Lewis A. Chodosh, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Depts of Cancer Biology, Cell & Developmental Biology, and Medicine
Director, Cancer Genetics, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute
Vice Chair, Department of Cancer Biology
Program Leader, Breast Cancer Research Program
Co-Director, UPENN Small Animal Imaging Facility

Cancer Biology Program

Address

612 Biomedical Rsch Bldg (BRB) II/III
421 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6160
Lab Address: 624-630 BRB II/III

Office tel.: 215 898-1321
Lab tel.: 215 898-0006
Fax: 215 573-6725
E-mail: chodosh@mail.med.upenn.edu

Assistant Contact Information:

Judith A. Farrell
616 Biomedical Research Building II/III
phone: 215-573-3224
E-mail: jufarrel@mail.med.upenn.edu

Link(s)

Lewis A. Chodosh at the Abramson Institute

EDUCATION

Yale University: BS (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry), 1981.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: PhD (Transcription Factor Biochemistry), 1988.

Harvard Medical School: MD, 1989.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Genetically engineered mouse models for breast cancer initiation, metastasis, and recurrence.
• Normal developmental biology of the mammary gland.
• Tumor dormancy.
• Stem cells in breast cancer and mammary development.
• Oncogenes and tumor suppressors in breast cancer.
• Genomics and computational biology.
• Non-invasive imaging.

Key words: Mouse models, cancer, development, genomics, stem cells, imaging, oncogenes, targeted therapy.

Search PubMed for articles

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH

Breast cancer is the most common cancer as well as the leading cause of death from cancer among women worldwide. The Chodosh laboratory uses genetically engineered mouse models to study the genes and mechanisms that cause breast cancer and that regulate normal mammary gland development. Particular areas of interest include: the function of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer, metastasis, tumor dormancy and recurrence; the role of stem cells in cancer and the normal development of the mammary gland; the use of genomics and computational approaches to understand genetic programs in mammary development and breast cancer; the mechanisms by which pregnancy protects against breast cancer; and the use of non-invasive imaging approaches such as PET, MRI, and bioluminescence to study tumor biology. These approaches employ a broad array of molecular, cellular, animal, human, and in silico model systems to study the function of key regulatory molecules in mammary gland and tumor biology.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Gunther EJ, Moody SE, Belka GK, Hahn KT, Innocent N, Dugan KD, Cardiff RD, and Chodosh LA. Impact of p53 loss on reversal and recurrence of conditional Wnt-induced tumorigenesis. Genes & Development, 17:488-501, 2003.

Boxer RB, Jang JW, Sintasath L, and Chodosh LA. Lack of sustained regression of c-MYC-induced mammary adenocarcinomas following brief or prolonged MYC inactivation. Cancer Cell, 6:577-586, 2004.

Chodosh LA. Modeling human cancers in mice. Cancer Biology & Therapy, 4:255-256, 2005.

Master SR, Stoddard AJ, Bailey LC, Pan TC, Dugan KD, and Chodosh LA. Genomic analysis of early murine mammary gland development using novel probe-level algorithms. Genome Biology, 6, 2005.

Blakely CM, Sintasath L, D'Cruz CM, Master SR, Hahn KT, Belka GK, and Chodosh LA. Developmental stage determines the effects of c-MYC in the mammary epithelium. Development, 1132:1147-1160, 2005.

Moody SE, Prez D, Pan TC, Sarkisian CJ, Portocarrero C, Sterner CJ, Notorfrancesco K, Cardiff RD, and Chodosh LA. The transcriptional repressor, Snail, promotes mammary tumor recurrence. Cancer Cell, 8:197-209, 2005.

Lab

ROTATION PROJECTS

Rotation projects are available in each of the main areas of the lab.

Lab personnel:

James Alvarez, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Charles Bailey, M.D., Ph.D. - Instructor
Suzanne Bakewell, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Collin Blakely - Graduate Student
Chien-chung Chen, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Joanne Jang - Graduate Student
Isabel Latorre, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Congzhou Liu - Graduate Student
Denise Perez, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Haoqun Qiu, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Patrick Taulman, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Min Wang, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Minghua Xu, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Xiaoping Yang, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow