- Research Resources
- Excellence in Science
- Excellence in Science FY18
Fiscal Year 2018 Awardees
Research is a cornerstone of MD Anderson¡¯s quest to end cancer. The Excellence in Science program is the online showcase for the Wall of Science, our quarterly program for honoring outstanding primary research selected from among publications in top journals by MD Anderson¡¯s world-renowned scientists.
Quarter 2 (December 2017¨CFebruary 2018)
Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D.
Cancer Cell
Synthetic Lethality of Combined Bcl-2 Inhibition and p53 Activation in AML: Mechanisms and Superior Antileukemic Efficacy
Authors
Rongqing Pan, Vivian Ruvolo, Hong Mu, Joel D. Leverson, Gwen Nichols, John C. Reed, Marina Konopleva and Michael Andreeff
Professor
Leukemia and Stem Cell Transplantation
Paul and Mary Hass Chair in Genetics in Honor of Amanda White
Menashe Bar-Eli, Ph.D.
Menashe Bar-Eli, Ph.D.
Professor
Cancer Biology
Nature Communications
A-to-I miR-378a-3p editing can prevent melanoma progression via regulation of?PARVA?expression
Authors
Guermarie Velazquez-Torres, Einav Shoshan, Cristina Ivan, Li Huang, Enrique Fuentes-Mattei, Harrison Paret, Sun Jin Kim, , Victoria Xie, Denise Brooks, Steven J.M. Jones, A. Gordon Robertson, , , and Menashe Bar-Eli
Xiaodong Cheng, Ph.D.
Molecular Cell
Structural Basis for the Versatile and Methylation-Dependent Binding of CTCF to DNA
Authors
Hideharu Hashimoto, Dongxue Wang, , Xing Zhang, Victor G. Corces and
Xiaodong Cheng, Ph.D.
Professor
Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Francesca Cole, Ph.D.
Francesca Cole, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis
Cell
Age-Dependent Alterations in Meiotic Recombination Cause Chromosome Segregation Errors in Spermatocytes
Authors
Maciej J. Zelazowski, Maria Sandoval, Lakshmi Paniker, Holly M. Hamilton, Jiaying Han, Mikalah A. Gribbell, Rhea Kang and
Simona Colla, Ph.D.
Cancer Cell
ILF2 Is a Regulator of RNA Splicing and DNA Damage Response in 1q21-Amplified Multiple Myeloma
Authors
Matteo Marchesini, Yamini Ogoti, Elena Fiorini, Anil Aktas Samur, Luigi Nezi, Marianna D¡¯Anca, Paola Storti, Mehmet Kemal Samur, Irene Ganan-Gomez, Maria Teresa Fulciniti, Nipun Mistry, Shan Jiang, Naran Bao, Valentina Marchica, Antonino Neri, , Chang-Jiun Wu, Li Zhang, , Xinxin Peng, Nicola Giuliani, , Karen Clise-Dwyer, , Nikhil Munshi, , , and
Simona Colla, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Leukemia and Experimental Therapeutics
Bita Esmaeli, M.D., and Scott E. Woodman M.D., Ph.D.
Bita Esmaeli, M.D., M.A.
Professor
Ophthalmic Plastic and Orbital Oncology
Plastic Surgery
Scott E. Woodman, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Melanoma Medical Oncology
Authors
A. Gordon Robertson, Juliann Shih, Christina Yau, Ewan A. Gibb, Junna Oba, Karen L. Mungall, Julian M. Hess, Vladislav Uzunangelov, Vonn Walter, Ludmila Danilova, Tara M. Lichtenberg, Melanie Kucherlapati, Patrick K. Kimes, Ming Tang, Alexander Penson, Ozgun Babur, Rehan Akbani, Christopher A. Bristow, Katherine A. Hoadley, Lisa Iype, Matthew T. Chang, TCGA Research Network, Andrew D. Cherniack, Christopher Benz, Gordon B. Mills, Roel G.W. Verhaak, Klaus G. Griewank, Ina Felau, Jean C. Zenklusen, , Lynn Schoenfield, , Mohamed H. Abdel-Rahman, Sergio Roman-Roman, Marc-Henri Stern, Colleen M. Cebulla, , Martine J. Jager, Sarah E. Coupland, Bita Esmaeli, Cyriac Kandoth and
Cancer Cell
Integrative Analysis Identifies Four Molecular and Clinical Subsets in Uveal Melanoma
Robert Jenq, M.D., and Jennifer A. Wargo, M.D.
Science
Gut microbiome modulates response to anti¨CPD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients
Robert Jenq, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Genomic Medicine and Stem Cell Transplantation
Jennifer A. Wargo, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Associate Professor
Surgical Oncology and Genomic Medicine
Authors
, C. N. Spencer, L. Nezi, , M. C. Andrews, T. V. Karpinets, P. A. Prieto, D. Vicente, , S. C. Wei, A. P. Cogdill, L. Zhao, C. W. Hudgens, D. S. Hutchinson, T. Manzo, M. Petaccia de Macedo, T. Cotechini, T. Kumar, W. S. Chen, S. M. Reddy, R. Szczepaniak Sloane, J. Galloway-Pena, , P. L. Chen, , , , , , L. M. Vence, , , A. G. Swennes, , E. Marcelo Riquelme Sanchez, Y. Zhang, E. Le Chatelier, L. Zitvogel, N. Pons, J. L. Austin- Breneman, L. E. Haydu, E. M. Burton, J. M. Gardner, E. Sirmans, J. Hu, , T. Tsujikawa, , , , W. J. Hwu, S. P. Patel, , , , , P. Hwu, , J. Zhang, L. M. Coussens, Z. A. Cooper, P. A. Futrea, , N. J. Ajami, J. F. Petrosino, M. T. Tetzlaff, , , Robert R. Jenq and
Alexander Lazar, M.D., Ph.D.
Alexander Lazar, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Anatomical Pathology, Genomic Medicine and Translational Molecular Pathology
Cell
Comprehensive and Integrated Genomic Characterization of Adult Soft Tissue Sarcomas
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D.
Cell
Multiclonal Invasion in Breast Tumors Identified by Topographic Single Cell Sequencing
Authors
Anna K. Casasent, Aislyn Schalck, Ruli Gao, Emi Sei, Annalyssa Long, William Pangburn, Tod Casasent, , Mary E. Edgerton and
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Genetics and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Back row, left to right: Anna Casasent, Charissa Kim, Annalyssa Long, Rachel Brandt, Pei-Ching Tsai, Ruli Gao and Aislyn Schalck
Sattva Neelapu, M.D.
Sattva Neelapu, M.D.
Professor
Lymphoma/Myeloma
Standing, left to right: Sherry Adkins, Yiming Chen, and Liliana Vallejo
Sitting: and Chitra Hosing
New England Journal of Medicine
Axicabtagene Ciloleucel CAR T-Cell Therapy in Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Spencer Wei, Ph.D., and James Allison, Ph.D.
Cell
Distinct Cellular Mechanisms Underlie Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Checkpoint Blockade
Spencer Wei, Ph.D.
Odyssey Fellow
Immunology
James Allison, Ph.D.
Chair, Immunology
Vivian Smith Distinguished Chair
Authors
Spencer C. Wei, Jacob H. Levine, Alexandria P. Cogdill, Yang Zhao, Nana-Ama A.S. Anang, Miles C. Andrews, , Jing Wang, , Dana Pe¡¯er and
Liuqing Yang, Ph.D., and Chunru Lin, Ph.D.
Liuqing Yang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Chunru Lin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Authors
Shouyu Wang, Ke Liang, Qingsong Hu, Ping Li, Jian Song, Yuedong Yang, , , Chunlai Li, Wenhao Yang, Peter K. Park, David H. Hawke, Jianwei Zhou, Yan Zhou, Weiya Xia, Mien-Chie Hung, Jeffrey R. Marks, Gary E. Gallick, , Elsa R. Flores, , Suyun Huang, , and
Journal of Clinical Investigation
JAK2-binding long noncoding RNA promotes breast cancer brain metastasis
Quarter 3 (March¨CMay 2018)
Rehan Akbani, Ph.D.
Cancer Cell
A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Molecular Study of Gynecologic and Breast Cancers
Rehan Akbani, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Authors
Ashton C. Berger, , Rupa S. Kanchi, Apurva M. Hegde, Walter Lenoir, Wenbin Liu, Yuexin Liu, Huihui Fan, Hui Shen, Visweswaran Ravikumar, Arvind Rao, Andre Schultz, Xubin Li, Pavel Sumazin, Cecilia Williams, Pieter Mestdagh, Preethi H. Gunaratne, Christina Yau, Reanne Bowlby, A. Gordon Robertson, Daniel G. Tiezzi, Chen Wang, Andrew D. Cherniack, Andrew K. Godwin, Nicole M. Kuderer, Janet S. Rader, Rosemary E. Zuna, , , Akinyemi I. Ojesina, Clement Adebamowo, Sally N. Adebamowo, Keith A. Baggerly, Ting-Wen Chen, Hua-Sheng Chiu, Steve Lefever, Liang Liu, Karen MacKenzie, Sandra Orsulic, Jason Roszik, Carl Simon Shelley, Qianqian Song, Christopher P. Vellano, Nicolas Wentzensen, , Gordon B. Mills, Douglas A. Levine and Rehan Akbani
Blaine Bartholomew, Ph.D.
Blaine Bartholomew, Ph.D.
Professor
Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis
Front row, left to right: Jim Persinger, Blaine Bartholomew, Solomon Hailu and Somnath Paul
Nature Communications
INO80 exchanges H2A.Z for H2A by translocating on DNA proximal to histone dimers
Authors
Sandipan Brahma, Maheshi I. Udugama, Jongseong Kim, Arjan Hada, Saurabh K. Bhardwaj, Solomon G. Hailu, Tae-Hee Lee and
Xiaodong Cheng, Ph.D.
Cell
DNA Conformation Induces Adaptable Binding by Tandem Zinc Finger Proteins
Authors
Anamika Patel, Peng Yang, Matthew Tinkham, Mihika Pradhan, Ming-An Sun, Yixuan Wang, Don Hoang, Gernot Wolf, , Xing Zhang, Todd Macfarlan and
Xiaodong Cheng, Ph.D.
Professor
Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Jason Huse, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Pathology
Back row, left to right: Carla Danussi, Vladislav Sharin, Jason Huse and David Irvin
Nature Communications
Atrx?inactivation drives disease-defining phenotypes in glioma cells of origin through global epigenomic remodeling
Authors
Carla Danussi, Promita Bose, Prasanna T. Parthasarathy, Pedro C. Silberman, John S. Van Arnam, Mark Vitucci, Oliver Y. Tang, Adriana Heguy, Yuxiang Wang, Timothy A. Chan, Gregory J. Riggins, Erik P. Sulman, , Chad J. Creighton, Benjamin Deneen, C. Ryan Miller, David J. Picketts, Kasthuri Kannan and Jason T. Huse
Frederick F. Lang, M.D.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Phase I Study of DNX-2401 (Delta-24-RGD) Oncolytic Adenovirus: Replication and Immunotherapeutic Effects in Recurrent Malignant Glioma
Authors
, Charles Conrad, , W.K. Alfred Yung, Raymond Sawaya, , , Ganesh Rao, Gregory N. Fuller, Kenneth D. Aldape, Joy Gumin, Luis M. Vence, , Jaime Rodriguez-Canales, Pamela A. Villalobos, Clemens M.F. Dirven, Sonia Tejada, Ricardo D. Valle, Marta M. Alonso, Brett Ewald, Joanna J. Peterkin, Frank Tufaro and
Frederick F. Lang, M.D., FAANS, FACS
Professor and Chair, Neurosurgery
Beau Biden Chair for Brain Cancer Research
Back row, left to right: Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, W.K. Alfred Yung and Juan Fueyo
Han Liang, Ph.D.
Han Liang, Ph.D.
Professor
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and Systems Biology
Cancer Cell
A-to-I RNA Editing Contributes to Proteomic Diversity in Cancer
Authors
Xinxin Peng, Xiaoyan Xu, Yumeng Wang, David H. Hawke, Shuangxing Yu, Leng Han, Zhicheng Zhou, Kamalika Mojumdar, Kang Jin Jeong, Marilyne Labrie, Yiu Huen Tsang, Minying Zhang, , Patrick Hwu, Kenneth L. Scott, and Gordon B. Mills
Han Liang, Ph.D.
Cell
A Pan-Cancer Analysis of Enhancer Expression in Nearly 9000 Patient Samples
Authors
Han Chen, Chunyan Li, Xinxin Peng, Zhicheng Zhou, , The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network and
Han Liang, Ph.D.
Professor
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and Systems Biology
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D.
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Genetics and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Back row, left to right: Anna Casasent, Charissa Kim, Annalyssa Long, Rachel Brandt, Pei-Ching Tsai, Ruli Gao and Aislyn Schalck
Cell
Chemoresistance Evolution in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Delineated by Single-Cell Sequencing
Authors
Charissa Kim, Ruli Gao, Emi Sei, Rachel Brandt, Johan Hartman, Thomas Hatschek, Nicola Crosetto, Theodoros Foukakis and
Guang Peng, Ph.D.
Nature Medicine
ARID1A deficiency promotes mutability and potentiates therapeutic antitumor immunity unleashed by immune checkpoint blockade
Authors
Jianfeng Shen, Zhenlin Ju, Wei Zhao, Lulu Wang, Yang Peng, Zhongqi Ge, Zachary D. Nagel, Jun Zou, Chen Wang, Prabodh Kapoor, Xiangyi Ma, Ding Ma, , Shumei Song,, Leona D. Samson, , Guo-Min Li, , Xuetong Shen, Gordon B. Mills and
Guang Peng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Clinical Cancer Prevention and Systems Biology
Jacqulyne Robichaux, Ph.D., and John V. Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Jacqulyne Robichaux, Ph.D.
Instructor
Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
John V. Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Professor, Cancer Biology
David Bruton, Jr. Chair
Authors
Jacqulyne P. Robichaux, , Zhi Tan, , Shuxing Zhang, Shengwu Liu, Shuai Li, Ting Chen, Alissa Poteete, Adriana Estrada-Bernal, Anh T. Le, Anna Truini, Monique B. Nilsson, Huiying Sun, Emily Roarty, Sarah B. Goldberg, Julie R. Brahmer, , Charles Lu, Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, Katerina Politi, Robert C. Doebele, Kwok-Kin Wong and
Nature Medicine
Mechanisms and clinical activity of an EGFR and HER2 exon 20¨Cselective kinase inhibitor in non¨Csmall cell lung cancer
Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
New England Journal of Medicine
Nivolumab plus Ipilimumab versus Sunitinib in Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma
Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology
TC and Jeanette Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology
Left to right: and
Anne Tsao, M.D.
Anne Tsao, M.D.
Professor
Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Authors
Milan Radovich, Curtis R. Pickering, Ina Felau, Gavin Ha, Hailei Zhang, Heejoon Jo, Katherine A. Hoadley, Pavana Anur, Jiexin Zhang, Mike McLellan, Reanne Bowlby, Thomas Matthew, Ludmila Danilova, Apurva M. Hegde, Jaegil Kim, Mark D.M. Leiserson, Geetika Sethi, Charles Lu, Michael Ryan, , Andrew D. Cherniack, Gordon Robertson, Rehan Akbani, Paul Spellman, , D. Neil Hayes, Ben Raphael, Tara Lichtenberg, Kristen Leraas, Jean Claude Zenklusen, The Cancer Genome Atlas Network, Junya Fujimoto, Cristovam Scapulatempo-Neto, Andre L. Moreira, David Hwang, James Huang, Mirella Marino, Robert Korst, Giuseppe Giaccone, Yesim Gokmen-Polar, Sunil Badve, Arun Rajan, Philipp Strobel, Nicolas Girard, Ming S. Tsao, Alexander Marx, and Patrick J. Loehrer
Cancer Cell
The Integrated Genomic Landscape of Thymic Epithelial Tumors
Michael Wang, M.D.
Back, left to right: Maria Badillo, Malou Dela Rosa and Diana Nava
Associate Professor
Lymphoma/Myeloma and Stem Cell Transplantation
The Lancet
Acalabrutinib in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (ACE-LY-004): a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial
Quarter 4 (June¨CAugust 2018)
Yonathan Lissanu Deribe, M.D., Ph.D., and Andrew Futreal, Ph.D.
Nature Medicine
Mutations in the SWI/SNF complex induce a targetable dependence on oxidative phosphorylation in lung cancer
Authors
, Yuting Sun, Christopher Terranova, Fatima Khan, Juan Martinez-Ledesma, Jason Gay, Guang Gao, Robert A. Mullinax, Tin Khor, Ningping Feng, Yu-Hsi Lin, Chia-Chin Wu, Claudia Reyes, Qian Peng, Frederick Robinson, Akira Inoue, Veena Kochat, Chang-Gong Liu, John M. Asara, , Florian Muller, , Bingliang Fang, Vali Papadimitrakopoulou, , , Joseph Marszalek and
Yonathan Lissanu Deribe, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor
Genomic Medicine
Andrew Futreal, Ph.D.
Chair, Genomic Medicine
Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair
Michael Frumovitz, M.D.
Michael Frumovitz, M.D.
Professor
Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine
Left to right: Mark Munsell, Michael Frumovitz, Ana Lopez, Cindy Melendez, Diana Urbauer and Joseph Lee
Co-authors not pictured: Marie Plante, Paula S Lee, Samith Sandadi, James F Lilja, Pedro F Escobar, Lilian T Gien and Nadeem R Abu-Rustum
The Lancet Oncology
Near-infrared fluorescence for detection of sentinel lymph nodes in women with cervical and uterine cancers (FILM): a randomised, phase 3, multicentre, non-inferiority trial
John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Cancer Discovery
STK11/LKB1?Mutations and PD-1 Inhibitor Resistance in?KRAS-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma
Not pictured: Brett Carter, Jeremy Erasmus, Neda Kalhor, Yasir Elamin Vali Papadimitrakopoulou and Ignacio Ivan Wistuba
John V. Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Professor, Cancer Biology
David Bruton, Jr. Chair
Authors
, Michael E. Goldberg, Danielle M. Greenawalt, Matthew D. Hellmann, Mark M. Awad, Justin F. Gainor, Alexa B. Schrock, Ryan J. Hartmaier, Sally E. Trabucco, Laurie Gay, Siraj M. Ali, Julia A. Elvin, Gaurav Singal, Jeffrey S. Ross, David Fabrizio, Peter M. Szabo, Han Chang, Ariella Sasson, Sujaya Srinivasan, Stefan Kirov, Joseph Szustakowski, Patrik Vitazka, Robin Edwards, Jose A. Bufill, Neelesh Sharma, Sai-Hong I. Ou, Nir Peled, David R. Spigel, Hira Rizvi, Elizabeth Jimenez Aguilar, , , Darragh F. Halpenny, Andrew J. Plodkowski, Niamh M. Long, Mizuki Nishino, Warren L. Denning, Ana Galan-Cobo, Haifa Hamdi, Taghreed Hirz, Pan Tong, , Jaime Rodriguez-Canales, Pamela A. Villalobos, Edwin R. Parra, , Lynette M. Sholl, Jennifer L. Sauter, Achim A. Jungbluth, Mari Mino-Kenudson, Roxana Azimi, , , Giulia C. Leonardi, Fei Jiang, Kwok-Kin Wong, , Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, , Vincent A. Miller, Garrett M. Frampton, Jedd D. Wolchok, Alice T. Shaw, Pasi A. J?nne, Philip J. Stephens, Charles M. Rudin, William J. Geese, Lee A. Albacker and
R. Tyler Hillman, M.D., Ph.D., and Andrew Futreal, Ph.D.
R. Tyler Hillman, M.D., Ph.D.
Fellow
Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine
Andrew Futreal, Ph.D.
Chair, Genomic Medicine
Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair
Authors
, Joseph Celestino, Christopher Terranova, Hannah C. Beird, Curtis Gumbs, Latasha Little,Tri Nguyen, Rebecca Thornton, Samantha Tippen, Jianhua Zhang, Karen H. Lu, , , Russell R. Broaddus and
Nature Communications
KMT2D/MLL2?inactivation is associated with recurrence in adult-type granulosa cell tumors of the ovary
Jennifer Litton, M.D.
New England Journal of Medicine
Talazoparib in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer and a Germline?BRCA?Mutation
Associate Professor
Breast Medical Oncology
Not pictured: Banu Arun
Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D.
Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Melanoma Medical Oncology and Investigational Cancer Therapeutics
Left to right: Alissa Nguyen, Ingrid Boesch Arnold, Kourtney Hollbrook, Liz Burton, Rachel Trimier, , Michael Davies and Courtney Brown
New England Journal of Medicine
Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Melanoma Metastatic to the Brain
Eduardo Vilar Sanchez, M.D., Ph.D.
JAMA Oncology
Immune Profiling of Premalignant Lesions in Patients With Lynch Syndrome
Authors
Kyle Chang, , Laura Reyes-Uribe, Ester Borras, Erick Riquelme, Reagan M. Barnett, Guido Leoni, F. Anthony San Lucas, Maria T. Catanese, Federica Mori, Maria G. Diodoro, , , Jason Roszik, , , Alfredo Nicosia, Elisa Scarselli, Patrick M. Lynch, and
Eduardo Vilar Sanchez, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Clinical Cancer Prevention and GI Medical Oncology