Collaborative Research and Publications
Translational research teams are engaged in studies focused on disease site areas including melanoma, brain metastasis, breast, head and neck, lung and ovarian cancer. Collaborations between investigators from Wistar’s Caplan Cancer Center and the Graham Cancer Center have led to joint fundraising, grant applications, training opportunities, and publications demonstrating a broad impact on the scientific community. This would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the entire team. From the scientists initiating and conducting research studies to the surgeons and the clinical research team collecting specimens, obtaining consents and facilitating study completion, it is the collective effort of many that make this partnership a success.
Research Team Investigators
| Disease Area | Graham CC | Wistar Caplan CC |
|---|---|---|
Ovarian Cancer | Mark Cadungog, M.D. Jennifer Sims Mourtada, Ph.D. Scott Siegel, Ph.D. Zohra Catts, C.G.C. | Maureen Murphy, Ph.D. |
Gastric and Esophageal Cancer | Brian Nam, M.D. Arvind Sabesan, M.D. | Paul Lieberman, Ph.D. |
Acute Myeloid Leukemia | Mark Cadungog, M.D. Arvind Sabesan, M.D. | Luis Montaner, D.V.M., DPhil |
Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma | Arvind Sabesan, M.D. | Dario Alieri, M.D. |
Glioblastoma | Pulak Ray, M.D. | Filippo Veglia, Ph.D. |
Breast Cancer Population Health | Scott Siegel, Ph.D. Percy Guzman Montero, M.D., M.Sc. Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, PhD | Dario Alieri, M.D. |
Lung Cancer | Brian Nam, M.D. | Andrew Kossenkov, Ph.D. |
Head and Neck Cancer | Gregory Masters, M.D. Neil Hockstein, M.D. | Yulia Nefedova, M.D., Ph.D. |
Selected Publications
Research teams from the Wistar’s Caplan and Graham Cancer Center have co-authored a number of collaborative manuscripts. Some select publications are available below.
- Shao C, Indeglia A, Foster M, Casey K, Leung J, Modarai SR, Leu JI-J, Duong B, Mes-Masson A-M, Sims-Mourtada J, Auslander N, Drapkin R, Bitler BG, Zhang N, Murphy ME. 2026. Mutant p53 binds and controls estrogen receptor activity to drive endocrine resistance in ovarian cancer. Genes Dev 40:199-214. PMC12829591.
- Tcyganov EN, Kwak T, Yang X, Poli ANR, Hart C, Bhuniya A, Cassel J, Kossenkov AV, Auslander N, Lu L, Sharma P, Cauti Mendoza MDG, Zhigarev D, Cramer GM, Cadungog MG, Jean S, Chatterjee-Paer S, Weiner DB, Donthireddy L, Bristow B, Zhang R, Tyurin VA, Tyurina YY, Bayir H, Kagan VE, Salvino JM, Montaner LJ. 2025. Targeting LxCxE Cleft Pocket of Retinoblastoma Protein in Immunosuppressive Macrophages Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Progression. Cancer Immunol Res 13:1764-1782. PMC12532034.
- Dai Y, Knisely A, Yano M, Dang M, Hinchcliff EM, Lee S, Welp A, Chelvanambi M, Lastrapes M, Liu H, Yuan Z, Wang C, Nie H, Jean S, Montaner LJ, Hou J, Patel A, Patel S, Fellman B, Yuan Y, Sun B, Pandurengan RK, Cuentas ERP, Celestino J, Liu Y, Liu J, Hillman RT, Westin SN, Sood AK, Soliman PT, Shafer A, Meyer LA, Gershenson DM, Vining D, Ganeshan D, Lu K, Wargo JA, Peng W, Zhang R, Wang L, Jazaeri AA. 2025. PPP2R1A mutations portend improved survival after cancer immunotherapy. Nature 644:537-546. PMC12350166.
- Siegel SD, Brooks MM, Berman JD, Lynch SM, Sims-Mourtada J, Schug ZT, Curriero FC. 2023. Neighborhood factors and triple negative breast cancer: The role of cumulative exposure to area-level risk factors. Cancer Med 12:11760-11772. PMC10242317.
- Fu S, Deng H, Bertolini I, Perego M, Chen ES, Sanseviero E, Mostafa A, Alicea-Torres K, Garcia-Gerique L, Stone EL, Kossenkov AV, Schug ZT, Nam B, Mulligan C, Altieri DC, Nefedova Y, Gabrilovich DI. 2022. Syntaphilin Regulates Neutrophil Migration in Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res 11:278-289. PMC9991994.
- Veglia F, Hashimoto A, Dweep H, Sanseviero E, De Leo A, Tcyganov E, Kossenkov A, Mulligan C, Nam B, Masters G, Patel J, Bhargava V, Wilkinson P, Smirnov D, Sepulveda MA, Singhal S, Eruslanov EB, Cristescu R, Loboda A, Nefedova Y, Gabrilovich DI. 2021. Analysis of classical neutrophils and polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer patients and tumor-bearing mice. J Exp Med 218 PMC7879582.
- Kossenkov AV, Qureshi R, Dawany NB, Wickramasinghe J, Liu Q, Majumdar RS, Chang C, Widura S, Kumar T, Horng W-H, Konnisto E, Criner G, Tsay J-CJ, Pass H, Yendamuri S, Vachani A, Bauer T, Nam B, Rom WN, Showe MK, Showe LC. 2018. A Gene Expression Classifier from Whole Blood Distinguishes Benign from Malignant Lung Nodules Detected by Low-Dose CT. Cancer research 79:263-273. PMC6317999.