Faculty
Dolores Hambardzumyan, PhD, MBA
Professor of Neurosurgery
Department: Neurosurgery
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
One uCity Square
25 N 38th Street, Room 3103
Philadelphia, PA 19104
25 N 38th Street, Room 3103
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Publications
Education:
MS (Biochemistry (Summa Cum Laude))
Yerevan State University, Armenia , 1999.
PhD (Biochemistry/Neuroscience)
Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Armenia, 2002.
MBA (Goizueta Business School)
Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2019.
N/A (Executive Coaching)
Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2021.
Permanent linkMS (Biochemistry (Summa Cum Laude))
Yerevan State University, Armenia , 1999.
PhD (Biochemistry/Neuroscience)
Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Armenia, 2002.
MBA (Goizueta Business School)
Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2019.
N/A (Executive Coaching)
Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2021.
Description of Research Expertise
My research expertise is centered on advanced models, including humanized and genetically engineered mouse models of brain tumors, patient samples, genomics, and two-photon live imaging. In my laboratory, we focus on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the brain tumor microenvironment, particularly myeloid subsets, contributes to tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. By integrating neuroscience, immunology, cancer biology, and genetics, our work aims to develop innovative therapies for brain tumors.Keywords: Angiogenesis, Anti-Tumor Therapy, Bioinformatics, Blood-Brain Barrier, Brain, Brain Imaging, Cellular Immunity, Chemokines, Chemotaxis, Cytokines, Drug Resistance, Genomics, Knockout Mice, Microglia, Neurobiology, Neuroscience, Signal Transduction, Translational Research, Two-Photon Imaging
Rotation Projects:
1. The role of TREM family members in Brain tumors. The project will investigate the role of TREM family members in glioblastoma, aiming to uncover how TREM receptors regulate the functional states of tumor-associated myeloid cells and their crosstalk with glioblastoma cells.
2. The project will explore the role of microglia in the growth, invasion, and immune evasion of diffuse midline gliomas within pediatric high-grade gliomas.
Selected Publications
Soni N, Rawat K, Chen Z, Giotti B, Di Mourio A, Hambardzumyan D, & Tsankov AM : Single-cell dissection of the genotype-immunophenotype relationship in glioblastoma. Brain Apr 2025 Notes: [Online ahead of print]; doi: 10.1093/brain/awaf129.Seblani M, Zannikou M, Duffy JT, Joshi T, Levine RN, Thakur A, Puigdelloses Vallcorba M, Horbinski CM, Miska J, Hambardzumyan D, Becher OJ, Balyasnikova IV: IL13RA2-integrated genetically engineered mouse model allows for CAR T cells targeting pediatric high-grade gliomas. Acta Neuropathol Commun 13(1): 69, Apr 2025.
Li J, Shih LK, Markwell SM, Olson CL, Sullivan DP, Arvanitis C, Ross JL, Lam NG, Nuszen H, Hambardzumyan D, Becher OJ, Brat DJ: A clinically relevant model and method to study necrosis as a driving force in glioma restructuring and progression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 122(1): e2416024122, Feb 2025.
Garcia-Fabiani MB, Haase S, Banerjee K, Zhu Z, McClellan BL, Mujeeb AA, Li Y, Tronrud CE, Varela ML, West MEJ, Yu J, Kadiyala P, Taher AW, Nunez FJ, Alghamri MS, Comba A, Mendez FM, Nicola Candia AJ, Salazar B, Nunez FM, Edwards MB, Qin T, Cartaxo RT, Niculcea M, Koschmann C, Venneti S, Vallcorba MP, Nasajpour E, Pericoli G, Vinci M, Kleinman CL, Jabado N, Chandler JP, Sonabend AM, DeCuypere M, Hambardzumyan D, Prolo LM, Mahaney KB, Grant GA, Petritsch CK, Welch JD, Sartor MA, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG: H3.3-G34R Mutation-Mediated Epigenetic Reprogramming Leads to Enhanced Efficacy of Immune Stimulatory Gene Therapy in Diffuse Hemispheric Gliomas. bioRxiv Feb 2025 Notes: Accepted Preprint; doi: 10.1101/2023.06.13.544658.
Ross JL, Puigdelloses-Vallcorba M, Pinero G, Soni N, Thomason W, DeSisto J, Angione A, Tsankova NM, Castro MG, Schniederjan M, Wadhwani NR, Raju GP, Morgenstern P, Becher OJ, Green AL, Tsankov AM, Hambardzumyan D : Microglia and monocyte-derived macrophages drive progression of pediatric high-grade gliomas and are transcriptionally shaped by histone mutations. Immunity 57(11): 2669-87.e6, Nov 2024.
Read RD, Tapp ZM, Rajappa P, Hambardzumyan D: Glioblastoma microenvironment-from biology to therapy. Genes Dev 38(9-10): 360-379, Jun 2024.
Shi X, Lingerak R, Herting CJ, Ge Y, Kim S, Toth P, Wang W, Brown BP, Meiler J, Sossey-Alaoui K, Buck M, Himanen J, Hambardzumyan D, Nikolov DB, Smith AW, Wang B: Time-resolved live-cell spectroscopy reveals EphA2 multimeric assembly Science 382(6674): 1042-50, Dec 2023.
Ross JL, Hambardzumyan D: Et tu neutrophils? The brain reprograms neutrophils to facilitate tumor progression. Immunity 56(11): 2469-2471, Nov 2023.
Chen Z, Giotti B, Kaluzova M, Vallcorba MP, Rawat K, Price G, Herting CJ, Pinero G, Cristea S, Ross JL, Ackley J, Maximov V, Szulzewsky F, Thomason W, Marquez-Ropero M, Angione A, Nichols N, Tsankova NM, Michor F, Shayakhmetov M, Gutmann DH, Tsankov AM, Hambardzumyan D: A paracrine circuit of IL-1beta/IL-1R1 between myeloid and tumor cells drives genotypedependent glioblastoma progression. J Clin Invest 133(22): e163802, Sep 2023.
Sattiraju A, Kang S, Giotti B, Chen Z, Marallano VJ, Brusco C, Ramakrishnan A, Shen L, Tsankov AM, Hambardzumyan D, Friedel RH, Zou H: Hypoxic niches attract and sequester tumor-associated macrophages and cytotoxic T cells and reprogram them for immunosuppression. Immunity 56(8): 1825-43.e6, Aug 2023.
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