Esmeralda Casas-Silva is a scientific program manager at the National Cancer Institute, where she leads the Cancer Moonshot Biobank project. Her research focuses on gene expression and cancer biology, specifically the genetic drivers of cancer. She blogs at Vulgar Science. Expertise: Biomedical science, oncology, human genetic networks Location: Washington, D.C. Email: mail@emicasas.com | emi.casas-silva@nih.

Mariel Vazquez is a professor of mathematics and of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of California, Davis. She is faculty director of the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science. Vazquez’s research lies at the intersection of mathematics, polymer physics and molecular biology.

Dr. Wendy Chung is a clinical and molecular geneticist and the Kennedy Family Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University. Her work is in human genetic research, looking at diseases such as breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, inherited arrhythmias, obesity, diabetes and autism, among others.

Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable is director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health. He is an expert in Latinx health care and health care disparities, as well as smoking cessation.

Trachette L. Jackson is professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan. Her research is in mathematical oncology — developing mathematical approaches that address how tumors progress and how to target them with drugs at the molecular level. She and her colleagues have developed several mathematical models of cancer stem cell-driven tumor growth.

Oncologist and epidemiologist Dr. Otis W. Brawley is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he focuses on developing cancer screening strategies and ensuring their effectiveness. He also directs community outreach programs for underserved populations throughout Maryland.