39718828.

  4. Zhang H, Nabel CS, Li D, O'Connor RÍ, Crosby CR, Chang SM, Hao Y, Stanley R, Sahu S, Levin DS, Chen T, Tang S, Huang HY, Meynardie M, Stephens J, Sherman F, Chafitz A, Costelloe N, Rodrigues DA, Fogarty H, Kiernan MG, Cronin F, Papadopoulos E, Ploszaj M, Weerasekara V, Deng J, Kiely P, Bardeesy N, Vander Heiden MG, Chonghaile TN, Dowling CM, Wong KK (2023) Histone deacetylase 6 inhibition exploits selective metabolic vulnerabilities in LKB1 mutant, KRAS driven NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 18(7):882-895. PMID: 36958689.

  5. Pan Y, Hao Y, Han H, Chen T, Ding H, Labbe KE, Sum E. Guidry K, Hu H, Sherman F, Geng K, Stephens J, Chafitz A, Tang S, Huang H-Y, Peng C, Almonte C, Lopes JE, Losey HC, Winquist RJ, Velcheti V, Zhang H, Wong K-K (2022) Nemvaleukin alfa, a novel engineered IL-2 fusion protein, drives antitumor immunity and inhibits tumor growth in small cell lung cancer. J Immunother Cancer 10(9):e004913. PMID: 36472839.