Dr. Jelani Zarif is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth Pienta at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine at the James Brady Urological Institute. Dr. Zarif is a recipient of the 2016 Prostate Cancer Foundation’s (PCF) Young Investigator Award and a 2015 awardee of the UNCF/Merck Postdoctoral Science Research Fellowship. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, his research focus is targeting immune cells within the prostate tumor micro-environment. Dr. Zarif earned his Ph.D. in 2014 from Michigan State University in Cell and Molecular Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Cindy Miranti. His dissertation research focused on Androgen Receptor (AR) signaling in castrate-resistant prostate cancer cells specifically, how AR controlled prostate cancer cell adhesion and invasion. Prior to his studies at Michigan State University, Dr. Zarif earned both his Master of Science and his Bachelor of Science and degrees from Jackson State University.