RESEARCH:
My research has focused on functional genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and bioinformatics approaches to study cancer for the purposes of understanding cancer biology as well as to discover clinical biomarkers. I am a board certified clinical pathologist and oversee a CLIA/CAP Molecular Testing laboratory as part of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology. My group has characterized a number of biomarkers of prostate cancer including AMACR, EZH2, hepsin and sarcosine. AMACR is being used clinically across the country in the assessment of cancer in prostate needle biopsies. Our landmark study thus far is the discovery of TMPRSS2-ETS gene fusions in a majority of prostate cancers. TMPRSS2-ETS gene fusions are specific markers of prostate cancer as well as presumably function as rational targets for this disease. This finding potentially redefines the molecular basis of prostate cancer as well as other common epithelial cancers. Through the University, I have partnered with Gen-Probe, Inc. and Ventana/Roche Inc. to develop clinical diagnostics to detect prostate cancer gene fusions in urine and biopsy specimens of men with prostate cancer. A major current focus of the lab is to employ next generation sequencing to detect driving molecular alterations in cancer with an interest in translating high throughput sequencing based approaches to clinical use. I also led the development of the popular cancer profiling bioinformatics resource called Oncomine (www.oncomine.org) which is freely available to the academic community (hosting nearly 10,000 registered users from over 30 countries). Thus, the lab combines expertise in cancer genomics, next generation sequencing, and bioinformatics to discover the genetic lesions that initiate cancer development, dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in cancer progression, and exploit those findings to impact clinical diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
AWARDS and HONORS:
1998 Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Science Prize, North America Region, Uppsala, Sweden
2000 Cheryl Whitlock/Pathology Memorial Prize, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
2002 Pew Biomedical Scholar
2004 Young Investigator Award, Society of Basic Urological Research (SBUR)
2005 AMGEN Outstanding Investigator Award, American Society of Investigative Pathology
2005 Dean’s Basic Science Research Award, University of Michigan Medical School
2006 Elected Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation
2006 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Benjamin Castleman Award
2007 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Ramzi Cotran Young Investigator Award
2007 Inaugural American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Team Science Award
2008 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research
2008 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (Patient-Oriented Research)
2009 Elected Member of the American Association of Physicians
2009 Elected Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
2009 Philip Levine Award for Outstanding Research from the American Society of Clinical Pathology
2009 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
2011 Taubman Scholar
RECENT PRESS RELEASES:
Wall Street Journal: “The Prostate Cancer Quandary”
The Hub: Detroit Regional News: “Movember means mustaches for a great cause”
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition: “Four U-M startup companies win prizes in business plan competition”
MSNBC: “Prostate cancer tests improving with new technology”
Smithsonian Magazine: "A Triumph in the War Against Cancer"
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:
Click here for complete list from PubMed.
Roychowdhury S, Iyer MK, Robinson DR, Lonigro RJ, Wu YM, Cao X, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Sam L, Balbin OA, Quist MJ, Barrette T, Everett J, Siddiqui J, Kunju LP, Navone N, Araujo JC, Troncoso P, Logothetis CJ, Innis JW, Smith DC, Lao CD, Kim SY, Roberts JS, Gruber SB, Pienta KJ, Talpaz M, Chinnaiyan AM.
Sci Transl Med. 2011 Nov 30;3(111):111ra121.
Robinson DR, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Wu YM, Shankar S, Cao X, Ateeq B, Asangani IA, Iyer M, Maher CA, Grasso CS, Lonigro RJ, Quist M, Siddiqui J, Mehra R, Jing X, Giordano TJ, Sabel MS, Kleer CG, Palanisamy N, Natrajan R, Lambros MB, Reis-Filho JS, Kumar-Sinha C, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Med. 2011 Nov 20. doi: 10.1038/nm.2580.
Cao Q, Mani RS, Ateeq B, Dhanasekaran SM, Asangani IA, Prensner JR, Kim JH, Brenner JC, Jing X, Cao X, Wang R, Li Y, Dahiya A, Wang L, Pandhi M, Lonigro RJ, Wu YM, Tomlins SA, Palanisamy N, Qin Z, Yu J, Maher CA, Varambally S, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell. 2011 Aug 16;20(2):187-99.
Tomlins SA, Aubin SM, Siddiqui J, Lonigro RJ, Sefton-Miller L, Miick S, Williamsen S, Hodge P, Meinke J, Blase A, Penabella Y, Day JR, Varambally R, Han B, Wood D, Wang L, Sanda MG, Rubin MA, Rhodes DR, Hollenbeck B, Sakamoto K, Silberstein JL, Fradet Y, Amberson JB, Meyers S, Palanisamy N, Rittenhouse H, Wei JT, Groskopf J, Chinnaiyan AM.
Sci Transl Med. 2011 Aug 3;3(94):94ra72.
Prensner JR, Iyer MK, Balbin OA, Dhanasekaran SM, Cao Q, Brenner JC, Laxman B, Asangani IA, Grasso CS, Kominsky HD, Cao X, Jing X, Wang X, Siddiqui J, Wei JT, Robinson D, Iyer HK, Palanisamy N, Maher CA, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Jul 31;29(8):742-9. doi: 10.1038/nbt.1914.
Iyer MK, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Jul;29(7):644-52.
Brenner JC, Ateeq B, Li Y, Yocum AK, Cao Q, Asangani IA, Patel S, Wang X, Liang H, Yu J, Palanisamy N, Siddiqui J, Yan W, Cao X, Mehra R, Sabolch A, Basrur V, Lonigro RJ, Yang J, Tomlins SA, Maher CA, Elenitoba-Johnson KSJ, Hussain M, Navone NM, Pienta KJ, Varambally S, Feng FY, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell,19, 664–678, May 17, 2011.
Wang X-S, Shankar S, Dhanasekaran SM, Ateeq B, Sasaki AT, Jing X, Robinson D, Cao Q, Prensner JR, Yocum AK, Wang R, Fries DF, Han B, Asangani IA, Cao X, Li Y, Omenn GS, Pflueger D, Gopalan A, Reuter VE, Kahoud ER, Cantley LC, Rubin MA, Palanisamy N, Varambally S , and Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Discovery. 2011; 1(1) doi: 10.1158/2159-8274.
Brenner JC, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell. 2011 Mar 8;19(3):301-3. PMID: 21397854
Therapeutic Targeting of SPINK1-Positive Prostate Cancer.
Ateeq B, Tomlins SA, Laxman B, Asangani IA, Cao Q, Cao X, Li Y, Wang X, Feng FY, Pienta KJ, Varambally S, Chinnaiyan AM.
Sci Transl Med. 2011 Mar 2;3(72):72ra17. PMID: 21368222
UMHS Press Release
Triggers for genomic rearrangements: insights into genomic, cellular and environmental influences.
Mani RS, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Rev Genet. 2010 Nov 3. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 21045868
Rearrangements of the RAF kinase pathway in prostate cancer, gastric cancer and melanoma.
Palanisamy N, Ateeq B, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Pflueger D, Ramnarayanan K, Shankar S, Han B, Cao Q, Cao X, Suleman K, Kumar-Sinha C, Dhanasekaran SM, Chen YB, Esgueva R, Banerjee S, Lafargue CJ, Siddiqui J, Demichelis F, Moeller P, Bismar TA, Kuefer R, Fullen DR, Johnson TM, Greenson JK, Giordano TJ, Tan P, Tomlins SA, Varambally S, Rubin MA, Maher CA, Chinnaiyan AM
Nat Med. 2010 Jul;16(7):793-8. Epub 2010 Jun 6.
PMID: 20526349
UMHS Press Release
An Integrated Network of Androgen Receptor, Polycomb, and TMPRSS2-ERG Gene Fusions in Prostate Cancer Progression.
Yu J, Yu J, Mani RS, Cao Q, Brenner CJ, Cao X, Wang X, Wu L, Li J, Hu M, Gong Y, Cheng H, Laxman B, Vellaichamy A, Shankar S, Li Y, Dhanasekaran SM, Morey R, Barrette T, Lonigro RJ, Tomlins SA, Varambally S, Qin ZS, Chinnaiyan AM
Cancer Cell. 2010 May 18;17(5):443-54.
PMID: 20478527
UMHS Press Release
A FIRE-y PAGE in the computational analysis of cancer profiles.
Prensner JR, Chinnaiyan AM
Mol. Cell. 2009 Dec 11 36(5):732-3
PMID: 20005836
Induced Chromosomal Proximity and Gene Fusions in Prostate Cancer.
Mani RS, Tomlins SA, Callahan K, Ghosh A, Nyati MK, Varambally S, Palanisamy N, Chinnaiyan AM
Science. 2009 Nov 27;326(5957):1230. Epub 2009 Oct 29.
PMID: 19933109
UMHS Press Release
An integrative approach to reveal driver gene fusions from paired-end sequencing data in cancer.
Wang XS, Prensner JR, Chen G, Cao Q, Han B, Dhanasekaran SM, Ponnala R, Cao X, Varambally S, Thomas DG, Giordano TJ, Beer DG, Palanisamy N, Sartor MA, Omenn GS, Chinnaiyan AM
Nat Biotechnol. 2009 Nov;27(11):1005-11. Epub 2009 Nov 1.
PMID: 19881495
Chimeric transcript discovery by paired-end transcriptome sequencing.
Maher CA, Palanisamy N, Brenner JC, Cao X, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Luo S, Khrebtukova I, Barrette TR, Grasso C, Yu J, Lonigro RJ, Schroth G, Kumar-Sinha C, Chinnaiyan AM
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 28;106(30):12353-8. Epub 2009 Jul 10.
PMID: 19592507
AGTR1 overexpression defines a subset of breast cancer and confers sensitivity to losartan, an AGTR1 antagonist.
Rhodes DR, Ateeq B, Cao Q, Tomlins SA, Mehra R, Laxman B, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Lonigro RJ, Helgeson BE, Bhojani MS, Rehemtulla A, Kleer CG, Hayes DF, Lucas PC, Varambally S, Chinnaiyan AM
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 23;106(25):10284-9. Epub 2009 Jun 1.
PMID: 19487683
UMHS Press Release
Metabolomic profiles delineate potential role for sarcosine in prostate cancer progression.
Sreekumar A, Poisson LM, Rajendiran TM, Khan AP, Cao Q, Yu J, Laxman B, Mehra R, Lonigro RJ, Li Y, Nyati MK, Ahsan A, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Han B, Cao X, Byun J, Omenn GS, Ghosh D, Pennathur S, Alexander DC, Berger A, Shuster JR, Wei JT, Varambally S, Beecher C, Chinnaiyan AM
Nature. 2009 Feb 12 457(7231):910-4
PMID: 19212411
UMHS Press Release
Transcriptome sequencing to detect gene fusions in cancer.
Maher CA, Kumar-Sinha C, Cao X, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Han B, Jing X, Sam L, Barrette T, Palanisamy N, Chinnaiyan AM
Nature. 2009 Mar 5;458(7234):97-101. Epub 2009 Jan 11.
PMID: 19136943
UMHS Press Release
Genomic Loss of microRNA-101 Leads to Overexpression of Histone Methyltransferase EZH2 in Cancer.
Varambally S, Cao Q, Mani RS, Shankar S, Wang X, Ateeq B, Laxman B, Cao X, Jing X, Ramnarayanan K, Brenner JC, Yu J, Kim JH, Han B, Tan P, Kumar-Sinha C, Lonigro RJ, Palanisamy N, Maher CA, Chinnaiyan AM
Science. 2008 Dec 12;322(5908):1695-9. Epub 2008 Nov 13.
PMID: 19008416
UMHS Press Release
Recurrent gene fusions in prostate cancer.
Kumar-Sinha C, Tomlins SA, Chinnaiyan AM
Nat Rev Cancer. 2008 Jul;8(7):497-511. Epub 2008 Jun 19.
PMID: 18563191
The role of SPINK1 in ETS rearrangement-negative prostate cancers.
Tomlins SA, Rhodes DR, Yu J, Varambally S, Mehra R, Perner S, Demichelis F, Helgeson BE, Laxman B, Morris DS, Cao Q, Cao X, Andrén O, Fall K, Johnson L, Wei JT, Shah RB, Al-Ahmadie H, Eastham JA, Eggener SE, Fine SW, Hotakainen K, Stenman UH, Tsodikov A, Gerald WL, Lilja H, Reuter VE, Kantoff PW, Scardino PT, Rubin MA, Bjartell AS, Chinnaiyan AM
Cancer Cell. 2008 Jun 13(6):519-28
PMID: 18538735
UMHS Press Release
Tumor cell-selective regulation of NOXA by c-MYC in response to proteasome inhibition.
Nikiforov MA, Riblett M, Tang WH, Gratchouck V, Zhuang D, Fernandez Y, Verhaegen M, Varambally S, Chinnaiyan AM, Jakubowiak AJ, Soengas MS.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 4;104(49):19488-93. Epub 2007 Nov 27.
PMID: 18042711
UMHS Press Release
Integrative Genomics Analysis Reveals Silencing of beta-Adrenergic Signaling by Polycomb in Prostate Cancer.
Yu J, Cao Q, Mehra R, Laxman B, Yu J, Tomlins SA, Creighton CJ, Dhanasekaran SM, Shen R, Chen G, Morris DS, Marquez VE, Shah RB, Ghosh D, Varambally S, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell. 2007 Nov;12(5):419-31.
PMID: 17996646
Distinct classes of chromosomal rearrangements create oncogenic ETS gene fusions in prostate cancer.
Tomlins SA, Laxman B, Dhanasekaran SM, Helgeson BE, Cao X, Morris DS, Menon A, Jing X, Cao Q, Han B, Yu J, Wang L, Montie JE, Rubin MA, Pienta KJ, Roulston D, Shah RB, Varambally S, Mehra R, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nature. 2007 Aug 2;448(7153):595-9.
PMID: 17671502
UMHS Press Release
Integrative molecular concept modeling of prostate cancer progression.
Tomlins SA, Mehra R, Rhodes DR, Cao X, Wang L, Dhanasekaran SM, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Wei JT, Rubin MA, Pienta KJ, Shah RB, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Genet. 2007 Jan;39(1):41-51. Epub 2006 Dec 17.
PMID: 17173048
Of mice and men: Cancer gene discovery using comparative oncogenomics.
Tomlins SA, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell. 2006 Jul;10(1):2-4.
PMID: 16843259
A SLAMS dunk for cancer regulators.
Kumar-Sinha C, Chinnaiyan AM.
Nat Biotechnol. 2006 May;24(5):524-6.
PMID: 16680134
Integrative genomic and proteomic analysis of prostate cancer reveals signatures of metastatic progression.
Varambally S, Yu J, Laxman B, Rhodes DR, Mehra R, Tomlins SA, Shah RB, Chandran U, Monzon FA, Becich MJ, Wei JT, Pienta KJ, Ghosh D, Rubin MA, Chinnaiyan AM.
Cancer Cell. 2005 Nov;8(5):393-406.
PMID: 16286247
Recurrent fusion of TMPRSS2 and ETS transcription factor genes in prostate cancer.
Tomlins SA, Rhodes DR, Perner S, Dhanasekaran SM, Mehra R, Sun XW, Varambally S, Cao X, Tchinda J, Kuefer R, Lee C, Montie JE, Shah RB, Pienta KJ, Rubin MA, Chinnaiyan AM.
Science. 2005 Oct 28;310(5748):644-8.
PMID: 16254181
UMHS Press Release
