Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., is the Dean and Qiushi Chair Professor of School of Public Health, Vice President of The Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Executive Dean of the D. H. Chen School of Universal Health, and Director of National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine at Zhejiang University. She serves as the chief scientific officer and principal investigator for the Healthy Zhejiang One Million People Cohort, Center for Big Data Research in Medical Insurance & Health Policy, and Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine. Dr. Wu has been recognized as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists and as a Highly Cited Researchers by Elsevier. Before joining Zhejiang University, Dr. Wu served at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that ranked the first in the American Cancer Hospitals as Tenured Professor, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health for 27 years. She had served as endowed Ashbel Smith Professorship and endowed Betty B. Marcus ChairProfessorship in Cancer Prevention. Dr. Wu had served as Leader for the Premalignant Genome Atlas program, Director for the Center for Translational and Public Health Genomics, Director of the Patient History Database, Chair for the Department of Epidemiology, and Leader of the Department of Epidemiology Program. Dr. Wu has made impactful contribution on using highly innovative and integrative strategies to build big data, discover novel modifiable risk factors, uncover molecular signatures, and create robust prediction models across the cancer continuum with evidence-based artificial intelligence to advance precision health. She has published over 650 peer-review papers, invited articles, books, and editorials etc. in journals such as Lancet, Lancet Oncology, British Medical Journal, JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature and Nature Genetics. Dr. Wu’s publications have an H index of 112 with a total of 50750 citations. The most cited single paper was her Lancet 2011 paper with 2598 citations. She served as the PI or project PI on a total of 16 large multi-million-dollar program projects including U01, SPORE, U19 funding mechanisms from the U.S. NCI/NIH, and the PI or co-PI for a total of 30 R01-equvalent research grants. Dr. Wu has received many awards, including MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Faculty Scholar Award, the Margaret and James A. Elkins Jr. Faculty Achievement Award in Cancer Prevention, the Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence in Research, senior fellow of MD Anderson Research Trust, the Robert Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award, and Leading Mentor in Cancer Prevention. In recognition of her substantial contribution to medicine, Dr. Wu was named as one of Houston's 50 Most Influential Women of 2014.

Brian Blagg, Ph.D., Charles Huisking Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is Notre Dame’s first Director of the Warren Family Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development. After earning his B.A. in Chemistry and Environmental Studies at Sonoma State University, his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Utah, and completing an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship from The Scripps Research Institute, Blagg started a medicinal chemistry lab at the University of Kansas in 2002. Now at Notre Dame, his lab continues its focus on the biochemical nature of chaperone proteins and protein folding in relation to cancer. Cancers are inherently more dependent on chaperone proteins because of their constant division, and Blagg’s team works to selectively inhibit particular chaperone proteins to effectively halt cancer growth. His lab also studies the possibility of utilizing chaperone proteins to effectively re-fold malfunctioning proteins to treat and prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Blagg was attracted to Notre Dame because of the University’s ambitious commitment to elevate its graduate programs. Since becoming a faculty member, he has found Notre Dame’s unique atmosphere—one that includes a caring and personable administration, a strong alumni base, and a passion for knowledge—to be liberating and intellectually exciting. When not at work, Dr. Blagg enjoys watching the Irish football team and spending time with his children.