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  • Faculty
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  • Ronny Drapkin
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Faculty

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Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD

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Franklin Payne Professor of Pathology in Obstetrics & Gynecology
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Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology
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1f Graduate Group Affiliations 8 a
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University of Pennsylvania
24 Biomedical Research Building
3c 421 Curie Blvd., Rm. 1215
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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2e Office: 215-746-3973
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Email: rdrapkin@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
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18 Publications
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13 Education:
21 7 BA 34 (Biochemistry, Advisor: James Haber, PhD) c
2c Brandeis University, 1990.
 21 8 PhD 37 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Danny Reinberg, PhD) c
47 Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1996.
 21 7 MD 1d (General Medicine) c
43 Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 1998.
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Links
a1 Search PubMed for articles
 5f The Drapkin Lab
8e The BioTrust Collection - the biorepository of the Penn OCRC
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5 3 3 92 Permanent link
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b6 > Perelman School of Medicine   > Faculty   > Details a
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Description of Research Expertise

24 RESEARCH INTERESTS:
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18f The Drapkin lab investigates the origins and early evolution of gynecologic cancers, with a primary focus on high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), the most lethal subtype of ovarian cancer. Our work has helped establish the Fallopian tube epithelium as the principal site of origin for HGSOC, providing a new framework for studying disease initiation, early detection, and prevention.
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294 We use an integrated, multi-scale approach to define the molecular and cellular events that underlie malignant transformation. This includes the development and application of genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), Fallopian tube–derived cell systems, and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), coupled with genomic, spatial, and single-cell profiling technologies. Current efforts focus on building a comprehensive pre-cancer atlas of the Fallopian tube, identifying early signaling pathways associated with immune evasion, and defining how the tumor microenvironment—including stromal and neural components—contributes to disease progression.
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171 Our goal is to translate these insights into clinically actionable strategies for early detection, risk stratification, and therapeutic intervention. This work is carried out through close collaboration with clinicians, computational scientists, and industry partners, and is supported by a strong commitment to rigorous experimental design and reproducibility.
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124 We are equally committed to training the next generation of investigators. The lab emphasizes mentorship, intellectual independence, and team science, creating an environment where trainees contribute meaningfully to discovery while developing the skills needed for impactful careers.
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ed KEYWORDS: Ovarian cancer, Fallopian tube, Spatial Multi-Omics Pre-Cancer Atlas, Tumor Microenvironment, Tumor Innervation, Cyclin E, BRCA1/2, DNA Repair, Protein complexes, Master Transcription Factors, Biomarkers, Animal models.
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1a ROTATION PROJECTS:
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98 Rotation projects are open to students in each of the areas the lab focuses on. Please see Ronny Drapkin to discuss potential rotation projects.
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16 LAB PERSONNEL:
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2e Yelena Zhuravlev, PhD, Program Manager
33 Matthew Knarr, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
3e Pamela Rojas de Santiago, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
33 Gabriel Mingo, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
34 Dusan Racordon, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
37 Katherine Cummins, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
3c Camille Mccallister, MD, Gynecologic Oncology Fellow
29 Sarah Kimmel, Research Specialist
2d Sristhi Chowdhury, Penn undergraduate
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23 ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR:
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15 Denise Curley
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23 denise.curley@uphs.upenn.edu
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Selected Publications

200 de Santiago PR, Sato S, Zhang SJ, Dougher MC, Devins KM, Bilecz AJ, Rayamajhi S, Mingo G, Rendulich HS, Feng Y, Wu C, Taylor MS, Zhuravlev Y, Jung E, Omran DK, Wang TL, Shih IM, Schwartz LE, Kim S, Morgan MA, Tanyi JL, Burns KH, Lengyel E, Parra-Herran C, Godwin AK, Walt DR, Drapkin R.: LINE-1 ORF1p expression occurs in clear cell ovarian carcinoma precursors and is a candidate blood biomarker. NPJ Precis Oncology 9(1): 62, March 2025.

 14f Kader T, Lin JR, Hug CB, Coy S, Chen YA, de Bruijn I, Shih N, Jung E, Pelletier RJ, Lopez Leon M, Mingo G, Omran DK, Lee JS, Yapp C, Satravada BA, Kundra R, Xu Y, Chan S, Tefft JB, Muhlich JL, Kim SH, Gysler SM, Agudo J, Heath JR, Schultz N, Drescher CW, Sorger PK, Drapkin R*, Santagata S*. f2 *co-senior authors: Multimodal Spatial Profiling Reveals Immune Suppression and Microenvironment Remodeling in Fallopian Tube Precursors to High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma. Cancer Discovery 15(6), June 2025.

 fb Beddows I, Djirackor S, Omran DK, Jung E, Shih NN, Roy R, Hechmer A, Olshen A, Adelmant G, Tom A, Morrison J, Adams M, Rohrer DC, Schwartz LE, Pearce CL, Auman H, Marto JA, Drescher CW*, Drapkin R*, Shen H*. f7 * denotes co-corresponding senior authors: Impact of BRCA mutations, age, surgical indication, and hormone status on the molecular phenotype of the human Fallopian tube. Nature Communications 16(1): 2981, March 2025.

 10a Knarr MJ, Moon J, Rawat P, DiFeo A, Hoon DSB, Drapkin R.: Repurposing colforsin daropate to treat MYC-driven high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas. Science Signaling 17(863): eado8303, Nov 2024.

 17b Reavis HD, Gysler SM, McKenney GB, Knarr M, Lusk HJ, Rawat P, Rendulich HS, Mitchell MA, Berger DS, Moon JS, Ryu S, Mainigi M, Iwanicki MP, Hoon DS, Sanchez LM, Drapkin R.: Norepinephrine induces anoikis resistance in high-grade serous ovarian cancer precursor cells. JCI Insight 9(5): e170961, March 2024.

 32c Taylor MS, Wu C, Fridy PC, Zhang SJ, Senussi Y, Wolters JC, Cajuso T, Cheng WC, Heaps JD, Miller BD, Mori K, Cohen L, Jiang H, Molloy KR, Chait BT, Goggins MG, Bhan I, Franses JW, Yang X, Taplin ME, Wang X, Christiani DC, Johnson BE, Meyerson M, Uppaluri R, Egloff AM, Denault EN, Spring LM, Wang TL, Shih IM, Fairman JE, Jung E, Arora KS, Yilmaz OH, Cohen S, Sharova T, Chi G, Norden BL, Song Y, Nieman LT, Pappas L, Parikh AR, Strickland MR, Corcoran RB, Mustelin T, Eng G, Yilmaz OH, Matulonis UA, Skates SJ, Rueda BR, Drapkin R, Klempner SJ, Deshpande V, Ting DT, Rout MP, LaCava J, Walt DR, Burns KH: Ultrasensitive detection of circulating LINE-1 ORF1p as a specific multi-cancer biomarker. Cancer Discov 13(12): 2532-2547, Dec 2023.

 1a3 Chaves-Moreira D, Mitchell MA, Arruza C, Rawat P, Sidoli S, Nameki R, Reddy J, Corona RI, Afeyan LK, Klein IA, Ma S, Winterhoff B, Konecny GE, Garcia BA, Brady DC, Lawrenson K, Morin PJ, Drapkin R: The transcription factor PAX8 promotes angiogenesis in ovarian cancer through interaction with SOX17. Science Signaling 15(728): eabm2496, Apr 2022.

 d0 Gysler SM, Drapkin R: Tumor innervation: peripheral nerves take control of the tumor microenvironment. J Clin Invest 131(11), Jun 2021.

 141 Labidi-Galy SI, Papp E, Hallberg D, Niknafs N, Adleff V, Noe M, Bhattacharya R, Novak M, Jones S, Phallen J, Hruban CA, Hirsch MS, Lin DI, Schwartz L, Maire CL, Tille JC, Bowden M, Ayhan A, Wood LD, Scharpf RB, Kurman R, Wang TL, Shih IM, Karchin R, Drapkin R*, Velculescu VE*. b3 * Co-senior/corresponding authors: High grade serous ovarian carcinomas originate in the fallopian tube. Nature Communications 8(1): 1093, Oct 2017.

 1bb Perets R, Muto KW, Bijron JG, Poole BB, Chin KT, Kwak S, Chen JYH, Karst AM, Setlur SR, Hirsch MS, Crum CP, Dinulescu DM, Drapkin R: Transformation of the fallopian tube secretory epithelium leads to high-grade serous ovarian cancer in Brca;Tp53;Pten models. *Highlighted in Nature Reviews Cancer, Cancer Discovery, and Cancer Research. Cancer Cell 24: 751-65, Dec 2013.

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