Dr. Hernando Lopez-Bertoni is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology, Oncology and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Since being appointed Assistant Professor in July 2018, he has gained a national and international reputation as a leader in the field of cancer stem cell biology and miRNA therapeutics.

Dr. Lopez-Bertoni completed his PhD training at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE in 2012. As graduate student he received academic honors including the Nebraska Center for Cell Signaling (NCCS) Graduate Fellowship and the Harris Award in Cancer Research. He moved to Baltimore in 2012 to begin his postdoctoral fellowship in cancer stem cell and brain tumor biology at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr Lopez-Bertoni maintained his high level of productivity and excellence coauthoring and his fellowship was supported by the prestigious American Brain Tumor Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. He then joined the Neurology faculty in July 2018 as an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Since joining the Neurology faculty in 2018, Dr. Lope-Bertoni has secured faculty positions at the Hugo W Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, the Department of Oncology and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center as well as becoming a faculty member of the Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM) PhD program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Lopez-Bertoni has established himself as an exceptional researcher and educator with extensive experience studying molecular and cellular phenotypes critical in cancer cell biology including DNA methylation, miRNAs, DNA damage response, tumor microenvironment and the GBM cancer stem cell phenotype. His work on in vivo miRNA delivery is serving as the foundation for sophisticated, mechanism-based, rational approaches to designing molecular cancer therapeutics for GBM. He recently published the results of this work in high-impact factor journals such as Oncogene, Cancer Research, Nano Letters, and Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. His most recent work involves understanding at the single-cell level how GBM cells transition to a therapy resistant state. He is the PI of a cross-disciplinary team of experts using state-of-the art GBM cell models, single-cell genomics, and innovative gene-delivery technology to understand how GSC-driving mechanisms contribute to the generation of tumor-propagating and therapy resistant cells in GBM with the goal of defining novel therapeutic targets for recurrent GBM. He has also demonstrated excellence in training young scientists and a strong commitment to education.