Beltran Lab Team
Himisha Beltran, MD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Beltran is a medical oncologist and physician scientist focused on understanding mechanisms of treatment resistance in prostate cancer and lineage plasticity during cancer evolution. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medical Oncology in the Lank Division of Genitourinary Oncology and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at DFCI and Harvard Medical School. Her lab has specifically focused on the mechanisms underlying the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer, an aggressive subtype of advanced prostate cancer. Dr. Beltran is also the Correlative Science Committee Chair for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology GU Committee and plays an active role in several national and international committees and programs including ASCO, ESMO, and the NCI SPORE program, as well as team science projects such as the SU2C-PCF Dream Team and PCF SELECT. She serves as Director of Translational Research with Medical Oncology at DFCI and is passionate about advancing precision medicine for patients. Dr. Beltran works closely with a multidisciplinary team to translate new scientific discoveries into the clinic in the form of biomarker-driven therapeutics to improve patient care.
Select Honors
Publications: Please visit here.
Harvard Catalyst
Principal Investigator
Dr. Beltran is a medical oncologist and physician scientist focused on understanding mechanisms of treatment resistance in prostate cancer and lineage plasticity during cancer evolution. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medical Oncology in the Lank Division of Genitourinary Oncology and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at DFCI and Harvard Medical School. Her lab has specifically focused on the mechanisms underlying the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer, an aggressive subtype of advanced prostate cancer. Dr. Beltran is also the Correlative Science Committee Chair for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology GU Committee and plays an active role in several national and international committees and programs including ASCO, ESMO, and the NCI SPORE program, as well as team science projects such as the SU2C-PCF Dream Team and PCF SELECT. She serves as Director of Translational Research with Medical Oncology at DFCI and is passionate about advancing precision medicine for patients. Dr. Beltran works closely with a multidisciplinary team to translate new scientific discoveries into the clinic in the form of biomarker-driven therapeutics to improve patient care.
Select Honors
- Elected Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
- Helen Trailblazers Award, Helen Gurley Brown Foundation
- Alliance Scholar Award in Honor of Dr. Emil "Tom" Frei III
- Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Award
- Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
Publications: Please visit here.
Harvard Catalyst
Sheng-Yu Ku, PhD
Research Fellow
PhD - State University of New York at Buffalo (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)
My research uses patient-derived organoids, mouse models, and xenograft models to study treatment-related neuroendocrine differentiation and lineage plasticity in advanced prostate cancer. One of my projects is to study the role of the Notch signaling pathway in NEPC and to develop new treatments to intervene.
Awards:
Publications:
Email : Sheng-Yu_Ku@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Fellow
PhD - State University of New York at Buffalo (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)
My research uses patient-derived organoids, mouse models, and xenograft models to study treatment-related neuroendocrine differentiation and lineage plasticity in advanced prostate cancer. One of my projects is to study the role of the Notch signaling pathway in NEPC and to develop new treatments to intervene.
Awards:
- Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
- DoD PCRP Early Investigator Research Award
Publications:
- ShengYu Ku, Spencer Rosario, Yanqing Wang, Ping Mu, Mukund Seshadri, Zachary W. Goodrich, Maxwell M. Goodrich, Eduardo Cortez Gomez, Jianmin Wang, Bo Xu, Charles L. Sawyers, Leigh Ellis, David W. Goodrich Rb1 suppresses prostate cancer metastasis and lineage plasticity underlying castration resistance Science (2017)
- Ping Mu, Zeda Zhang, Matteo Bebelli, Wouter Karthaus, Elizabeth Hoover, John Wongvipat, Sheng-Yu Ku, Chi-Chao Chen, Dong Gao, Zhen Cao, Neel Shah, Elizabeth Adams,Wassim Abida, Philip A. Watson, Chun-Hao Huang, Elisa De Stanchina, Scott Lowe, Leigh Ellis, Himisha Beltran, Mark A. Rubin, David Goodrich, Francesca Demichelis, and Charles L. Sawyers SOX2 promotes lineage plasticity and antiandrogen resistance in TP53 and RB1 deficient prostate cancer Science (2017)
Email : Sheng-Yu_Ku@dfci.harvard.edu
Martin Bakht, PhD
Research Fellow
PhD - University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
My work focuses on the impact of lineage plasticity on molecular imaging targets in prostate cancer.
Awards:
1. Bakht MK et al. Differential expression of glucose transporters and hexokinases in prostate cancer with a neuroendocrine gene signature: a mechanistic perspective for FDG imaging of PSMA-suppressed tumors. Journal of Nuclear Medicine (2019)
2. Bakht MK et al. Neuroendocrine differentiation of prostate cancer leads to PSMA suppression. Endocrine-Related Cancer (2019)
3. Bakht MK et al. Identification of alternative protein targets of glutamate-ureido-lysine associated with PSMA tracer uptake in prostate cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci (2022)
4. Bakht MK et al. Landscape of prostate specific membrane antigen heterogeneity and regulation in AR-positive and AR-negative metastatic prostate cancer, Nature Cancer (2023)
E-mail: Martin_Bakht@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Fellow
PhD - University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
My work focuses on the impact of lineage plasticity on molecular imaging targets in prostate cancer.
Awards:
- DoD PCRP Early Investigator Research Award
1. Bakht MK et al. Differential expression of glucose transporters and hexokinases in prostate cancer with a neuroendocrine gene signature: a mechanistic perspective for FDG imaging of PSMA-suppressed tumors. Journal of Nuclear Medicine (2019)
2. Bakht MK et al. Neuroendocrine differentiation of prostate cancer leads to PSMA suppression. Endocrine-Related Cancer (2019)
3. Bakht MK et al. Identification of alternative protein targets of glutamate-ureido-lysine associated with PSMA tracer uptake in prostate cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci (2022)
4. Bakht MK et al. Landscape of prostate specific membrane antigen heterogeneity and regulation in AR-positive and AR-negative metastatic prostate cancer, Nature Cancer (2023)
E-mail: Martin_Bakht@dfci.harvard.edu
Yasutaka Yamada, MD, PhD
Research Fellow
MD. - Chiba University (Japan)
PhD - Chiba University (Japan)
I am studying the epigenetic changes that occur during prostate cancer progression and developing therapeutic approaches to target these alterations.
Awards:
Publications:
Email : Yasutaka_Yamada@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Fellow
MD. - Chiba University (Japan)
PhD - Chiba University (Japan)
I am studying the epigenetic changes that occur during prostate cancer progression and developing therapeutic approaches to target these alterations.
Awards:
- The Uehara Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- Japan Society of the Promotion of Science Fellowship
Publications:
- Yamada Y and Beltran H, Clinical and Biologic Implications of Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer, Curr Oncol Reports (2021)
- Yamada Y et al. Prognostic Value of an Inflammatory Index for Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Prostate (2020)
- Yamada Y et al. Regulation of HMGB3 by antitumor miR-205-5p inhibits cancer cell aggressiveness and is involved in prostate cancer pathogenesis. J Hum Genet (2018)
Email : Yasutaka_Yamada@dfci.harvard.edu
Varadha Balaji Venkadakrishnan, PhD
Research Fellow
PhD - Cleveland State University (Cleveland Clinic)
I am interested in understanding mechanisms of treatment-resistance and developing novel therapeutic strategies for AR- indifferent prostate cancer.
Awards
Publications:
Email : Balaji_Venkadakrishnan@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Fellow
PhD - Cleveland State University (Cleveland Clinic)
I am interested in understanding mechanisms of treatment-resistance and developing novel therapeutic strategies for AR- indifferent prostate cancer.
Awards
- National Cancer Center Fellowship
- DoD PCRP Early Investigator Research Award
Publications:
- Venkadakrishnan VB et al. AR-dependent phosphorylation and phospho-proteome targets in prostate cancer. Endocrine-related Cancer. (2020)
- Venkadakrishnan VB et al. Protein kinase N1 control of androgen-responsive serum response factor action provides rationale for novel prostate cancer treatment strategy. Oncogene. (2019)
Email : Balaji_Venkadakrishnan@dfci.harvard.edu
Kei Mizuno, MD
Research Fellow
MD – Kyoto University (Japan)
PhD – Kyoto University (Japan)
I am interested in understanding molecular evolution of NEPC using bioinformatics analysis of cell-free DNA.
Awards:
Publications:
Email: Kei_Mizuno@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Fellow
MD – Kyoto University (Japan)
PhD – Kyoto University (Japan)
I am interested in understanding molecular evolution of NEPC using bioinformatics analysis of cell-free DNA.
Awards:
- The Uehara Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- Japan Society of the Promotion of Science Fellowship
Publications:
- Mizuno K et al. Clinical Impact of Detecting Low-Frequency Variants in Cell-Free DNA on Treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Clin Cancer Res (2021)
- Mizuno K et al. eVIDENCE: a practical variant filtering for low-frequency variants detection in cell-free DNA. Sci Rep (2019)
Email: Kei_Mizuno@dfci.harvard.edu
Maria Mica Garcia, BS
Research Technician
BS - University of Santo Tomas (Philippines)
Email : MariaM_Garcia@dfci.harvard.edu
Research Technician
BS - University of Santo Tomas (Philippines)
Email : MariaM_Garcia@dfci.harvard.edu
Candi Deblay
Executive Support Specialist to Himisha Beltran
Email : CandiL_Deblay@dfci.harvard.edu
Executive Support Specialist to Himisha Beltran
Email : CandiL_Deblay@dfci.harvard.edu
Kenny Weng
CURE Scholar
CURE Scholar
Former members
Michael Sigouros, BS
Lab Manager
BS - Tufts University
My work focuses on identifying and characterizing genomic alterations in neuroendocrine prostate cancer using both tissue-based and liquid biopsy approaches, including ctDNA. Also, I am coordinating projects within multidisciplinary teams.
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
3. Conteduca V, Sigouros M, Sboner A, Pritchard CC, Beltran H BRCA2-Associated Prostate Cancer in a Patient With Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, JCO Precis Oncol (2018)
Lab Manager
BS - Tufts University
My work focuses on identifying and characterizing genomic alterations in neuroendocrine prostate cancer using both tissue-based and liquid biopsy approaches, including ctDNA. Also, I am coordinating projects within multidisciplinary teams.
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
3. Conteduca V, Sigouros M, Sboner A, Pritchard CC, Beltran H BRCA2-Associated Prostate Cancer in a Patient With Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, JCO Precis Oncol (2018)
Loredana Puca, PhD
Research Fellow
PhD - Institut Pasteur, Paris (France)
Awards:
1. Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
2. American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award
3. American-Italian Cancer Foundation Fellow
Publications:
Research Fellow
PhD - Institut Pasteur, Paris (France)
Awards:
1. Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
2. American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award
3. American-Italian Cancer Foundation Fellow
Publications:
- Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H, Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
- Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera JM, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H, Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
Vincenza Conteduca, MD, PhD
Visiting Fellow
MD - University of Bari (Italy)
PhD - University Foggia (Italy)
Awards:
American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award
Publications:
Visiting Fellow
MD - University of Bari (Italy)
PhD - University Foggia (Italy)
Awards:
American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award
Publications:
- Conteduca V, Puca L, Ku SY, Hess J, Kearney M, Fernandez L, Bareja R, Vlachostergios PJ, Sigouros M, Mosquera JM, Sboner A, Nanus DM, Elemento O, Dittamore R, Tagawa ST, Beltran H, SLFN11 expression in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients to predict response to platinum-based chemotherapy, J Clin Oncol 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr 5065)
- Conteduca V, Jayaram A, Romero-Laorden N, Wetterskog D, Salvi S, Gurioli G, Scarpi E, Castro E, Marin-Aguilera M, Lolli C, Schepisi G, Maugeri A, Wingate A, Farolfi A, Casadio V, Medina A, Puente J, Vidal MJM, Morales-Barrera R, Villa-Guzmán JC, Hernando S, Rodriguez-Vida A, González-Del-Alba A, Mellado B, Gonzalez-Billalabeitia E, Olmos D, Attard G, De Giorgi U, Plasma Androgen Receptor and Docetaxel for Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Eur Urol (2019)
- Conteduca V, Sigouros M, Sboner A, Pritchard CC, Beltran H, BRCA2-Associated Prostate Cancer in a Patient With Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy JCO Precis Oncol (2018)
Alison Ferguson, PhD
Research Fellow
PhD - University of Sydney (Australia)
Publications:
1. Ferguson A, Bhinder B, Conteduca V, Sigouros M, Sboner A, Nanus D, Tagawa S, Rickman D, Elemento O, Beltran H Immunogenomic landscape of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), J Clin Oncol 37, no. 7_suppl (2019) 224-224.
Adam Donoghue, BS
Research Technician
BS - University of Massachusetts
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
Research Technician
BS - University of Massachusetts
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
Judy Hess, BS
Research Technician
BS - Tufts University
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
Research Technician
BS - Tufts University
Publications:
1. Puca L, Gavyert K, Sailer V, Conteduca V, Dardenne E, Sigouros M, Isse K, Kearney M, Vosoughi A, Fernandez L, Pan H, Motanagh S, Hess J, Donoghue AJ, Sboner A, Wang Y, Dittamore R, Rickman D, Nanus DM, Tagawa ST, Elemento O, Mosquera JM, Saunders L, Beltran H. Delta like protein 3 expression and therapeutic targeting in neuroendocrine prostate cancer, Science Translational Medicine (2019)
2. Puca L, Bareja R, Prandi D, Shaw R, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hess J, Sigouros M, Donoghue A, Kossai M, Gao D, Cyrta J, Sailer V, Vosoughi A, Pauli C, Churakova Y, Cheung C, Deonarine LD, McNary TJ, Rosati R, Tagawa ST, Nanus DM, Mosquera M, Sawyers CL, Chen Y, Inghirami G, Rao RA, Grandori C, Elemento O, Sboner A, Demichelis F, Rubin MA, Beltran H Patient derived organoids to model rare prostate cancer phenotypes, Nature Communications, (2018)
Morgan Pantuck, BS
Research Technician
BS - University of Chicago
Contributions to the team:
1. Maintain and characterize organoid lines.
2. Process and bank clinical specimens.
3. Perform molecular cloning experiments.
Research Technician
BS - University of Chicago
Contributions to the team:
1. Maintain and characterize organoid lines.
2. Process and bank clinical specimens.
3. Perform molecular cloning experiments.
Antony Pellegrino, BSc, MD
Visiting student
BSc - Newcastle University (UK)
MD - Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Italy)
I am studying the mechanisms that underlie tumor metastasis in prostate cancer.
Visiting student
BSc - Newcastle University (UK)
MD - Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Italy)
I am studying the mechanisms that underlie tumor metastasis in prostate cancer.
Osase Idahor
CURE Scholar
CURE Scholar