Maria Pia Morelli, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Fellowship, Department of Research Fellowship, University of Colorado Cancer Center, CO, Aurora, CO
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2011 | Universita' della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, IT, Oncology, Ph.D |
| 2003 | Universita' della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, IT, Italian Medicine Board Certification Program, Post -graduated physician trainee |
| 2002 | Universita' della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, IT, MD |
Postgraduate Training
| 2017-2020 | Clinical Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland |
| 2015-2017 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine Residency Program, Yale University, Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| 2012-2015 | Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2006-2009 | Research Fellowship, Oncology/New Drug Development, University Of Colorado, Denver, Colorado |
| 2003-2007 | Clinical Fellowship, Medical Oncology, Second University of the Study of Napoli, Napoli |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2022 | American Board Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology |
| 2020 | Texas Board of Medicine |
| 2020 | American Board Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine |
| 2009 | Educational Commission for Foreigner Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Certification |
| 2003 | European Community Board of Medicine |
| 2003 | Italian Board of Medicine |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Staff Scientist Clinical Investigator, Spanish National Cancer Institute (CNIO), Madrid, spain, 2009 - 2011
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Resident, Yale University- Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT, Bridgeport, CT, 2015 - 2017
Post-Doctorate Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2015
Research Fellowship, Department of Research Fellowship, University of Colorado Cancer Center, CO, Aurora, CO, 2006 - 2009
Other Professional Positions
Clinical Investigator-Staff Scientist, Spanish National Cancer Institute, Madrid, 2009 - 2011
Clinical Investigator, University Hospital of Madrid, Madrid, 2009 - 2011
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, ICU Trigger Committee, National Cancer Institute (NCI), 2018 - 2020
Honors & Awards
| 2024 - Present | ASCO Career Development Award, ASCO |
| 2022 - 2024 | K12 Paul Calabresi Scholar Award, NIH |
| 2019 - 2020 | NCI Diversity Career Development Program, |
| 2018 | Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program |
| 2013 | Fight Colorectal Cancer AACR Fellowship, AACR |
| 2013 | Poster Merit Award, Research Day, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2009 | Poster Merit Award, Research Day |
| 2007 | AACR/ASCO Methods in CLinic Cancer Research Workshop |
| 2002 | Summa cum Laude Medical School Degree |
Professional Memberships
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2026 - 2028 |
| Title: | Patient-Derived Mini-Tumor Avatars as a Functional Precision Medicine Platform to Advance CAR-NK Therapy |
| Funding Source: | American Cancer Society |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | FP00028663 |
| Date: | 2026 - 2031 |
| Title: | Patient-Derived Mini-Tumor Avatars as a Functional Precision Medicine Platform to Advance CAR-NK Therapy |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | FP00028236 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2030 |
| Title: | OPTIMA: Oncology Precision Trials using Individualized Model Avatars |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | FP00025157 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2027 |
| Title: | Combining TROP2-directed CAR-NK cells with HIF2a inhibition for the immunotherapy of pancreatic Cancer |
| Funding Source: | DOD ( PA240287) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | Pending DOD# ( PA240287) |
| Date: | 2024 - 2029 |
| Title: | Optimizing TIL therapy and understanding tumor immune microenvironment in colorectal carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| ID: | FP21758 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2029 |
| Title: | TROP2-Directed CAR-NK Cells for the Immunotherapy of Pancreatic Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | FP19275 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2028 |
| Title: | Epigenetically enhanced Endogenous T Cell Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP19864 |
| Date: | 2023 - 2030 |
| Title: | EVEREST-1: A Phase 1/2 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of A2B530, an Autologous Logic-gated Tmod™ Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR T), in Heterozygous HLA-A*02 Adult Subjects with Recurrent Unresectable, Locally Advanced, or Metastatic Solid Tumors That Express CEA and Have Lost HLA-A*02 Expression |
| Funding Source: | A2 Biotherapeutics Inc |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| ID: | 2023-0156 | A2B530-101 | PID15241 |
| Date: | 2023 - 2028 |
| Title: | HORMAD-specific TGF-beta resistant memory T cells for treatment of patients with Gastro-esophageal Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-PI |
| Date: | 2022 - 2025 |
| Title: | Activating Cord Blood NK (CBNK) against Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) Colorectal Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Conquer Cancer Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP15021 |
| Title: | NO TITLE PROVIDED |
| Funding Source: | UT Austin-MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | NO TITLE PROVIDED |
| Funding Source: | American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Pellatt, AJ, Barnett, RM, Gnerre, S, Edwards, K, Willis, JA, Overmann, MJ, Raghav, KS, Parseghian, C, Dasari, NV, Morelli, MP, Bent, AH, Eluri, M, Hornstein, N, Drusbosky, L, Kopetz, S, Morris, VK. Detection of oncogenic fusions in colorectal cancer using a partner-agnostic next-generation sequencing approach. BMC cancer 25(1), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40696295.
- Pellatt, AJ, Bent, AH, Hornstein, N, Parseghian, C, Huey, RW, Raghav, KS, Morris, VK, Overman, MJ, Morelli, MP, Willis, JA, Le, PH, Shen, JY, Kee, BK, Eluri, M, Serpas Higbie, V, Alfaro-Munoz, KD, Aziz, KE, Kell, R, Sun, R, Kopetz, S, Dasari, NV. Phase II Trial of TAS-102 in Colorectal Cancer Patients With Circulating Tumor DNA-Defined Minimal Residual Disease After Adjuvant Therapy. JCO Precision Oncology 9, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40669021.
- Yousef, M, Yousef, A, Chowdhury, S, Fanaeian, M, Knafl, M, Peterson, J, Zeineddine, MA, Alfaro, KD, Zeineddine, F, Goldstein, D, Hornstein, N, Dasari, NV, Huey, RW, Johnson, B, Serpas Higbie, V, Bent, AH, Kee, BK, Lee, MS, Morelli, MP, Morris, VK, Halperin, DM, Overman, MJ, Parseghian, C, Vilar Sanchez, E, Wolff, RA, Raghav, KS, White, MG, Uppal, A, Sun, R, Wang, W, Kopetz, S, Willis, JA, Shen, JY. Molecular, Socioeconomic, and Clinical Factors Affecting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Survival. JAMA Oncology 10(11), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39264607.
- Pellatt, AJ, Maddalena, G, Bent, AH, Parseghian, C, Huey, RW, Raghav, KS, Morris, VK, Overman, MJ, Morelli, MP, Willis, JA, Le, PH, Shen, JY, Alfaro, KD, Aziz, KE, Kell, R, Sun, R, Kopetz, S, Dasari, NV. A phase II trial of TAS-102 in patients with colorectal cancer with ctDNA-defined minimal residual disease post-adjuvant therapy compared to synthetic control cohort. Journal of Clinical Oncology 42(16), 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Maddalena, G, Pellatt, AJ, Eluri, M, Parseghian, C, Aziz, KE, Alfaro, KD, Kell, R, Bent, AH, Huey, RW, Uppal, A, Konishi, T, Overman, MJ, Morelli, MP, Willis, JA, Shen, JY, Raghav, KS, Newhook, TE, Morris, VK, Dasari, NV, Kopetz, S. INTERCEPT Program of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing for minimal residual disease (MRD) in colorectal cancer (CRC). Journal of Clinical Oncology 42(3_suppl):27, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Higbie, V, Shah, P, Bent, AH, Dasari, NV, Huey, RW, Johnson, B, Kee, BK, Kopetz, S, Lee, MS, Ludford, K, Morelli, MP, Morris, VK, Parseghian, C, Raghav, KS, Shen, JY, Willis, JA, Wolff, RA, Overman, MJ. Natural history and patterns of progression for dMMR/MSI-H colorectal cancer treated with immune checkpoint blockade. Journal of Clinical Oncology 42(3), 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Simmons, K, Thomas, J, Ludford, K, Willis, JA, Serpas Higbie, V, Raghav, KS, Johnson, B, Dasari, NV, Kee, BK, Parseghian, C, Lee, MS, Le, PH, Morelli, MP, Shen, JY, Bent, AH, Vilar Sanchez, E, Wolff, RA, Kopetz, S, Overman, MJ, Morris, VK. Sustained Disease Control in Immune Checkpoint Blockade Responders with Microsatellite Instability-high Colorectal Cancer after Treatment Termination. Cancer Research Communications 3(12):2510-2517, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 38085001.
- Cole, CB, Morelli, MP, Fantini, M, Miettinen, M, Fetsch, P, Peer, CJ, Figg, WD, Yin, T, Houston, ND, McCoy, A, Lipkowitz, S, Zimmer, AS, Lee, JM, Pavelova, M, Villanueva, EN, Trewhitt, K, Solarz, BB, Fergusson, M, Mavroukakis, SA, Zaki, A, Tsang, KY, Arlen, PM, Annunziata, C. First-in-human phase 1 clinical trial of anti-core 1 O-glycans targeting monoclonal antibody NEO-201 in treatment-refractory solid tumors. Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research 42(1), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36991390.
- Zeineddine FA, Zeineddine MA, Yousef A, Gu Y, Chowdhury S, Dasari A, Huey RW, Johnson B, Kee B, Lee MS, Morelli MP, Morris VK, Overman MJ, Parseghian C, Raghav K, Willis J, Wolff RA, Kawaguchi Y, Vauthey JN, Sun R, Kopetz S, Shen JP. Survival improvement for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer over twenty years. NPJ Precis Oncol 7(1):16, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36781990.
- Tsang, KY, Fantini, M, Zaki, A, Mavroukakis, SA, Morelli, MP, Annunziata, C, Arlen, PM. Identification of the O-Glycan Epitope Targeted by the Anti-Human Carcinoma Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) NEO-201. Cancers 14(20), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36291783.
- Michailidou D, Khaki AR, Morelli MP, Diamantopoulos L, Singh N, Grivas P. Association of blood biomarkers and autoimmunity with immune related adverse events in patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Sci Rep 11(1):9029, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33907229.
- Zeligs KP, Morelli MP, David JM, Neuman M, Hernandez L, Hewitt S, Ozaki M, Osei-Tutu A, Anderson D, Andresson T, Sudipto D, Lack J, Abdall A, Fantini M, Arlen PM, Tsang KY, Annunziata CM. NEO-201 binds tumor associated forms of CEACAM5 and 6 to induce anti-tumor activity via activation of NK-mediated ADCC. Frontier Oncology, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Arlen PM, Morelli MP. Rationale, discovery and clinical development of NEO-201. Expert Opin Biol Ther 20(2):105-108, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31755317.
- Fantini M, David IM, Annunziata CM, Morelli MP, Arlen PM, Tsang KY. The Monoclonal Antibody NEO201 Enhances Natural Killer Cell Citotoxiciy Against Tumor Cells Through blockade of the inhibitory CEACAM5/CEACAM1 Immune Checkpoint Pathway. Cancer Biother Radiopharm, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31928422.
- Zeligs KP, Morelli MP, David JM, Neuman M, Hernandez L, Hewitt S, Ozaki M, Osei-Tutu A, Anderson D, Andresson T, Das S, Lack J, Abdelmaksoud A, Fantini M, Arlen PM, Tsang KY, Annunziata CM. Evaluation of the Anti-Tumor Activity of the Humanized Monoclonal Antibody NEO-201 in Preclinical Models of Ovarian Cancer. Front Oncol 10:805, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32637350.
- Floudas CS, Brar G, Mabry-Hrones D, Duffy AG, Wood B, Levy E, Krishnasamy V, Fioravanti S, Bonilla CM, Walker M, Morelli MP, Kleiner DE, Steinberg SM, Figg WD, Greten TF, Xie C. A Pilot Study of the PD-1 Targeting Agent AMP-224 Used With Low-Dose Cyclophosphamide and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. Clin Colorectal Cancer 18(4):e349-e360, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31351862.
- Floudas C, Brar G, Mabry-Hrones D, Duffy A, Bradford W, Levy E, Krishnasamy V, Walker M, Morelli MP, Steinberg S, Figg WD, Monge-Bonilla C, Fioravanti S, Greten T, Kleiner D. A pilot study of the PD-1 targeting agent AMP-224 cobined with low-dose cyclophosphamide and stereotactic body radiation therapy in patients with metastatic. Clin Colorectal Cancer, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Rodriguez-Pacual J, Plaza JC, Alvarez-Gallego R, Morelli MP, Angulo B, Ugidos L, de Vicente E, Lopez de la Guardia U, Cubillo A, Hidalgo M. Implementation of a Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Selection Program Based on a Real-time Biomarker Analysis in Available Biopsies. British Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Xie C, Duffy AG, Mabry-Hrones D, Wood B, Levy E, Krishnasamy V, Khan J, Wei JS, Agdashian D, Tyagi M, Gangalapudi V, Fioravanti S, Walker M, Anderson V, Venzon D, Figg WD, Sandhu M, Kleiner DE, Morelli MP, Floudas CS, Brar G, Steinberg SM, Korangy F, Greten TF. Tremelimumab in Combination With Microwave Ablation in Patients With Refractory Biliary Tract Cancer. Hepatology 69(5):2048-2060, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30578687.
- Katsiampoura A, Raghav K, Jiang ZQ, Menter DG, Varkaris A, Morelli MP, Manuel S, Wu J, Sorokin AV, Rizi BS, Bristow C, Tian F, Airhart S, Cheng M, Broom BM, Morris J, Overman MJ, Powis G, Kopetz S. Modeling of Patient-Derived Xenograft in Colorectal Cancer”. Mol Cancer Ther, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Pereira AAL, Morelli MP, Overman M, Kee B, Fogelman D, Vilar E, Shureiqi I, Raghav K, Eng C, Manuel S, Crosby S, Wolff RA, Banks K, Lanman R, Talasaz A, Kopetz S, Morris V. Clinical utility of circulating cell-free DNA in advanced colorectal cancer. PLoS One 12(8):e0183949, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28850629.
- Denise C, Paoli P, Calvani M, Taddei ML, Giannoni E, Kopetz S, Kazmi SM, Pia MM, Pettazzoni P, Sacco E, Caselli A, Vanoni M, Landriscina M, Cirri P, Chiarugi P. 5-fluorouracil resistant colon cancer cells are addicted to OXPHOS to survive and enhance stem-like traits. Oncotarget 6(39):41706-21, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26527315.
- Liao HW, Hsu JM, Xia W, Wang HL, Wang YN, Chang WC, Arold ST, Chou CK, Tsou PH, Yamaguchi H, Fang YF, Lee HJ, Lee HH, Sk T, Yang MH, Morelli MP, Sen M, Ladbury JE, Chen CH, Grandis JR, Kopetz S, Hung MC. PRMT1-mediated methylation of the EGF receptor regulates signaling and cetuximab response”. J Clin Invest, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Morelli MP, Overman MJ, Dasari A, Kazmi SM, Mazard T, Vilar E, Morris VK, Lee MS, Herron D, Eng C, Morris J, Kee BK, Janku FL, Garrett C, Maru D, Diehl F, Angenendt P, Kopetz S. Characterizing the patterns of clonal selection in circulating tumor DNA from patients with colorectal cancer refractory to anti-EGFR treatment”, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- enise C, Paoli P, Calvani M, Taddei ML, Giannoni E, Kopetz S, Kazmi SM, Morelli MP, Pettazzoni P, Sacco E, Caselli A, Vanoni M, Landriscina M, Cirri P, Chiarugi P. “5-Fluorouracil resistant colon cancer cells are addicted to OXPHOS to survive and enhance stem-like traits”. Oncotarget, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Pecot CV, Wu SY, Bellister S, Filant J, Rupaimoole R, Hisamatsu T, Bhattacharya R, Maharaj A, Azam S, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Nagaraja AS, Morelli MP, Gharpure KM, Waugh TA, Gonzalez-Villasana V, Zand B, Dalton HJ, Kopetz S, Lopez-Berestein G, Ellis LM, Sood AK. Therapeutic silencing of KRAS using systemically delivered siRNAs. Mol Cancer Ther 13(12):2876-85, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25281617.
- Morris VK, Lucas FA, Overman MJ, Eng C, Morelli MP, Jiang ZQ, Luthra R, Meric-Bernstam F, Maru D, Scheet P, Kopetz S, Vilar E. . “Clinicopathologic characteristics and gene expression analyses of non-KRAS 12/13, RAS-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer”. Ann Oncol, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Cubillo A, Hernando-Requejo O, García-García E, Rodriguez-Pascual J, De Vicente E, Morelli MP, Rubio C, López-Ríos F, Muro A, López U, Prados S, Quijano Y, Hidalgo M. A Prospective Pilot Study of Target-guided Personalized Chemotherapy with Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy in Patients with Early Rectal Cancer”. Am J Clin Oncol, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Pecot CV, Wu SY, Bellister S, Filant J, Rupaimoole R, Hisamatsu T, Bhattacharya R, Maharaj A, Azam S, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Nagaraja AS, Morelli MP, Gharpure KM, Waugh TA, Gozalez-Villasana V, Zand B, Dalton HJ, Kopetz S, Lopez-Berestein G, Ellis LM, Sood AK. “Therapeutic silencing of KRAS using systemically delivered siRNAs”. Mol Cancer Ther, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Morelli MP, Kopetz S. Hurdles and complexities of codon 13 KRAS mutations. J Clin Oncol 30(29):3565-7, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22927534.
- Ruppen MI, Lopes-Casas PP, Garcia F, Ximenez MP, Munoz M, Morelli MP, Real F, Serna A, Ashman K, Hidalgo M. ” Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Assay for Detecting Specific Mutant Proteins”,. Proteomics, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Morelli MP, Calvo E, Ordonez E, Wick MJ, Rubio-Viqueira B, Lopez-Casas PP, Bruckheimer E, Calles-Blanco A, Sidransky D, Hidalgo M. . “Prioritizing Phase I Treatment Options Thruogh Preclinical Testing on Personalized Tumorgraft”. J Clin Onc, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Morelli MP, Tentler JJ, Kulikowski GN, Tan AC, Bradshaw-Pierce EL, Pitts TM, Brown AM, Nallapareddy S, Arcaroli JJ, Serkova NJ, Hidalgo M, SG Eckhardt CF. “Preclinical Activity of the Rational Combination of Selumetinib (AZD6244) in Combination with Vorinostat in KRAS Mutant Colorectal Cancer Models. Clin Cancer Res, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Spratlin JL, Pitts TM, Kulikwski GN, Morelli MP, Tentler JJ, Serkova NJ, Eckhardt SG. “Synergistic activity of histone deacetylase and proteasome inhibition against pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer cell lines”,. Anticancer Res, 2011. e-Pub 2011.
- Tentler JJ, Nallapareddy S, Tan AC, Spreafico A, Pitts TM, Morelli MP, Selby HM, Kachaeva MI, Flanigan SA, Kulikowski GN, Leong S, Arcaroli JJ, Messersmith WA, Eckhardt SG. “Identification of predictive markers of response to the MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib (AZD6244) in K-ras-mutated colorectal cancer. Mol Cancer Ther, 2010. e-Pub 2010.
- Martinelli E, Troiani T, Morgillo F, Rodolico G, Vitagliano D, Morelli MP, Tuccillo C, Vecchione L, Capasso A, Orditura M, De Vita F, Eckhardt SG, Santoro M, Berrino L, Ciardiello F. Synergistic antitumor activity of sorafenib in combination with epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors in colorectal and lung cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res 16(20):4990-5001, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20810384.
- Martinelli E, Troiani T, Morgillo F, Rodolico G, Vitagliano D, Morelli MP, Tuccillo C, Vecchione L, Capasso A, Orditura M, De Vita F, Eckhardt SG, Santoro M, Berrino L, Ciardiello F. “Synergistic antitumor activity of sorafenib in combination with epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors in colorectal and lung cancer cells”. Clin Cancer Res, 2010. e-Pub 2010.
- Morelli MP, Brown A, Pitts T, Tentler J, Ciardiello F, Ryan A, Jürgensmeier J, Eckhardt SG. “Targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 and -3 With Cediranib (AZD2171): Effects on Migration and Invasion of GI Cancer Cell Lines”. Mol Cancer Ther, 2009. e-Pub 2009.
- Cascone T, Morelli MP, Morgillo F, Kim WY, Rodolico G, Pepe S, Tortora G, Berrino L, Lee HY, Heymach JV, Ciardiello F. Synergistic anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of combined therapy with bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) drugs in human cancer cells. J Cell Physiol 216(3):698-707, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18381602.
- Cascone T, Morelli MP, Morgillo F, Kim WY, Rodolico G, Pepe S, Berrino L, Lee HY, Heymach JV, Ciardiello F. “Synergistic anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of combined therapy with bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) drugs in human cancer cells”. J Cell Physiol, 2008. e-Pub 2008.
- Cascone T, Martinelli E, Morelli MP, Morgillo F, Troiani T, Ciardiello F. Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2(3):335-48, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 23484645.
- Morelli MP, Cascone T, Troiani T, Tuccillo C, Bianco R, Normanno N, Romano M, Veneziani BM, Fontanini G, Eckhardt SG, De Pacido S, Tortora G, Ciardiello F. Anti-tumor activity of the combination of cetuximab, an anti-EGFR blocking monoclonal antibody and ZD6474, an inhibitor of VEGFR and EGFR tyrosine kinases. J Cell Physiol 208(2):344-53, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16688779.
- Morelli MP, Cascone T, Troiani T, Tuccillo C, Bianco R, Normanno N, Romano M, Veneziani BM, Fontanini G, Eckhardt SG, De Pacido S, Tortora G, Ciardiello F. “Anti-tumor activity of the combination of cetuximab, an anti-EGFR blocking monoclonal antibody and ZD6474, an inhibitor of VEGFR and EGFR tyrosine kinases”,. J Cell Physiol, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Lieto E, Orditura M, Castellano P, La Manna G, Allocca L, Pinto M, Ferraraccio F, Morelli MP, Gascone T, Piccirillo M, De Vita F, Ciardiello F, Catalano G, Galizia G. G “Epidermal growth factor receptor: A novel independent prognostic marker in gastric cancer patients undergoing potentially curative surgery”. Ann Oncol, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Cascone T, Morelli MP, Ciardiello F. “Small molecule epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer”. Ann Oncol, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Cascone T, Troiani T, Morelli MP, Gridelli C, Ciardiello F. Antiangiogenic drugs in non-small cell lung cancer treatment”,. Curr Opin Oncol, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Ciardiello F, Troiani T, Bianco R, Orditura M, Morgillo F, Martinelli E, Morelli MP, Cascone T, Tortora G. “Interaction between the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathways: a rational approach for multi-target anticancer therapy”. Ann Oncol, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Morelli MP, Cascone T, Troiani T, De Vita F, Orditura M, Laus G, Eckhardt SG, Pepe S, Tortora G, Ciardiello F. “Sequence-dependent antiproliferative effects of cytotoxic drugs and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors”. Ann Oncol, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
Review Articles
- Smith, CJ, Simeone, DM, Grierson, P, Kirtane, KS, Morelli, MP, Patel, SP, Ulrickson, ML, Dahiya, S, Park, JC, Specht, JM, Fakih, MG, Liechty, KB, Tebbets, J, Welch, JS, Go, WY, Maloney, D, Maus, MV, Ng, EC, Hecht, JR. Improving ethnic and racial diversity in biomarker-driven clinical trials. Journal of Clinical Oncology 42:1604, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Pellatt, AJ, Maddalena, G, Eluri, M, Parseghian, C, Aziz, KE, Alfaro, KD, Kell, R, Bent, AH, Huey, RW, Uppal, A, Konishi, T, Overman, MJ, Morelli, MP, Willis, JA, Shen, JY, Raghav, KS, Newhook, TE, Morris, VK, Dasari, NV, Kopetz, S. Redefining the prognostic significance of RAS and BRAF V600E mutations on disease free survival in patients with colorectal cancer in the era of ct-DNA defined minimal residual disease. Journal of Clinical Oncology 42:196, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Hecht JR, Mitchell J, Morelli MP, Anandappa G, Yang JC. Next-Generation Approaches to Immuno-Oncology in GI Cancers. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book 43:e389072, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37290032.
- Cascone T, Troiani T, Morelli MP, Gridelli C, Ciardiello F. Antiangiogenic drugs in non-small cell lung cancer treatment. Curr Opin Oncol 18(2):151-5, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16462184.
Other Articles
- Cole, CB, Morelli, MP, Fantini, M, Miettinen, M, Fetsch, P, Peer, CJ, Figg, WD, Yin, T, Houston, ND, McCoy, A, Lipkowitz, S, Zimmer, AS, Lee, JM, Pavelova, M, Villanueva, EN, Trewhitt, K, Solarz, BB, Fergusson, M, Mavroukakis, SA, Zaki, A, Tsang, KY, Arlen, PM, Annunziata, C Correction. Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research 42(1), 2023. PMID: 37101182.
Editorials
- Arlen PM, Morelli MP. “Rational, discovery and clinical development of NEO-201, 2020.
- Morelli MP, Kopetz S. Hurdles and complexities of codon 13 mutations. J Clin Oncol, 2012.
Abstracts
- Floudas CS, Xie C, Brar G, Morelli MP, Fioravanti F, Walker M, Mabry-Hrones D, Wood DJ, Levy EB, Krishnasamy VP, Greten T. Combined immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) with tremelimumab and durvalumab in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or biliary tract carcinomas (BTC), 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Morelli MP, Justin M, Houston N, Lipkowitz S, Lee JM, Zimmer A, Zia F Ekwede I, Nichols E, Pavelova M, Hewitt S, Fantini M, Arlen PM, Tsang KY, Annunziata CM. “Phase 1 with expansion cohorts in a study of NEO-201 in adults with chemo-resistant solid tumors: Trial in Progress”, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Arlen PM, Fantini M, David J, Annunziata CM, Tsang KY, Morelli MP. , “Mechanisms of action of a neoantigen-targeting antibody NEO-201, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Morelli MP, Xie C, Brar G, Floudas CS, Fioravanti S, Walker M, Hrones-Mabry D, Greten TF. A phase I/II study of pexa-vec oncolytic virus in combination with immune checkpoint inhibition in refractory colorectal cancer: Safety report, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Brar G, McNeel T, McGlynn K, Graubard B, Floudas CS, Morelli MP, Xie C, Greten T, Altekruse S. “Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) survival by etiology: A SEER-Medicare database analysis”, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Morelli MP, Houston N, Lipkowitz S, Lee JM, Zimmer A, Zia F, Nichols E, Pavelova E, Trewitt K, Fantini M, Tsang KY, Arlen PM, Annunziata CM. Phase 1 with expansion cohorts in a study of NEO-201 in adults with chemo-resistant solid tumors: safety data, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Morelli MP, Overman MJ, Kee BK, Vilar-Sanchez E, Morris VK, Fogelman DR, Janku F, Garrett CR, Shureiqi I, Pratap K, Singh R, Eng C, Manuel S, Wolff RA, Eltoukhy H, Lanman RB, Talasar A, Kopetz ES. Predictors of clonal evolution in metastatic colorectal cancer patients, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Morelli MP, Overman MJ, Dasari A, Kazmi SA, Vilar-Sanchez E, Eng C, Kee B, Deaton FL, Garrett C, Diehl F, Angenendt P, Kopetz S. Heterogeneity of acquired KRAS and EGFR mutations in colorectal cancer patients treated with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies, 2013. e-Pub 2013.
- Morelli MP, Overman MJ, Dasari A, Kazmi SA, Vilar-Sanchez E, Eng C, Kee B, Deaton FL, Garrett C, Diehl F, Maru D, Angenendt P, Kopetz S. Acquired KRAS mutations after anti-EGFR therapy partially derive from low-frequency clones detectable in the primary tumor” AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference “Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics”, 2013. e-Pub 2013.
- MP Morelli. Safety and efficacy of Sleeping Beauty TCR-T cells targeting shared KRAS and TP53 mutations expressed by solid tumors in first-in-human phase 1 study. ASCO Annual Meeting 2023.
- MP Morelli. A phase Ib study of immunotherapy with ex-vivo pre-activated and expanded CBNK cells in combination with cetuximab, in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) with minimal residual disease (MRD): ad interim report. SITC Annual Meeting.
- MP Morelli et al. A phase Ib study of immunotherapy with ex-vivo pre-activated and expanded CBNK cells in combination with cetuximab, in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) with minimal residual disease (MRD): final report. ASCO GI 2025.
- MP Morelli. Correlation of mesothelin (MSLN) expression measured by RNA sequencing (RNASeq) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in MSLN-expressing tumors. ASCO GI 2025.
- MP Morelli. EVEREST-2: A seamless phase 1/2 study of A2B694, a logic-gated Tmod chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy, in patients with pancreatic cancer (PANC) or other mesothelin (MSLN)-expressing solid tumors and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)–A*02 loss of heterozygosity (LOH). ASCO GI 2025.
- MP Morelli. A phase 1b dose escalation trial of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel in combination with lixumistat in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. ASCO GI 2025.
- MP Morelli. Phase I/II trial of encorafenib, cetuximab, and nivolumab in microsatellite stable BRAFV600E metastatic colorectal cancer following progression on prior BRAF+EGFR targeted therapies. ASCO GI 2025.
- MP Morelli. A phase 1/2 study to evaluate CHM-2101, an autologous cadherin 17 (CDH17) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory gastrointestinal cancers. ASCO GI 2025.
Book Chapters
- Morelli MP, Spratlin J, Eckhardt, SG. Combination of Anti-EGFR Drugs with Anti-Angiogenic or Other Signal Transduction Inhibitors as a Rational Approach to Cancer Therapy. In: Current Cancer Therapy Reviews. Bentham Science Publishers, 2007.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified March 26, 2026