糖心破解版

Education

POSTGRADUATE
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Prostate Cancer

GRADUATE 
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy in Physiology

UNDERGRADUATE
The University of Akron
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Biology

Research Interests

Dr. Burnham's research focuses on biological determinants of prostate cancer tumor aggressiveness and worse survival outcomes in Black men. Her academic training, research experience, community engagement, and collaborative track record have provided her with a unique skillset with which to approach prostate cancer research translationally.  

Dr. Burnham's laboratory is specifically interested in the effect of HER2/ERBB2 overexpression on cellular function, clinical features in patients, treatment response for patients, and survival outcomes. Additionally, she seeks to identify genetic variations as well as multiomic signatures associated with HER/ERBB2 amplification and overexpression. These projects are funded by the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Georgia CTSA.

Dr. Burnham's overarching research goal is to develop therapeutic strategies using a precision medicine approach to improve overall survival for currently incurable stages of the disease and ultimately reduce lethal prostate cancer.

Specialties

Dr. Burnham co-directs the Prostate Cancer Precision Prevention Program (PCP3) which provides prostate cancer screening in the form of PSA testing provided at no cost to men in metropolitan Atlanta and rural Georgia.

Publications

• Contemporary Update on Clinical and Experimental Prostate Cancer Biomarkers: A Multi-Omics-Focused Approach to Detection and Risk Stratification. Hachem S, Yehya A, El Masri J, Mavingire N, Johnson JR, Dwead AM, Kattour N, Bouchi Y, Kobeissy F, Rais-Bahrami S, Mechref Y, Abou-Kheir W, Woods-Burnham L. Biology (Basel). 2024 Sep 25;13(10):762. doi: 10.3390/biology13100762. PMID: 39452071.
• Revisiting HER2 in Prostate Cancer from an Inclusive Perspective: From Biomarkers to Omics. Mavingire N, Moore JC, Johnson JR, Dwead AM, Cropp CD, Mechref Y, Kobeissy F, Rais-Bahrami S, Woods-Burnham L. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Sep 25;16(19):3262. doi: 10.3390/cancers16193262. PMID: 39409883.
• Johnson JR, Woods-Burnham L, Hooker SE, Batai K, Kittles RA. Genetic contributions to prostate cancer disparities in men of West African descent. Front. Oncol. 2021; 11.770500. doi: 10.33889/fonc.2021.770500. PMCID: PMC8606679.
• Woods-Burnham L, Johnson JR, Hooker SE, Bedell FW, Dorff TB, Kittles RA. The role of diverse populations in U.S. clinical trials. Med. 2021; 2(1):21-24. PMID: 35590131.
• Woods-Burnham L. Not all champions are allies in health disparities research. Cell. 2020. 183(3):580-582. PMID: 35590131.
• Woods-Burnham L, Stiel L, Martinez SR, Sanchez-Hernandez ES, Wilson C, Ruckle H, Almaguel F, Carpten JD, Stern MC, Williams DR, Montgomery S, Casiano CA. Psychosocial stress, glucocorticoid signaling, and prostate cancer health disparities in African American men. Cancer Health Disparities. 2020; doi:10.9777/chd.2020.1005. PMCID: PMC8896511.
• Genetic Ancestry Analysis Reveals Misclassification of Commonly Used Cancer Cell Lines. Hooker SE Jr, Woods-Burnham L, Bathina M, Lloyd S, Gorjala P, Mitra R, Nonn L, Kimbro KS, Kittles RA. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 Jun;28(6):1003 1009. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-1132. Epub 2019 Feb 20. PMID: 30787054. 
• Woods-Burnham L, Cajigas-Du Ross CK, Love A, Basu A, Dura虂n AM, Sanchez- Hernandez ES, Martinez SR, Ortiz-Hernandez GL, Stiel L, Wilson C, Montgomery S, Roy S, Casiano CA. Glucocorticoids upregulate stress oncoproteins associated with therapy-resistance in African American and European American prostate cancer cells. Scientific Reports. 2018; 8(1): 15063. PMC4712632.
• Physician Consultations, Prostate Cancer Knowledge, and PSA Screening of African American Men in the Era of Shared Decision-Making. Woods-Burnham L, Stiel L, Wilson C, Montgomery S, Dur谩n AM, Ruckle HR, Thompson RA, De Le贸n M, Casiano CA. Am J Mens Health. 2018 Jul;12(4):751-759. doi: 10.1177/1557988318763673. Epub 2018 Apr 16. PMID: 29658371.

Please visit to view additional publications.

Honors and Awards

• Present 鈥� 2023: Georgia CTSA KL2 Scholar
• Present 鈥� 2020: Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
• 2025-26: ZERO Prostate Cancer Blitz the Barriers Partner of the Year Award
• 2025:
  • NIH Health Disparities LRP Award  
  • NIH RCMI Early-Stage Investigator of the Year
  • 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America (Cell)
  • Health Care Champion Award 鈥淚nnovator of the Year鈥擬en鈥檚 Health鈥�
• 2024: 糖心破解版 Early-Stage Investigator of the Year
• 2024-21: NIH Health Disparities LRP Award  
• 2023:
  • 糖心破解版 Million Dollar Research Club
  • Bronze Telly in Non-Broadcast 鈥� Diversity & Inclusion, "What is a   Clinical Research Study?" patient education video in English and Spanish
  • 44th Annual Telly Awards  
• 2021-20: The Cancer Health 25: Black Lives Matter
• 2020-18: NCI T32 Fellow, City of Hope DNADRS Program  
• 2020: Health Equities Pilot Award, City of Hope   
• 2020: Faces of Cell, Cell Press
• 2020: Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program Early Investigator Award
• 2020: Health Equities Pilot Award, City of Hope
• 2019: Endocrine Society FLARE Fellow