Bro. Jelani C. Zarif earns prestigious Michigan State alumni award

Bro. Jelani C. Zarif, [Kappa Delta Lambda, ’08] was recently honored with the Michigan State University College of Natural Science 2023 Recent Alumni award. According to college leaders, the award is presented annually to an alumnus of the natural science program who has graduated within the last 15 years and demonstrates outstanding professional growth and commitment to teaching, research, and outreach activities.

“I am very humbled by this honor from my graduate alma mater, and to be recognized for my efforts to make a difference in the Spartan tradition,” said Bro. Zarif, a Robert E. Meyerhoff Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. “The support I have received and continue to experience from Dean Phillip Duxbury, my professors, and fellow researchers from the College is a true testament to its commitment to making a thriving planet with healthy communities.”

Bro. Zarif leads a laboratory that studies molecular mechanisms by immune cells within the tumor microenvironment that ultimately promote tumor growth, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis. The Zarif Lab also focuses on discovering and investigating new biomarkers that may be expressed on myeloid cells known as macrophages that could predict clinical response to standard-of-care treatments for prostate cancer.

A Chicago native, Dr. Zarif obtained both his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Jackson State University and then earned his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Michigan State University.  He then completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has been the recipient of several research awards, including the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Young Investigator award, The Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund, the Department of Defense Translational Research award, and the NCI K22 Career Transition award.