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Jeffrey J. Molldrem, M.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Chief, Section of Transplantation Immunology, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Professor (tenured), Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Research Interests

The long-term goal of my lab is to develop immunotherapies for leukemia and other hematological diseases through an understanding of T-cell immunity against hematopoietic progenitors.  Our central hypothesis is that T-cells target and eliminate these progenitors by recognizing determinants of self-antigens when tolerance has been reversed by aberrant self-antigen expression.  As models, we have studied myeloid leukemia and MDS and have found that CD8 lymphocytes recognized the HLA-A2-restricted PR1 peptide, derived from both P3 and NE, due to aberrant subcellular localization and over-expression.

Office Address

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Unit Number: 900
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: (713) 563-3334
Fax: (713) 563-3364

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1990 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, MD, Medicine
1986 Moorhead State University, Moorhead, MN, BA, Chemistry

Postgraduate Training

7/1993-7/1996 Clinical Associate and Post-doctoral Fellow, Hematology and Oncology, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
6/1991-6/1993 Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Board Certifications

11/1996 American Board of Internal Medicine, Diplomate in Hematology
9/1993 American Board of Internal Medicine, Diplomate in Internal Medicine

Experience/Service

Academic Appointments

Faculty (tenure track), UT Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences, Program in Immunology, Houston, TX, 1998-present

Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities

Program Co-leader, Cancer Center Support Grant, Basic Science Programs, Immunology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011-present
Program Co-Leader, Cancer Center Support Grant, Clinical/Translational Thematic Programs, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011-present
Associate Director, Center for Cancer Immunology Research, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 10/2003-present
Associate Medical Director, Bone Marrow Transplant Lab, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 1998-present

Endowed Positions

Virginia H. Cockrell Distinguished Professorship in Immunology, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2006-present

Honors and Awards

2009 American Society of Clinical Investigators
2007 Division of Cancer Medicine Mentor Award, Fellowship Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2003 Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2001 Faculty Scholar Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1993 Solomon Scholars Resident Research Award, University of California Los Angeles
1990 Chugai-Upjohn Sponsored Award, American Society of Hematology
1990 Thomas J. Livermore Award for Outstanding Research in Hematology, University of Minnesota
1989 Minnesota Medical Foundation Research Award, University of Minnesota

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Weng J, Cha SC, Matsueda S, Alatrash G, Popescu MS, Yi Q, Molldrem JJ, Wang M, Neelapu SS, Kwak LW. Targeting Human B-cell Malignancies through Ig Light Chain-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes. Clin Cancer Res 17(18):5945-52, 9/15/2011. e-Pub 8/3/2011. PMCID: PMC3176952.
2. Lacey SF, La Rosa C, Kaltcheva T, Srivastava T, Seidel A, Zhou W, Rawal R, Hagen K, Krishnan A, Longmate J, Andersson HA, St John L, Bhatia R, Pullarkat V, Forman SJ, Cooper LJ, Molldrem J, Diamond DJ. Characterization of immunological properties of a second HLA-A2 epitope from a granule protease in CML patients and HLA-A2 transgenic mice. Blood 118(8):2159-69, 8/25/2011. e-Pub 6/30/2011. PMCID: PMC3162352.
3. Sergeeva A, Alatrash G, He H, Ruisaard K, Lu S, Wygant J, McIntyre BW, Ma Q, Li D, St John L, Clise-Dwyer K, Molldrem JJ. An anti-PR1/HLA-A2 T-cell receptor-like antibody mediates complement dependent cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia progenitor cells. Blood 117(16):4262-72, 4/2011. PMCID: PMC3087478.
4. Alatrash G, Molldrem JJ. Vaccines as consolidation therapy for myeloid leukemia. Expert Rev Hematol 4(1):37-50, 2/2011. PMCID: PMC3098525.
5. Armistead PM, Liang S, Li H, Lu S, Van Bergen CA, Alatrash G, St John L, Hunsucker SA, Sarantopoulos S, Falkenburg JH, Molldrem JJ. Common Minor Histocompatibility Antigen Discovery Based upon Patient Clinical Outcomes and Genomic Data. PLoS One 6(8):e23217, 2011. e-Pub 8/9/2011. PMCID: PMC3153501.
6. Ma Q, Wang C, Jones D, Quintanilla KE, Li D, Wang Y, Wieder ED, Clise-Dwyer K, Alatrash G, Mj Y, Munsell MF, Lu S, Qazilbash MH, Molldrem JJ. Adoptive transfer of PR1 cytotoxic T lymphocytes associated with reduced leukemia burden in a mouse acute myeloid leukemia xenograft model. Cytotherapy 12(8):1056-62, 12/2010. PMID: 20735170.
7. Li D, Li Y, Hernandez JA, Patenia R, Kim TK, Khalili J, Dougherty MC, Hanley PJ, Bollard CM, Komanduri KV, Hwu P, Champlin RE, Radvanyi LG, Molldrem JJ, Ma Q. Lovastatin inhibits T-cell proliferation while preserving the cytolytic function of EBV, CMV, and MART-1-specific CTLs. J Immunother 33(9):975-82, Nov-Dec, 11/2010. PMID: 20948439.
8. Carreno R, Brown WS, Li D, Hernandez JA, Wang Y, Kim TK, Craft JW, Komanduri KV, Radvanyi LG, Hwu P, Molldrem JJ, Legge GB, McIntyre BW, Ma Q. 2E8 Binds to the High-Affinity I-Domain in a Metal Ion Dependent Manner: A Second Generation Monoclonal Antibody Selectively Targeting Activated LFA-1. J Biol Chem 285(43):32860-8, 10/2010. PMCID: PMC2963386.
9. Molldrem JJ, Alatrash G. Immune rage against MAGE unleashed. Blood 116(11):1824-5, 9/2010. PMID: 20847207.
10. Palmer LA, Sale GE, Balogun JI, Li D, Jones D, Molldrem JJ, Storb RF, Ma Q. Chemokine receptor CCR5 mediates alloimmune responses in graft-versus-host disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 16(3):311-9, 3/2010. PMID: 20025985.
11. Kanodia S, Wieder E, Lu S, Talpaz M, Alatrash G, Clise-Dwyer K, Molldrem JJ. PR1-specific T cells are associated with unmaintained cytogenetic remission of chronic myelogenous leukemia after interferon withdrawal. PLoS One 5(7):e11770, 2010. PMCID: PMC2909896.
12. Wang Y, Li D, Jones D, Bassett R, Sale GE, Khalili J, Komanduri KV, Couriel DR, Champlin RE, Molldrem JJ, Ma Q. Blocking LFA-1 activation with lovastatin prevents graft-versus-host disease in mouse bone marrow transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 15(12):1513-22, 12/2009. PMID: 19896074.
13. Hanley PJ, Cruz CR, Savoldo B, Leen AM, Stanojevic M, Khalil M, Decker W, Molldrem JJ, Liu H, Gee AP, Rooney CM, Heslop HE, Dotti G, Brenner MK, Shpall EJ, Bollard CM. Functionally active virus-specific T-cells that target CMV, adenovirus and EBV can be expanded from naive T-cell populations in cord blood and will target a range of viral epitopes. Blood 114(19):1958-67, 8/2009. PMCID: PMC2738578.
14. Li D, Molldrem JJ, Ma Q. LFA-1 regulates CD8+ Tcell activation via TCR-mediated and LFA-1-mediated ERK1/2 signal pathways. J Biol Chem 284(31):21001-10, 7/2009. PMCID: PMC2742865.
15. Wang Y, Li D, Nurieva R, Yang J, Sen M, Carreño R, Lu S, McIntyre BW, Molldrem JJ, Legge GB, Ma Q. LFA-1 affinity regulation is necessary for the activation and proliferation of naive T cells. J Biol Chem 284(19):12645-53, 5/2009. PMCID: PMC2675993.
16. Sergeeva A, Ono Y, Rios R, Molldrem JJ. High titer autoantibodies to GM-CSF in patients with AML, CML, and MDS are associated with active disease. Leukemia 22(4):783-90, 4/2008. PMID: 18216869.
17. Lee St, Liu S, Radvanyi L, Sukhumalchandra P, Molldrem JJ, Wieder ED, Hwu P, Liu YJ, Kwak LW, Lizee G, Neelapu SS. A novel strategy for rapid and efficient isolation of human tumor-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell clones. Journal of Immunological Methods 331(1-2):13-26, 2/2008. PMCID: PMC2265521.
18. Leen AM, Myers GD, Sili U, Huls MH, Weiss H, Leung KS, Carrum G, Krance RA, Chang CC, Molldrem JJ, Gee AP, Brenner MK, Heslop HE, Rooney CM, Bollard CM.. Monoculture-derived T lymphocytes specific for multiple viruses expand and produce clinically relevant effects in immunocompromised individuals. Nature Medicine 12(10):1160-6, 10/2006. PMCID: PMC16998485.
19. Amrolia PJ, Muccioli-Casadei G, Yvon E, Huls H, Sili U, Wieder ED, Bollard C, Michalek J, Ghetie V, Heslop HE, Molldrem JJ, Rooney CM, Schlinder J, Vitetta E, Brenner MK. Selective depletion of donor alloreactive T cells without loss of antiviral or antileukemic responses. Blood 102, Erratum 104(6):2292-9, 9/2003. PMCID: PMC12763937.
20. Dang NH, Aytac U, Sato K, O'Brien S, Melenhorst J, Morimoto C, Barrett AJ, Molldrem JJ. T-large granular lymphocyte lymphoproliferative disorder: expression of CD26 as a marker of clinically aggressive disease and characterization of marrow inhibition. Br J Haematol 121(6):857-65, 6/2003. PMCID: PMC12786796.
21. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Kant S, Wieder E, Jiang W, Lu S, Wang C, Davis MM. Chronic myelogenous leukemia shapes host immunity by selective deletion of high-avidity leukemia-specific T cells. J Clin Invest 111(5):639-47, 3/2003. PMCID: PMC151894.
22. Kochenderfer JN, Kobayashi S, Wieder ED, Su C, Molldrem JJ. Loss of T-lymphocyte clonal dominance in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome responsive to immunosuppression. Blood 100(10):3639-45, 11/2002. PMCID: PMC12393644.
23. Molldrem JJ, Leifer E, Bahceci E, Saunthararajah Y, Rivera M, Dunbar C, Liu J, Nakamura R, Young NS, Barrett AJ. Antithymocyte globulin for treatment of the bone marrow failure associated with myelodysplastic syndromes. Ann Intern Med 137(3):156-63, 8/2002. PMCID: PMC12160363.
24. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Wang C, Felio K, Kantarjian HM, Champlin RE, Davis MM. Evidence that specific T lymphocytes may participate in the elimination of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Nat Med 6(9):1018-23, 9/2000. PMCID: PMC10973322.
25. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Wang C, Champlin RE, Davis MM. A PR1-human leukocyte antigen-A2 tetramer can be used to isolate low-frequency cytotoxic T lymphocytes from healthy donors that selectively lyse chronic myelogenous leukemia. Cancer Res 59(11):2675-81, 6/1999. PMCID: PMC10363991.
26. Molldrem JJ, Clave E, Jiang YZ, Mavroudis D, Raptis A, Hensel N, Agarwala V, Barrett AJ. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for a nonpolymorphic proteinase 3 peptide preferentially inhibit chronic myeloid leukemia colony-forming units. Blood 90(7):2529-34, 10/1997. PMCID: PMC9326217.

Book Chapters
1. Alatrash G, Molldrem JJ. Immunotherapy of AML. In: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia: Genetics, Biology and Therapy. Cancer Treatment and Research, Vol. 145. Ed(s) Nagarajan L. Springer: New York, 237-256, 2010. PMID: 978-0-387-69257-9.
2. Riddell S, Molldrem JJ. Understanding and enhancing the graft-versus-leukemia effect after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Cancer Treatment and Research, Vol. 144. Ed(s) Bishop MR. Springer: New York, 2008. PMID: 9780387785790.
3. Kurbegov D Molldrem J. Peptide Vaccination of Myeloid Leukemia. In: Regenerative and Cell Therapy, Clinical Advances. Supplement 11. Ernst Schering Research Foundation Workshop, 131-144, 2005.
4. Lu S, Wieder E, Komanduri K, Ma Q, Molldrem JJ. Vaccines in Leukemia. In: Adv Pharmacol. 51. Elsevier, Inc, 255-70, 2004. PMID: 15464913.
5. Molldrem JJ Shlomchik W. Graft-vs-Leukemia Effects. In: Graft vs. Host Disease. Marcel Dekker, Inc, 155-193, 2003.
6. Molldrem JJ. T Cell Large Granular Lymphocyte Lymphoproliferative Disorder. In: Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes. Saunders, 207-215, 2000.
7. Molldrem JJ. Tissue Antigens as Targets for GVL. In: Allogeneic Immunotherapy. Marcel Dekker, Inc, 135-155, 2000.
8. Roth J, Molldrem J, Smythe W. The Current Status of Cancer Gene Therapy Trials. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology Updates. Volume 13 No. 11. Lippincott-Raven, 1-15, 1999.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: An Anti-PR1-HLA-A2 Antibody as Novel Therapy for Myeloid Leukemia
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 10/1/2011 - 9/30/2014
 
Title: Improving Cord Blood Transplantation (PP-4)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Project Leader
Principal Investigator: Shpall
Duration: 9/22/2011 - 8/31/2016
 
Title: Therapy of CML, Immune Assessment Core (E)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Champlin
Duration: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2015
 
Title: Therapy of CML, Immune Assessment Core (E2)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Investigator
Principal Investigator: Champlin
Duration: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2015
 
Title: Genome-Wide Indentification of Minor Histocompatibility Antigens
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Mentor
Principal Investigator: Liang
Duration: 3/7/2008 - present
 
Title: Translational Development of Novel Vaccine Therapies
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Project Leader
Principal Investigator: Kwak
Duration: 10/1/2007 - 9/30/2012
 
Title: Translational Development of Novel Vaccine Therapies
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Program Leader
Principal Investigator: Kwak
Duration: 10/1/2007 - 9/30/2012
 
Title: Cyclin E-Derived Peptides as Targets of T Lymphocyte Mediated Immunity Against Leukemia
Funding Source: Carl C. Anderson Sr. and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 2006 - 2011
 
Title: Cyclin E-Derived Peptides as Targets of T Lymphocyte Mediated Immunity Against Leukemia
Funding Source: Gillson-Longenbaugh Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 2006 - 2011
 
Title: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Training in Academic Medical Oncology
Funding Source: NIH/NCCAM
Role: Consultant
Principal Investigator: Hong
Duration: 9/30/2004 - present
 
Title: Leukemia SPORE Year 9
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator: Kantarjian
Duration: 8/5/2003 - 4/13/2013
 
Title: Cellular Immunotherapy of Cancer (RP13)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Program Leader
Principal Investigator: DePinho
Duration: 9/4/1998 - 6/30/2013
 
Title: Cellular Immunotherapy of Cancer (RP3)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Program Leader
Principal Investigator: DePinho
Duration: 9/4/1998 - 6/30/2013

Last updated: 2/15/2012