Faculty

Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD

Franklin Payne Professor of Pathology in Obstetrics & Gynecology

Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology

Graduate Group Affiliations

Cell and Molecular Biology

Contact information

University of Pennsylvania
Biomedical Research Building
421 Curie Blvd., Rm. 1215
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Office: 215-746-3973

Email:
rdrapkin@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Publications

Search PubMed for articles

Education:
BA (Biochemistry, Advisor: James Haber, PhD)
Brandeis University, 1990.
PhD (Biochemistry, Advisor: Danny Reinberg, PhD)
Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1996.
MD (General Medicine)
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 1998.

Links
Search PubMed for articles
The Drapkin Lab
The BioTrust Collection - the biorepository of the Penn OCRC

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

The Drapkin lab is driven by a shared passion for advancing scientific discovery, fostering mentorship, and building a collaborative and inclusive community. Guided by these core values, we are dedicated to unraveling the complexities of ovarian cancer with the goal of transforming patient outcomes.

Our mission is to conduct high-impact research that deepens our understanding of ovarian cancer pathogenesis, genetics, and tumor microenvironment dynamics. We are particularly focused on the origins of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), the most lethal subtype of ovarian cancer, and have played a pivotal role in uncovering its roots in the Fallopian tube epithelium. Our innovative approach includes developing and utilizing cutting-edge models, such as genetically engineered mouse models (GEMs), Fallopian tube-derived cell lines, and patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDXs).

We strive to foster an environment where team science thrives—embracing collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and communities to drive innovation. Mentorship is a cornerstone of our lab’s ethos, and we are committed to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians through meaningful engagement and support.

By advancing fundamental knowledge and translating discoveries into actionable strategies, we aim to improve the lives of ovarian cancer patients while inspiring a future where diversity, curiosity, and collective effort empower the next wave of breakthroughs in cancer research.

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.

ROTATION PROJECTS:

Rotation projects are open to students in each of the areas the lab focuses on. Please see Ronny Drapkin to discuss potential rotation projects.

LAB PERSONNEL:

Yelena Zhuravlev, PhD, Program Manager
Matthew Knarr, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Pamela Rojas de Santiago, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Gabriel Mingo, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Dusan Racordon, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Katherine Cummins, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Camille Mccallister, MD, Gynecologic Oncology Fellow
Sarah Kimmel, Research Specialist
Edwin Sedodo, Research Specialist
Harper Green, Penn undergraduate
Sristhi Chowdhury, Penn undergraduate

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR:

Denise Curley
215-573-9476
denise.curley@uphs.upenn.edu

Selected Publications

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*. *co-senior authors: Multimodal Spatial Profiling Reveals Immune Suppression and Microenvironment Remodeling in Fallopian Tube Precursors to High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma. Cancer Discovery Online ahead of print.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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*. * Co-senior/corresponding authors: High grade serous ovarian carcinomas originate in the fallopian tube. Nature Communications 8(1): 1093, Oct 2017.

Karst AM, Jones PM, Vena N, Ligon AH, Liu JF, Hirsch MS, Etemadmoghadam D, Bowtell DD, Drapkin R: Cyclin E1 deregulation occurs early in secretory cell transformation to promote formation of fallopian tube-derived high-grade serous ovarian cancers. Cancer Res 74(4): 1141-52, Feb 2014.

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.