Amy Gong is an associate scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, working in the Department of Computational Biology with specialization in cellular immunotherapy, translational oncology and interdisciplinary data-driven research. Her research interests lie at the intersection of immunotherapy, computational biology, and clinical investigation, and she is passionate about translating mechanistic discoveries into clinically meaningful advances for patients with catastrophic diseases.
Trained as a physician in China and later as a biomedical scientist in the United States, Gong has built a multidisciplinary career spanning medicine, molecular biology, cellular immunotherapy, and translational oncology. Her work has provided a unique perspective that bridges experimental biology, computational approaches, and clinically relevant questions.
Before joining the Department of Computational Biology at St. Jude, she worked in the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, where she gained experience in CAR T-cell therapies and translational immunotherapy. Prior to moving to Memphis, she spent five years at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she first worked in the Division of Rheumatology and subsequently in the laboratory of W. Lee Kraus, PhD, investigating chromatin biology and cancer gene regulation.
Across these experiences, Gong has developed a strong appreciation for interdisciplinary collaboration, mentorship, and team science, and is particularly motivated by opportunities to translate scientific discoveries into meaningful improvements in patient care.
She joined the St. Jude Graduate School’s Clinical Investigations program to strengthen her ability to translate discoveries from the laboratory into research that ultimately benefits patients and survivors. The program provides an exceptional opportunity to integrate her background in medicine, cancer biology, and immunotherapy with rigorous training in clinical investigation. She hopes to leverage these experiences to bridge experimental, computational, and clinical sciences and advance innovative therapies that improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with catastrophic diseases.
Hometown: Jinan, Shandong Province, China
Education:
2018 MS, Biological Sciences – Wichita State University
2014 MBBS, Clinical Medicine – Shandong First Medical University
Awards/Honors/Scholarships:
2014 Excellent Graduate, awarded to the top 2% of the graduating class, Shandong First Medical University
Publications:
Gadad SS, Camacho CV, Gong X, Thornton M, Malladi VS, Nagari A, Sundaresan A, Nandu T, Koul S, Peng Y, Kraus WL. X-linked cancer-associated polypeptide (XCP) from lncRNA1456 modulates PHF8 histone demethylase activity to regulate the epigenome, gene expression, and cellular pathways in breast cancer. Oncogene. 2026.
Challa S, Nandu T, Kim HB, Gong X, Renshaw CW, Li WC, Tan X, Camacho CV, Chen J, Kraus WL. RACK1 MARylation regulates translation and stress granules in ovarian cancer cells. Journal of Cell Biology. 2024.
Han X, Saiding Q, Cai X, Xiao Y, Wang P, Cai Z, Gong X, Gong W, Zhang X, Cui W. Intelligent vascularized 3D/4D/5D/6D-printed tissue scaffolds. Nano-Micro Letters. 2023.
Huang D, Camacho CV, Martire S, Nagari A, Setlem R, Gong X, Edwards AD, Chiu SP, Banaszynski LA, Kraus WL. Oncohistone mutations occur at functional sites of regulatory ADP-ribosylation. Cancer Research. 2022.
Huang D, Gong X, Edwards AD, Kraus WL. Functional analysis of histone ADP-ribosylation in vitro and in cells. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2023.
Shen L, Li H, Liu R, Zhou C, Bretches M, Gong X, Lu L, Zhang Y, Zhao K, Ning B, Yang SY, Zhang A. DEPDC1 as a crucial factor in the progression of human osteosarcoma. Cancer Medicine. 2022.
Zhao K, Yang SY, Geng J, Gong X, Gong W, Shen L, Ning B. Combination of anginex gene therapy and radiation decelerates the growth and pulmonary metastasis of human osteosarcoma xenografts. Cancer Medicine. 2018.