Meet Cullen Taniguchi, M.D., Ph.D.
Cullen M. Taniguchi, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology
About Dr. Taniguchi
Dr. Taniguchi is a board-certified radiation oncologist who specializes in treatment of all gastrointestinal cancers. He sub-specialize in cancers of the pancreas, rectum, and anus. His basic and translational laboratory studies show how to protect normal tissues from chemotherapy and radiation damage to improve the therapeutic ratio of treatments. His lab has both basic and translational arms that constantly engage in crosstalk. The basic studies in his lab focus on hypoxia (low oxygen) biology and how it alters the response of normal tissues and the tumor microenvironment to chemotherapy and radiation. He is particularly interested in the EGLN family of molecular diooxygenases, which regulate the stability of the hypoxia inducible factors (HIF) during normoxia.
In the News
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, MD, Medicine |
| 2005 | Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, PHD, Cell and Developmental Biology |
| 2000 | University of Oxford, Linacre College, Oxford, GBR, M Phil, Economic and Social History |
| 1998 | Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, USA, AB, Chemistry |
Postgraduate Training
| 2013-2014 | Research Fellowship, Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA |
| 2009-2013 | Clinical Residency, Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA |
| 2008-2009 | Transitional Internship, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA |
Board Certifications
| 2014 | American Board of Radiology |
Honors & Awards
| 2016 | Sabin Family Fellow, Andrew Sabin Family Fellowship Foundation |
| 2014 | McNair Scholar, The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation |
| 2014 | CPRIT Scholar, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas |
| 2012 | MERIT Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2011 | Resident Clinical Poster Award (2nd Place), American Society of Radiation Oncology |
| 2005 | Basic Science Student Award, Endocrine Society |
| 2004 | Medical Scholar, American Diabetes Association |
| 1998 | Scholarship, Glaxo Wellcome |
| 1998 | Rhodes Scholarship, The Rhodes Trust |
| 1997 | Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
| 1996 | Barry M Goldwater Scholarship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Execllence in Education Foundation |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Holliday EB, Hunt A, You YN, Chang GJ, Skibber JM, Rodriguez-Bigas MA, Bednarski BK, Eng C, Koay EJ, Minsky BD, Taniguchi CM, Krishnan S, Herman JM, Das P. Short Course Radiation as a Component of Definitive Multidisciplinary Treatment for Select Patients with Metastatic Rectal Adenocarcinoma. J Gastrointest Oncol 8(6):990-997, 2017.
- Colbert LC, Moningi S, Chadha A, Amer A, Lee Y, Wolff Ra, Varadhchary G, Fleming J, Katz M, Das P, Krishna S, Koay EJ, Park P, Crane CH, Taniguchi CM,. Dose Escalation with an IMRT Technique in 15 to 28 Fractions is Better Tolerated than Standard Doses of 3DCRT for LAP. Adv Radiat Oncol 2(3):403-415, 2017.
- Suh HN, Jun S, Oh AY, Srivastava M, Lee S, Taniguchi CM, Zhang S, Lee WS, Chen J, Park BJ, Park JI. Identification of KIAA1199 as a Biomarker for Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia. Sci Rep 6:38273, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27922049.
- LaGory EL, Wu C, Taniguchi CM, Ding CK, Chi JT, von Eyben R, Scott DA, Richardson AD, Giaccia AJ. Suppression of PGC-1α is Critical for Reprogramming Oxidative Metabolism in Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cell Rep 12(1):116-127, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26119730.
- Taniguchi C, Maitra A. It's a SMAD/SMAD World. Cell 161(6):1245-6, 2015. PMID: 26046433.
- Taniguchi CM, Miao YR, Diep AN, Wu C, Rankin EB, Atwood TF, Xing L, Giaccia AJ. PHD Inhibition Mitigates and Protects Against Radiation-Induced Gastrointestinal Toxicity via HIF2. Sci Transl Med 6(236):236ra64, 2014. PMID: 24828078.
- Taniguchi CM, Finger EC, Krieg AJ, Wu C, Diep AN, LaGory EL, Wei K, McGinnis LM, Yuan J, Kuo CJ, Giaccia AJ. Cross-Talk Between Hypoxia and Insulin Signaling through phd3 Regulates Hepatic Glucose and Lipid Metabolism and Ameliorates Diabetes. Nat Med 19(10):1325-1330, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24037093.
- Wei K, Piecewicz SM, McGinnis LM, Taniguchi CM, Wiegand SJ, Anderson K, Chan CW, Mulligan KX, Kuo D, Yuan J, Vallon M, Morton LC, Lefai E, Simon MC, Maher JJ, Mithieux G, Rajas F, Annes JP, McGuinness OP, Thurston G, Giaccia AJ, Kuo CJ. A Liver Hif-2α-Irs2 Pathway Sensitizes Hepatic Insulin Signaling and is Modulated by Vegf Inhibition. Nat Med 19(10):1331-1337, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24037094.
- Taniguchi CM, Murphy JD, Eclov N, Atwood TF, Kielar KN, Christman-Skieller C, Mok E, Xing L, Koong AC, Chang DT. Dosimetric Analysis of Organs at Risk During Expiratory Gating in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 85(4):1090-1095, 2013. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 23273994.
- Townsend KL, Suzuki R, Huang TL, Jing E, Schulz TJ, Lee K, Taniguchi CM, Espinoza DO, McDougall LE, Zhang H, He TC, Kokkotou E, Tseng YH. Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 (BMP7) Reverses Obesity and Regulates Appetite Through a Central mTOR Pathway. FASEB J 26(5):2187-2196, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22331196.
- Taniguchi CM, Winnay J, Kondo T, Bronson RT, Guimaraes AR, Alemán JO, Luo J, Stephanopoulos G, Weissleder R, Cantley LC, Kahn CR. The Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit p85alpha can Exert Tumor Suppressor Properties Through Negative Regulation of Growth Factor Signaling. Cancer Res 70(13):5305-5315, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20530665.
- Sajan MP, Standaert ML, Rivas J, Miura A, Kanoh Y, Soto J, Taniguchi CM, Kahn CR, Farese RV. Role of Atypical Protein Kinase C in Activation of Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein-1c and Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NFkappaB) In Liver of Rodents use as A Rodel of Diabetes, and Relationships to Hyperlipidaemia and Insulin Resistance. Diabetologia 52(6):1197-1207, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19357831.
- Tseng YH, Kokkotou E, Schulz TJ, Huang TL, Winnay JN, Taniguchi CM, Tran TT, Suzuki R, Espinoza DO, Yamamoto Y, Ahrens MJ, Dudley AT, Norris AW, Kulkarni RN, Kahn CR. New Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 in Brown Adipogenesis and Energy Expenditure. Nature 454(7207):1000-1004, 2008. PMID: 18719589.
- Taniguchi CM, Aleman JO, Ueki K, Luo J, Asano T, Kaneto H, Stephanopoulos G, Cantley LC, Kahn CR. The p85alpha Regulatory Subunit of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Potentiates c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase-Mediated Insulin Resistance. Mol Cell Biol 27(8):2830-2840, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17283057.
- Taniguchi CM, Tran TT, Kondo T, Luo J, Ueki K, Cantley LC, Kahn CR. Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit p85alpha Suppresses Insulin Action Via Positive Regulation of PTEN. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103(32):12093-12097, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16880400.
- Taniguchi CM, Kondo T, Sajan M, Luo J, Bronson R, Asano T, Farese R, Cantley LC, Kahn CR. Divergent Regulation of Hepatic Glucose and Lipid Metabolism by Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase via Akt and PKClambda/zeta. Cell Metab 3(5):343-353, 2006. PMID: 16679292.
- Taniguchi CM, Emanuelli B, Kahn CR. Critical Nodes in Signalling Pathways: Insights into Insulin Action. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 7(2):85-96, 2006. PMID: 16493415.
- Amer AM, Zaid M, Chaudhury B, Elganainy D, Lee Y, Wilke CT, Cloyd J, Wang H, Maitra A, Wolff RA, Varadhachary G, Overman MJ, Lee JE, Fleming JB, Tzeng CW, Katz MH, Holliday EB, Krishnan S, Minsky BD, Herman JM, Taniguchi CM, Das P, Crane CH, Le O, Bhosale P, Tamm EP, Koay EJ. Imaging-Based biomarkers: Changes in the Tumor Interface of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma on Computed Tomography Scans Indicate Response to Cytotoxic Therapy. e-Pub 2018.
Book Chapters
- Taniguchi CM, Kahn CR. Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling Nodes and their Role in Carcinogenesis. In: Insulin Resistance and Cancer. Springer: Toronto, 2011.
- Taniguchi CM, Guengerich FP. Drug Metabolism. In: Priniciples of Pharmacology: The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy. 3rd. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins: Baltimore, 49-61, 2010.
- Taniguchi CM, Guengerich FP. Drug Metabolism. In: Prinicples of Pharmacology: The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy. 2nd. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins: Baltimore, 49-61, 2007.
- Taniguchi CM, Armstrong SR, Green LC, Golan DE, Tashjian AH. Drug Toxicity. In: Prinicples of Pharmacology: The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy. 2nd. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins: Baltimore, 63-73, 2007.
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