Janice Santiago-O'Farrill, PhD
Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Janice Santiago-O'Farrill
For the last 10 years, as a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow and Instructor, I have been working on understanding mechanisms of cancer cells drug resistance such as autophagy, after chemotherapy. As a graduate student, my work in the laboratory of Dr. Eugenie S. Kleinerman documented for the first time a role for autophagy in the resistance of osteosarcoma cells to conventional chemotherapy. In 2015, I completed the requirements for my doctoral degree and wanted to expand on my graduate studies of autophagy and tumor resistance and decided to join Dr. Robert Bast’s laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. My studies as postdoctoral fellow focused on the regulation of autophagy and tumor dormancy in ovarian cancer and as an instructor, I am excited to continue building on my research portfolio. Specifically, I will work on the discovery of the distinct vulnerabilities of autophagic; dormant cancer cells, identification of underexplored mechanisms that induce chemotherapy resistance and development of therapies targeting newly identified resistance pathways.
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Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | University of Texas Health Science Center, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA, PHD, Cancer Biology |
| 2013 | University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PRI, MS, Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| 2008 | University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, PRI, BS, General Sciences |
Postgraduate Training
| 2015-2020 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, Experimental Therapeutics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX |
Experience & Service
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011 - 2015
Honors & Awards
| 2015 | AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award, AACR |
| 2014 | First Place Research Award-University of Puerto Rico, School of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy |
| 2014 | Keystone Symposia, National Institute of General Medical Sciences |
| 2014 | Ancillary Training Program Scholarship, National Institute of General Medical Sciences |
| 2013 | Honors, School of Pharmacy, University of Puerto Rico |
| 2013 | Travel Award, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2009 | Travel Award, Purdue University, Big Ten + Grad Expo Scholarship |
| 2009 | Funding for CRC investigators, Clinical Trial Workshop, University of Puerto Rico, Funding for CRC investigators |
| 2008 | Cum Laude, University of Puerto Rico |
| 2008 | Travel Award, University of Puerto Rico, Research Centers in Minority Institutions |
| 2008 | Cancer Research Training Program Stipend Award, University of Puerto Rico/MD Anderson Cancer Center Partnership |
| 2006 | National Smart Grant Scholarship, University of Puerto Rico |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Blessing AM, Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Mao W, Pang L, Ning J, Pak D, Bollu LR, Rask P, Iles L, Yang H, Tran S, Elmir E, Bartholomeusz G, Langley R, Lu Z, Bast RC. Elimination of dormant, autophagic ovarian cancer cells and xenografts through enhanced sensitivity to anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibition. Cancer 126(15):3579-3592, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32484926.
- Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Weroha SJ, Hou X, Oberg AL, Heinzen EP, Maurer MJ, Pang L, Rask P, Amaravadi RK, Becker SE, Romero I, Rubio MJ, Matias-Guiu X, Santacana M, Llombart-Cussac A, Poveda A, Lu Z, Bast RC. Poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase inhibitors induce autophagy-mediated drug resistance in ovarian cancer cells, xenografts, and patient-derived xenograft models. Cancer 126(4):894-907, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31714594.
- Hollomon MG, Patterson L, Santiago-O'Farrill J, Kleinerman ES, Gordon N. Knock down of Fas-Associated Protein with Death Domain (FADD) Sensitizes Osteosarcoma to TNFα-induced Cell Death. J Cancer 11(7):1657-1667, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32194778.
- Livingston JA, Wang WL, Tsai JW, Lazar AJ, Leung CH, Lin H, Advani S, Daw N, Santiago-O'Farrill J, Hollomon M, Gordon NB, Kleinerman ES. Analysis of HSP27 and the Autophagy Marker LC3B+ Puncta Following Preoperative Chemotherapy Identifies High-Risk Osteosarcoma Patients. Mol Cancer Ther 17(6):1315-1323, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29592877.
- Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Kleinerman ES, Hollomon MG, Livingston A, Wang WL, Tsai JW, Gordon NB. Phosphorylated heat shock protein 27 as a potential biomarker to predict the role of chemotherapy-induced autophagy in osteosarcoma response to therapy. Oncotarget 9(2):1602-1616, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29416717.
- Zhou J, Alfraidi A, Zhang S, Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Yerramreddy Reddy VK, Alsaadi A, Ahmed AA, Yang H, Liu J, Mao W, Wang Y, Takemori H, Vankayalapati H, Lu Z, Bast RC. A Novel Compound ARN-3236 Inhibits Salt-Inducible Kinase 2 and Sensitizes Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines and Xenografts to Paclitaxel. Clin Cancer Res 23(8):1945-1954, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27678456.
- Uluçkan Ö, Segaliny A, Botter S, Santiago JM, Mutsaers AJ. Preclinical mouse models of osteosarcoma. Bonekey Rep 4:670, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25987985.
- Hollomon MG, Gordon N, Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Kleinerman ES. Knockdown of autophagy-related protein 5, ATG5, decreases oxidative stress and has an opposing effect on camptothecin-induced cytotoxicity in osteosarcoma cells. BMC Cancer 13:500, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24160177.
- Irwin ME, Nelson LD, Santiago-O'Farrill JM, Knouse PD, Miller CP, Palla SL, Siwak DR, Mills GB, Estrov Z, Li S, Kornblau SM, Hughes DP, Chandra J. Small molecule ErbB inhibitors decrease proliferative signaling and promote apoptosis in philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PLoS One 8(8):e70608, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23936456.
Invited Articles
- Santiago-O’Farrill, J.M., Lu, Z., Bast, R. Autophagy and Cancer Chemotherapy: Inhibition or Enhancement. Single Cell Biology. e-Pub 2016.
- Castillo-Ramirez, J., Echevarría, I., Santiago, J., Pérez-Torres, M., Rivera-Claudia, M.. Synthesis and Characterization of Ferrocene Acetals and Evaluations of Their. Synthesis Journal. e-Pub 2013.
Abstracts
- Santiago-O’Farrill J.M., Essien S., Figueroa M., Pang L., Amaravadi R., Lu Z., Bast R. Autophagy protects ovarian cancer cells from olaparib-induced toxicity. American Association, 2017.
- Santiago-O'Farril JM, Hollomon M, Kleinerman ES, and Gordon N. Factor to Determine the Fate of Gemcitabine- Induced Autophagy in Osteosarcoma: Survival vs. Death. American Association for Cancer Research, 2015.
- Santiago-O’Farrill J.M., Hollomon, M., Kleinerman, E.S. and Gordon, N. HSP27 as a. American Association for Cancer Research, 2015.
- Santiago-O’Farrill J.M., Hollomon, M., Kleinerman, E.S., Gordon, N. The role of Autophagy on Gemcitabine-induced cytoxicity in Osteosarcoma. Keystone Symposia, 2014.
- Santiago-O’Farrill, J.M., Hollomon, M., Kleinerman, E.S., Gordon, N. Autophagy as a mechanism implicated in Osteosarcoma resistance to Gemcitabine. American Society of Pediatrics Hematology Oncology(ASPHO), 2014.
- Santiago-O’Farrill, J.M., Hollomon, M., Kleinerman, E.S., Gordon, N. Autophagy as a Mechanism implicated in Osteosarcoma resistance to Gemcitabine. AACR-NCIEORTC Molecular Targets adn Cancer Therapeutics, 2013.
- Gordon, N., Hollomon, M., Chien, H., Santiago-O’Farrill, J.M., Kleinerman, E.S. The microenvironment plays an important role in the ability of aerosol Gemcitabine and. Global Biotechnology Congress, 2013.
- Vlaar, C.P., Pérez-Torres, M., Madera- Miranda, E., Santiago-O’Farrill, J.M. Cyclic thiosulfinates as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase and breast cancer cell growth. Division of Medicinal Chemistry Scientific 245th National Meeting and Exposition, 2013.
- Santiago J.M., Espinosa, S., Vlaar, C.P., Pérez-Torres, M. Cytotoxic screening of thioredoxin reductase inhibitors as potential new anti-cancer drugs. XXX Annual Forum of Research and Investigation, 2010.
- Madera, E., Espinosa, S., Santiago, J.M., Pérez-Torres, M., Vlaar, C.P. Synthesis of Cyclic 1, 2-Disulfide and Cyclic 1, 2- Thiosulfinates as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase, 2009.
- Madera-Miranda, E., Espinosa, S., Santiago, J., Pérez-Torres, M., Vlaar, C.P. Synthesis of Cyclic Disfulfides as inhibitors of Thioredoxin Reductase. American Association of, 2009.
- Claudio, K., Luciano, E., Santiago, J., Pérez, M. Ph.D., Augusto Carvajal, Mayra Pagan, Ospina. C. Chemical Analysis and Biological evaluation of the endemic Plant Simarouba, 2009.
Book Chapters
- Özge Uluçkan, Aude Segaliny, Sander Botter, Janice M. Santiago, Anthony Mutsaers. Preclinical Mouse Models of Osteosarcoma. In: IBMS BoneKEy-Nature, 2014.
- Santiago, J.M., Gordon, N. Current Advances in osteosarcoma, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. In: Autophagy in Osteosarcoma, 2014.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified February 13, 2024