Lance Thomas

Dr. Thomas received his PhD in Cancer Biology from Wake Forest University in 2004. His dissertation explored how intracellular adapter proteins assemble onto death receptors to propagate the apoptotic signaling cascade. He accepted a postdoctoral training position in the laboratory of Dr Eugene Oltz at Vanderbilt University where he used mouse models to investigate how VDJ recombination and B-cell development are epigenetically regulated by histone methylation. Since 2010 he spent time in academics studying how the oncogenic protein Myc is recruited to target genes and worked in biotechnology where he led efforts do identify HDAC2 inhibitors for treating neurodegenerative disorders, develop genetic based companion diagnostics, and improve blood-based tests to monitor organ health after transplant. In 2023, Lance joined Dr. James Crowe’s lab at Vanderbilt Vaccine Center as an associate basic scientist.