JOAQUIN ESPINOZA was named associate director of science at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz).
His team will continue investigating diverse cancer genes, while also focusing on the remarkable fact that the population with Down syndrome has a much lower risk of developing solid tumors.
Espinosa’s team has moved from the University of Colorado Boulder to the Department of Pharmacology at UCD-SOM in Aurora, where Espinosa will hold a full professorship.
In his new position overseeing science at the Crnic Institute, Espinosa is tasked with expanding beyond the existing Crnic Grand Challenge Grants program that has stimulated 28 labs and nearly 100 scientists to work on Down syndrome research at the University Of Colorado.
He will foster growth in key areas such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders and clinical research in association with the Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
He will also work on establishing public-private-university alliances to stimulate research that benefits people with Down syndrome.
Previously Espinosa held the position of associate professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he will continue as a visiting associate professor.
He will also continue as the University of Colorado’s director of the Functional Genomics Facility and as the co-leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
