Fiscal Year 2020 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 1 (September–November 2019)
Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D.
Top row, left to right: Van Morris and Scott Kopetz
Middle row, left to right: Tracy Trevino and Jamie Farber
Bottom row: Alex Sorokin
Co-authors not pictured: A Grothey, R Yaeger, E Van Cutsem, J Desai, T Yoshino, H Wasan, F Ciardiello, F Loupakis, YS Hong, N Steeghs, TK Guren, HT Arkenau, P Garcia‑Alfonso, P Pfeiffer, S Orlov, S Lonardi, E Elez, TW Kim, JHM Schellens, C Guo, A Krishnan, J Dekervel, , A Calvo Ferrandiz, LS Tarpgaard, M Braun, A Gollerkeri, C Keir, K Maharry, M Pickard, J Christy‑Bittel, L Anderson, V Sandor and J Tabernero
Jacqulyne Robichaux, Ph.D. & John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Jacqulyne Ponville Robichaux, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Thoracic Head & Neck Medical Oncology
John V. Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Professor, Cancer Biology
David Bruton, Jr. Chair
Front: John V. Heymach (left) & Vijayan Ramaswamy (right)
Middle: Yasir Y. Elamin (left) & Xiuning Le (right)
Back (L-R): Monique Nilsson (left) & Jacqulyne Robichaux (right)
Not pictured: Jason Cross
Other co-authors: R.S.K. Vijayan, Lemei Hu, Junqin He, Fahao Zhang, Marlese Pisegna, Alissa Poteete, Huiying Sun, Shuai Li, Ting Chen, Han Han, Marcelo Vailati Negrao, Jordi Rodon Ahnert, Lixia Diao, Jing Wang, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Mark Routbort, Brent Roeck, Zane Yang, Victoria M. Raymond, Richard B. Lanman, Garrett M. Frampton, Vincent A. Miller, Alexa B.Schrock, Lee A. Albacker and Kwok-kin Wong
Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
Left to right: Sumit K. Subudhi, Ana Aparicio and Padmanee Sharma
Co-authors not pictured: Shiping Jiao, Zhongqi Ge, Baoxiang Guan and Yuji Miura
Differences in Tumor Microenvironment Dictate T Helper Lineage Polarization and Response to Immune Checkpoint Therapy
Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology
Co-Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MD Anderson
Scientific Director, Immunotherapy Platform (IMT)
Quarter 2 (December 2019–February 2020)
Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D., George A. Calin, M.D., Ph.D. & Jeffrey N. Myers, M.D., Ph.D.
Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Head & Neck Surgery
George A. Calin, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Translation Molecular Pathology and Leukemia
Felix L. Hass Professorship in Basic Science
Jeffrey N. Myers, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Head & Neck Surgery
A.J. Ballantyne Distinguished Chair
Loss of p53 drives neuron reprogramming in head and neck cancer
Left to right: George A. Calin, Jeffrey N. Myers and Moran Amit
Co-authors not pictured: Hideaki Takahashi, Mihnea Paul Dragomir, Antje Lindemann, Frederico O. Gleber-Netto, Curtis R. Pickering, Simone Anfossi, Abdullah A. Osman, Yu Cai, Rong Wang, Erik Knutsen, Masayoshi Shimizu, Cristina Ivan, Xiayu Rao, Jing Wang, Deborah A. Silverman, Samantha Tam, Mei Zhao, Carlos Caulin, Assaf Zinger, Ennio Tasciotti, Patrick M. Dougherty and Adel El-Naggar
Jianjun Gao, M.D., Ph.D., Rafet Basar, M.D., Ph.D. & Jennifer A. Wargo, M.D.
B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures promote immunotherapy response
Authors
BA Helmink, SM Reddy, J Gao, S Zhang, R Basar, R Thakur, K Yizhak, M Sade-Feldman, J Blando, G Han, V Gopalakrishnan, Y Xi, H Zhao, RN Amaria, HA Tawbi, AP Cogdil, W Liu, VS LeBleu, FG Kugeratski, S Patel, MA Davies, P Hwu, JE Lee, JE Gershenwald, A Lucci, R Arora, S Woodman, E Keung, PO Gaudreau, A Reuben, CN Spencer, EM Burton, LE Haydu, AJ Lazar, R Zapassodi, CW Hudgens, DA Ledesma, S Ong, M Bailey, S Warren, D Rao, O Krijgsman, EA Rozeman, D Peeper, CU Blank, TN Schumacher, LH Butterfield, MA Zelazowska, KM McBride, R Kalluri, J Allison, F Petitprez, W Herman Fridman, C Sautès-Fridman, N Hacohen, K Rezvani, P Sharma, MT Tetzlaff, L Wang, and JA Wargo
Jianjun Gao, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology
Rafet Basar, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Stem Cell Transplantation
Jennifer Wargo, M.D.
Professor
Surgical Oncology and Genomic Med Research
Doctor R Lee Clark Professorship
Sangeeta Goswami, M.D., Ph.D. & Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
Sangeeta Goswami, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology
Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology
T.C. and Jeanette Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology
Co-Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MD Anderson
Scientific Director, Immunotherapy Platform (IMT)
Immune profiling of human tumors identifies CD73 as a combinatorial target in glioblastoma
Top row, left to right: John de Groot, Padmanee Sharma and Sangeeta Goswami
Middle row, left to right: Sreyashi Basu, Swetha Anandhan and Scott Kopetz
Bottom row, left to right: Shalini Singh and James P. Allison
Co-authors not pictured: Thomas Walle, Andrew E. Cornish, Irina Fernandez, Luis Vence, Jorge Blando, Hao Zhao, Martina Ott, Ling Y. Kong, Amy B. Heimberger, Boris Sepesi, Michael Overman and Dana Pe’er
Karen Hoffman, M.D., M.H.Sc., M.P.H.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Through 5 Years for Active Surveillance, Surgery, Brachytherapy, or External Beam Radiation With or Without Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer
Karen E. Hoffman, M.D., M.H.Sc., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Radiation Oncology
David Marin, M.D., & Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D.
David Marin, M.D.
Professor
Stem Cell Transplantation
Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Stem Cell Transplantation
Director, Translational Research
Medical Director, GMP Cell Therapy Laboratory
Director, Cellular Therapy
First row, left to right: Indresh Kaur, Elizabeth J. Shpall, David Marin, Katayoun Rezvani, Bethany Overman, Chitra Hosing, Enli Liu and Rafet Basar
Second row, left to right: Mecit Kaplan, Homer A. Macapinlac, Peter Thall, Partow Kebriaei and Lucila Nassif Kerbauy
Third row, left to right: Evan Cohen, May Daher, Kai Cao, Sattva Neelapu and Ana Nunez Cortes
Bottom row, left to right: Rohtesh Mehta, Pinaki Banerjee, Vandana Nandivada, Yago Nieto and Richard Champlin
Co-authors not pictured: Philip Thompson, Michael Wang, William Wierda and Michael Keating
Hussein Tawbi, M.D.
B cells are associated with survival and immunotherapy response in sarcoma
Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Melanoma Medical Oncology and Investigational Cancer Therapeutics
Deputy Chair, Melanoma Medical Oncology
Director of Melanoma Clinical Research & Early Drug Development
Co-Director, MD Anderson Brain Metastasis Clinic
Authors
Florent Petitprez, Aurélien de Reyniès, Emily Z. Keung, Tom Wei-Wu Chen, Cheng-Ming Sun, Julien Calderaro, Yung-Ming Jeng, Li-Ping Hsiao, Laetitia Lacroix, Antoine Bougoüin, Marco Moreira, Guillaume Lacroix, Ivo Natario, Julien Adam, Carlo Lucchesi, Yec’han Laizet, Maud Toulmonde, Melissa A. Burgess, Vanessa Bolejack, Denise Reinke, Khalid M. Wani, Wei-Lien Wang, Alexander J. Lazar, Christina L. Roland, Jennifer A. Wargo, Antoine Italiano, Catherine Sautès-Fridman, Hussein A. Tawbi, and Wolf H. Fridman
Quarter 3 (March–May 2020)
Michael Green, Ph.D.
Left to right: Jordan Showell, Saber Tadros, Michael R. Green, Qing Deng and Neeraj Jain
Co-authors not pictured: Patrizia Mondello, Matt Teater, Lorena Fontan, Aaron Y. Chang, Haopeng Yang, Shailbala Singh, Hsia-Yuan Ying, Chi-Shuen Chu, Man Chun John Ma, Eneda Toska, Stefan Alig, Matthew Durant, Elisa de Stanchina, Sreejoyee Ghosh, Anja Mottok, Loretta Nastoupil, Sattva S. Neelapu, Oliver Weigert, Giorgio Inghirami, José Baselga, Anas Younes, Cassian Yee, Ahmet Dogan, David A. Scheinberg, Robert G. Roeder and Ari M. Melnick
Michael Green, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Lymphoma-Myeloma & Genomic Medicine
Xiaoguang Liu, Ph.D. & Boyi Gan, Ph.D.
Xiaoguang Liu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Experimental Radiation Oncology
Boyi Gan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Experimental Radiation Oncology and Molecular & Cellular Oncology
Director, Radiation and Cancer Metabolism Research Program
Left to Right: Chao Mao, Guang Lei, Hyemin Lee, Yilei Zhang, Boyi Gan, Yuelong Yan, Pranavi Koppula, Xiaoguang Liu and Weijie Cheng
Co-authors not pictured: Kellen Olszewski, Esther W. Lim, Jiejun Shi, Xiaoshan Zhang, Jie Zhang, Li Zhuang, M. James You, Bingliang Fang, Wei Li, Christian M. Metallo and Masha V. Poyurovsky
Daniel McGrail, Ph.D., Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D. & Shiaw-Yih Lin, Ph.D.
Authors
Daniel J. McGrail, Jeannine Garnett, Jun Yin, Hui Dai, David J.H. Shih, Truong Nguyen Anh Lam, Yang Li, Chaoyang Sun, Yongsheng Li, Rosemarie Schmandt, Ji Yuan Wu, Limei Hu, Yulong Liang, Guang Peng, Eric Jonasch, David Menter, Melinda S. Yates, Scott Kopetz, Karen H. Lu, Russell Broaddus, Gordon B. Mills, Nidhi Sahni, and Shiaw-Yih Lin
Daniel McGrail, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Systems Biology
Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Epigenetics & Molecular Carcinogenesis and Bioinformatics & Computational Biology
Shiaw-Yih Lin, Ph.D.
Professor and Deputy Chair
Systems Biology
Pavlos Msaouel, M.D., Ph.D., Giannicola Genovese, M.D. & Nizar Tannir, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Pavlos Msaouel, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Translational Molecular Pathology
Giannicola Genovese, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Genomic Medicine Research
Nizar Tannir, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Professor
Genitourinary Medical Oncology
Left to right: Nizar Tannir, Pavlos Msaouel and Giannicola Genovese
All authors: P Msaouel, GG Malouf, X Su, H Yao, DN Tripathi, M Soeung, J Gao, P Rao, C Coarfa, CJ Creighton, JP Bertocchio, S Kunnimalaiyaan, AS Multani, J Blando, R He, DD Shapiro, L Perelli, S Srinivasan, F Carbone, PG Pilié, M Karki, RNH Seervai, BH Vokshi, D Lopez-Terrada, EH Cheng, X Tang, W Lu, II Wistuba, TC Thompson, I Davidson, V Giuliani, K Schlacher, A Carugo, TP Heffernan, P Sharma, JA Karam, CG Wood, CL Walker, G Genovese, and NM Tannir
Vivek Subbiah, M.D.
Subbiah Lab
Co-authors: Vivek Subbiah, Igor Puzanov, Jean-Yves Blay, Ian Chau, A. Craig Lockhart, Noopur S. Raje, Juergen Wolf, José Baselga, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Jason Roszik, Eli L. Diamond, Gregory J. Riely, Eric J. Sherman, Todd Riehl, Bethany Pitcher, and David M. Hyman
Rashmi Krishna Murthy, M.D.
Rashmi Krishna Murthy, M.D.
Associate Professor
Breast Medical Oncology
Authors
R.K. Murthy, S. Loi, A. Okines, E. Paplomata, E. Hamilton, S.A. Hurvitz, N.U. Lin, V. Borges, V. Abramson, C. Anders, P.L. Bedard, M. Oliveira, E. Jakobsen, T. Bachelot, S.S. Shachar, V. Müller, S. Braga, F.P. Duhoux, R. Greil, D. Cameron, L.A. Carey, G. Curigliano, K. Gelmon, G. Hortobagyi, I. Krop, S. Loibl, M. Pegram, D. Slamon, M.C. Palanca‑Wessels, L. Walker, W. Feng, and E.P. Winer
Quarter 4 (June–August 2020)
Pingping Hou, Ph.D., Y. Alan Wang, Ph.D. & Ronald A. DePinho, M.D.
Pingping Hou, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Cancer Biology
Y. Alan Wang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Cancer Biology and Research Oversight & Integrity
Laboratory Director, DePinho Laboratory
Ronald A. DePinho, M.D.
Past President
Professor
Cancer Biology and Genomic Medicine Research
Front row, left to right: Li Cai, Pingna Deng, Sandra Unorji, Ronald A. DePinho, Xiaoying Shang, Pingping Hou and Deepavali Chakravarti
Middle row, left to right: Prasenjit Dey, Peiwen Chen, Di Zhao, Andrew Chang, Denise Spring and Abhishek Dasgupta
Back row, left to right: Jasper R. Chen, Sagar Shah, Carolyn Guan, Rumi Lee, Y. Alan Wang and Hong Seok Shim
Co-authors not pictured: Avnish Kapoor, Qiang Zhang, Jiexi Li, Chang-Jiun Wu, Jun Li, Zhengdao Lan, Ming Tang, Xingdi Ma, Jeffrey J. Ackroyd, Raghu Kalluri, Jianhua Zhang and Shan Jiang
Vivek Subbiah, M.D. & Maria Cabanillas, M.D.
Maria Cabanillas, M.D.
Professor
Endocrine Neoplasia and HD
Drs. Subbiah and Cabanillas
LJ Wirth, E Sherman, B Robinson, B Solomon, H Kang, J Lorch, F Worden, M Brose, J Patel, S Leboulleux, Y Godbert, F Barlesi, JC Morris, TK Owonikoko, DSW Tan, O Gautschi, J Weiss, C de la Fouchardière, ME Burkard, J Laskin, MH Taylor, M Kroiss, J Medioni, JW Goldman, TM Bauer, B Levy, VW Zhu, N Lakhani, V Moreno, K Ebata, M Nguyen, D Heirich, EY Zhu, X Huang, L Yang, J Kherani, SM Rothenberg, A Drilon, V Subbiah, MH Shah, and ME Cabanillas