Charles Ishak, PHD
Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Discovery Science
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Discovery Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor (Regukar Member), Department of Genetics and Epigenetics Program, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Houston, Texas
Assistant Professor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2017 | Western University, London, Ontario, CA, Biochemistry, Ph.D |
| 2011 | University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CA, Molecular Biology, Bachelor of Science |
Postgraduate Training
| 2017-2023 | Postdoctoral Fellow, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Co-chair, GSBS Genetics and Epigenetics (G&E) Program Communications Committee, 2024 - Present
Steering Committee Member, GSBS Genetics and Epigenetics (G&E) Program Steering Committee, 2024 - Present
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) Gynecological Cancers (GC) Program Conference Planning Committee, 2023 - 2024
Honors & Awards
| 2024 | Rising STARs Award, University of Texas System |
| 2024 | TAMEST Protégé, Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science, and Technology (TAMEST) |
| 2023 | National Early Detection Research Award, Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance |
| 2022 | Travel Award, Canadian Epigenetics, Environment & Health Research Consortium Network |
| 2021 | Forbeck Scholar, William Guy Forbeck Research Foundation |
| 2020 | F1000Prime Award - Associate Faculty Member Travel Grant, F1000Prime |
| 2019 | CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship (top 5%), Canadian Institutes of Health Research |
| 2019 | Institute of Cancer Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research |
| 2019 | Associate Faculty Member, Faculty Opinions (Formerly F1000Prime) |
| 2018 | Travel Award, University Health Network |
| 2018 | METIOR Incubator Early Career Researcher, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2017 | Lucille & Norton Wolf Publication Award: Epigenetics, Lawson Health Research Institute |
| 2017 | Princess Margaret Excellence Fellowship, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation |
| 2017 | Lawson Leadership Impact Award, Lawson Health Research Institute |
| 2016 | Editor's Choice, Mobile DNA |
| 2016 | Scholarship for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship, WORLDiscoveries |
| 2014 | Poster Award, Oncology Research & Education Day, Western University |
| 2013 | Strategic Training Program in Cancer Research and Technology Transfer, CIHR |
| 2012 | Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Feng, S, Marhon, SA, Sokolowski, DJ, D’Costa, A, Soares, F, Mehdipour, P, Ishak, CA, Loo Yau, H, Ettayebi, I, Patel, PS, Chen, R, Liu, J, Zuzarte, PC, Ho, KC, Ho, B, Ning, S, Huang, A, Arrowsmith, CH, Wilson, MD, Simpson, JT, De Carvalho, DD. Inhibiting EZH2 targets atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor by triggering viral mimicry via both RNA and DNA sensing pathways. Nature communications 15(1), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39472584.
- Hosseini, A, Lindholm, HT, Chen, R, Mehdipour, P, Marhon, SA, Ishak, CA, Moore, PC, Classon, M, Di Gioacchino, A, Greenbaum, B, De Carvalho, DD. Retroelement decay by the exonuclease XRN1 is a viral mimicry dependency in cancer. Cell Reports 43(2), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38261511.
- Viner, C, Ishak, CA, Johnson, JD, Walker, NJ, Shi, H, Sjöberg-Herrera, MK, Shen, SY, Lardo, SM, Adams, D, Ferguson-Smith, A, De Carvalho, DD, Hainer, SJ, Bailey, TL, Hoffman, MM. Modeling methyl-sensitive transcription factor motifs with an expanded epigenetic alphabet. Genome biology 25(1), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38191487.
- Loo Yau, H, Bell, E, Ettayebi, I, de Almeida, FC, Boukhaled, GM, Shen, SY, Allard, D, Morancho, B, Marhon, SA, Ishak, CA, Gonzaga, IM, da Silva Medina, T, Singhania, R, Chakravarthy, A, Chen, R, Mehdipour, P, Pommey, S, Klein, C, Amarante-Mendes, GP, Roulois, D, Arribas, J, Stagg, J, Brooks, DG, De Carvalho, DD. DNA hypomethylating agents increase activation and cytolytic activity of CD8+ T cells. Molecular cell 81(7):1469-1483.e8, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33609448.
- Ishak, CA, Loo Yau, H, De Carvalho, DD. Spliceosome-Targeted Therapies Induce dsRNA Responses. Immunity 54(1):11-13, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33440135.
- Mehdipour, P, Marhon, SA, Ettayebi, I, Chakravarthy, A, Hosseini, A, Wang, Y, Castro, FA, Loo Yau, H, Ishak, CA, Abelson, S, O’Brien, CA, De Carvalho, DD. Epigenetic therapy induces transcription of inverted SINEs and ADAR1 dependency. Nature 588(7836):169-173, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33087935.
- Kent, OA, Saha, M, Coyaud, E, Burston, HE, Law, N, Dadson, K, Chen, S, Laurent, EM, St-Germain, J, Sun, RX, Matsumoto, Y, Cowen, J, Montgomery-Song, A, Brown, KR, Ishak, CA, Rose, JL, De Carvalho, DD, He, HH, Raught, B, Billia, F, Kannu, P, Rottapel, R. Haploinsufficiency of RREB1 causes a Noonan-like RASopathy via epigenetic reprogramming of RAS-MAPK pathway genes. Nature communications 11(1), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32938917.
- Ishak, CA, De Carvalho, DD. DNA methylation profiling of premalignant lesions as a path to ovarian cancer early detection. Clinical Cancer Research 26(23):6083-6085, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32988966.
- Taylor, K, Loo Yau, H, Chakravarthy, A, Wang, B, Shen, SY, Ettayebi, I, Ishak, CA, Bedard, P, Razak, AR, R Hansen, A, Spreafico, A, Cescon, DW, Butler, M, Oza, A, Lheureux, S, Stjepanovic, N, Van As, B, Boross-Harmer, S, Wang, LI, Pugh, TJ, Ohashi, PS, Siu, LL, De Carvalho, DD. An open-label, phase II multicohort study of an oral hypomethylating agent CC-486 and durvalumab in advanced solid tumors. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer 8(2), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32753546.
- Marshall, AE, Ishak, CA, Dick, F. An Rb-condensin II complex mediates long-range chromosome interactions and influences expression at divergently paired genes. Molecular and cellular biology 40(2), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31685548.
- Ishak, CA, Lheureux, S, De Carvalho, DD. DNA methylation as a robust classifier of epithelial ovarian cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 25(19):5729-5731, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31337645.
- Ishak, CA, Coschi, CH, Roes, MV, Dick, F. Disruption of CDK-resistant chromatin association by pRB causes DNA damage, mitotic errors, and reduces Condensin II recruitment. Cell Cycle 16(15):1430-1439, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28723239.
- Ishak, CA, Marshall, AE, Passos, DT, White, CR, Kim, SJ, Cecchini, MJ, Ferwati, S, MacDonald, WA, Howlett, CJ, Welch, I, Rubin, SM, Mann, MR, Dick, F. An RB-EZH2 Complex Mediates Silencing of Repetitive DNA Sequences. Molecular cell 64(6):1074-1087, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27889452.
- Cecchini, MJ, Ishak, CA, Passos, DT, Warner, AJ, Palma, DA, Howlett, CJ, Driman, DK, Dick, F. Loss of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor correlates with improved outcome in patients with lung adenocarcinoma treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Human Pathology 46(12):1922-1934, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26475095.
- Ishak, CA, Dick, F. Conditional haploinsufficiency of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene. Molecular and Cellular Oncology 2(1), 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 27308386.
- Coschi, CH, Ishak, CA, Gallo, D, Marshall, AE, Talluri, S, Wang, J, Cecchini, MJ, Martens, AL, Percy, V, Welch, I, Boutros, PC, Brown, GW, Dick, F. Haploinsufficiency of an RB-E2F1-Condensin II Complex Leads to Aberrant Replication and Aneuploidy. Cancer discovery 4(7):840-853, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24740996.
- Forristal, C, Henley, SA, MacDonald, JI, Bush, JR, Ort, C, Passos, DT, Talluri, S, Ishak, CA, Thwaites, MJ, Norley, CJ, Litovchick, L, DeCaprio, JA, DiMattia, G, Holdsworth, DW, Beier, F, Dick, F. Loss of the mammalian DREAM complex deregulates chondrocyte proliferation. Molecular and cellular biology 34(12):2221-2234, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24710275.
Other Articles
- Chen, R, Ishak, CA, De Carvalho, DD Endogenous retroelements and the viral mimicry response in cancer therapy and cellular homeostasis. Cancer discovery 11(11):2707-2725, 2021. PMID: 34649957.
- Mehdipour, P, Marhon, SA, Ettayebi, I, Chakravarthy, A, Hosseini, A, Wang, Y, Castro, FA, Yau, HL, Ishak, CA, Abelson, S, O’Brien, CA, De Carvalho, DD Publisher Correction. Nature 591(7850):E20, 2021. PMID: 33654322.
- Ishak, CA, De Carvalho, DD Reactivation of Endogenous Retroelements in Cancer Development and Therapy. Annual Review of Cancer Biology 4:159-176, 2020.
- Ishak, CA, Classon, M, De Carvalho, DD Deregulation of Retroelements as an Emerging Therapeutic Opportunity in Cancer. Trends in Cancer 4(8):583-597, 2018. PMID: 30064665.
Book Chapters
- Ishak, CA, Cecchini, MJ, Howlett, CJ, Dick, F. Immunohistochemical detection of the retinoblastoma protein, 65-75, 2018.
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. Bast Lab Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. Departmental Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. Gynecologic Oncology Grand Rounds Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. Cancer Center Support Grants (CCSG) Gynecologic Cancers Program Retreat. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2023. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2023. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Conference. TAMEST 2024 Annual Conference: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Auston, Texas, US.
- 2023. Endogenous Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Center for Epigenetics (CCE) Program Retreat. Round Top, Texas, US.
National Presentations
- 2024. Endogenous Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Tumorigenesis. Invited. Forbeck Scholar Retreat. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, US.
- 2023. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. The Repetitive Elements in Ovarian and Other Cancers Mini-Symposium. Boston, Massachusetts, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Forbeck Forum: Cancer and Genomic Dark Matter. Pacific Grove, CA, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Poster. VAI Epigenetics Symposium: 20(2+) Years of the Histone Code. Grand Rapids, MI, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Forbeck Forum: Dynamic histone methylation and chromatin organization in tumor suppression. Smithville, TN, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Department Seminar Series. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Forbeck Scholar Retreat. Lake Geneva, WI, US.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Columbia University Social DNA Rising Stars Forum. New York City, NY, US.
- 2018. Overcoming immune checkpoint blockade through multidisciplinary collaboration. Invited. SitC METIOR Incubator Summit. Philadelphia, PA, US.
International Presentations
- 2024. Retrotransposons and the Viral Mimicry Response during Ovarian HGSC initiation. Invited. HHMT 15th International Forum on Ovarian Cancer. Dorking, GB.
- 2023. Viral Mimicry Tolerance in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Poster. Gordon Research Conference on Genetics and Epigenetics. Barga, IT.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Ovarian Cancer Seminar. London, CA.
- 2022. EREs and the Viral Mimicry Response in Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis. Invited. Tumor Immunology & Microenvironment Seminar Series. Toronto, CA.
- 2021. Acquisition of viral mimicry tolerance in cancer. Invited. Tumor Immunology & Microenvironment Seminar Series. Toronto, CA.
- 2020. Contributions of p53 inactivation towards viral mimicry tolerance. Invited. Tumor Immunology & Microenvironment Seminar Series. Toronto, CA.
- 2020. Increasing immunogenicity in HGSOC using epigenetic therapy. Invited. OICR Translational Research Initiative Symposium. Toronto, CA.
- 2019. Acclimation to dsRNA signaling upon p53 loss promotes viral mimicry tolerance. Invited. Transposable elements at the crossroad of health and disease. Ballairs, BB.
- 2019. Acclimation to dsRNA signaling upon p53 loss promotes viral mimicry tolerance. Poster. Epigenetics and Human Disease (X5). Banff, CA.
- 2018. Repetitive element activation in early tumorigenesis. Invited. Cancer Enlightenment Day Symposium. Toronto, CA.
- 2018. Acclimation to dsRNA signaling upon p53 loss promotes viral mimicry tolerance. Invited. Terry Fox Research Institute Ontario Node Symposium. Toronto, US.
- 2018. SITC METIOR Incubator Update. Invited. Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer METIOR Incubator Summit II. London, CA.
- 2017. The repetitive preoccupations of tumor suppressors. Invited. London Regional Cancer Program Oncology Grand Rounds. London, CA.
- 2015. The E1A-sensitive pRB-E2F1 complex silences endogenous retrovirus. Invited. The DNA Tumor Virus Meeting. Triste, IT.
- 2014. Alternate pRB-E2F1 complexes silence repetitive elements. Poster. Department of Oncology Research and Education Day. London, CA.
- 2014. Alternate pRB-E2F1 complexes silence repetitive elements. Invited. The 2nd Canadian Conference on Epigenetics. London, CA.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | Targeting dsRNA insensitivity to intercept TP53 mutated cancers |
| Funding Source: | Princess Margaret - MD Anderson Joint Seed Program |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 4376 (RCTS: 2024-00064187-Y1) |
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | Targeting chronic DNA sensing to intercept ovarian cancer |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center Ovarian Cancer SPORE Career Enhancement Program |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00024259 (Parent Ovarian SPORE grant: P50 CA281701) |
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | UT Rising STARS Award |
| Funding Source: | Internal/UT Rising STARS |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2024 - 2027 |
| Title: | Repetitive elements as a therapeutic opportunity to intercept ovarian high grade serous carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | ECIG-2024-3-1467 |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified April 02, 2025