Rachel Perkins is an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. She is part of the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s Radiopharmaceutical Therapies convergent research initiative.

Perkins is passionate about advancing cancer stem-like cell biology and mentoring students. Her goal is to create inclusive learning environments that encourage innovation and independent thinking to promote the future of scientific research. Her research interests center around understanding the molecular drivers of, and determining the role of, the cancer stem cells in shaping drug/radiation resistance and metastasis.

Perkins’ lab aims to characterize mechanisms of resistance in these cancer stem cells to identify future targets for novel targeted alpha-particle radiotherapy. She has expertise in cancer stem cell biology as her dissertation work identified the role of WNT5B in osteosarcoma stemness, metastasis, and chemoresistance. Methodology she utilizes includes in vitro 3-D spheroid modeling, patient derived organoids, cell signaling pathway analysis, chemotherapeutic resistance, and in vivo orthotopic tumor modeling. Perkins received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Cancer and Developmental Biology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in May of 2024. She transitioned into her role as an assistant professor in the fall of 2024.

Perkins is always open to new collaboration projects, and welcomes collaborators and interested graduate students to contact her.