Michael A. Curran, Ph.D.
Department of Immunology, Division of Science
About Dr. Curran
Dr. Michael Curran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Scientific Director of the Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT) platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center. During his postdoctoral work in the lab of Dr. James Allison, Dr. Curran performed animal studies characterizing the effect of checkpoint inhibitor blockade on cancer progression that led to clinical trials for the first checkpoint inhibitor antibody combination treatment approved by the FDA. Despite the potential for antibody-mediated immunotherapy to provide complete remissions to patients with advanced metastatic disease, the vast majority of human cancers remain resistant. Since starting his lab in 2012, Dr. Curran has been focused on realizing the full potential of cancer immunotherapy. Using studies of murine tumor models resistant to current immunotherapies, such as anti-CTLA4 and ant-PD-1, and samples from patients treated at MD Anderson, he is exploring the mechanisms by which tumors evade immune rejection in order to find new targets for immune therapy and looking for markers to identify the patients most likely to benefit from currently available T-cell directed immune therapies. Ultimately, he hopes to greatly expand the options for immune therapy to cure a larger number of patients and attack a wider range of cancers. Dr. Curran’s studies of 4-1BB agonist antibodies won him the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer’s prestigious Presidential Award.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Member, Division of Graduate Faculty, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2001 | Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, PHD, Immunology |
| 1995 | University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA, BA, Foreign Affairs |
| 1995 | University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA, BA, Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2004-2012 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Immunology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York, NY |
| 2001-2004 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Immunology, University of California, Berkeley, CA |
Honors & Awards
| 2014 | American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) New Investigator of the Month, American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) |
| 2011 | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Immunology Program Postdoctoral Publication Award, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) |
| 2010 | iSBTc Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting Presidential Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2001 | IDEC/Genentech/Ronald Levy Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Cancer Society (ACS) |
| 2001 | The Hugh McDevitt Prize, Stanford University |
| 1996 | Markey Predoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University |
| 1995 | Katz Undergraduate Research Symposium, First Prize, University of Virginia |
| 1995 | Phi Beta Kappa, University of Virginia |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Singh M, Vianden C, Cantwell MJ, Dai Z, Xiao Z, Sharma M, Khong H, Jaiswal AR, Faak F, Hailemichael Y, Janssen LME, Bharadwaj U, Curran MA, Diab A, Bassett RL, Tweardy DJ, Hwu P, Overwijk WW. Intratumoral CD40 activation and checkpoint blockade induces T cell-mediated eradication of melanoma in the brain. Nat Commun 8(1):1447, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29129918.
- Ager CR, Reilley MJ, Nicholas C, Bartkowiak T, Jaiswal AR, Curran MA. Intratumoral STING Activation with T-cell Checkpoint Modulation Generates Systemic Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Immunol Res 5(8):676-684, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28674082.
- Tang C, Welsh JW, de Groot P, Massarelli E, Chang JY, Hess KR, Basu S, Curran MA, Cabanillas ME, Subbiah V, Fu S, Tsimberidou AM, Karp D, Gomez DR, Diab A, Komaki R, Heymach JV, Sharma P, Naing A, Hong DS. Ipilimumab with Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy: Phase I Results and Immunologic Correlates from Peripheral T Cells. Clin Cancer Res 23(6):1388-1396, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27649551.
- Chouaib S, Noman MZ, Kosmatopoulos K, Curran MA. Hypoxic stress: obstacles and opportunities for innovative immunotherapy of cancer. Oncogene 36(4):439-445, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27345407.
- Gabrusiewicz K, Rodriguez B, Wei J, Hashimoto Y, Healy LM, Maiti SN, Thomas G, Zhou S, Wang Q, Elakkad A, Liebelt BD, Yaghi NK, Ezhilarasan R, Huang N, Weinberg JS, Prabhu SS, Rao G, Sawaya R, Langford LA, Bruner JM, Fuller GN, Bar-Or A, Li W, Colen RR, Curran MA, Bhat KP, Antel JP, Cooper LJ, Sulman EP, Heimberger AB. Glioblastoma-infiltrated innate immune cells resemble M0 macrophage phenotype. JCI Insight 1(2), 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26973881.
- Bartkowiak T, Singh S, Yang G, Galvan G, Haria D, Ai M, Allison JP, Sastry KJ, Curran MA. Unique potential of 4-1BB agonist antibody to promote durable regression of HPV+ tumors when combined with an E6/E7 peptide vaccine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112(38):E5290-9, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26351680.
- Curran MA, Geiger TL, Montalvo W, Kim M, Reiner SL, Al-Shamkhani A, Sun JC, Allison JP. Systemic 4-1BB activation induces a novel T cell phenotype driven by high expression of Eomesodermin. J Exp Med 210(4):743-55, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23547098.
- Mineharu Y, Muhammad AK, Yagiz K, Candolfi M, Kroeger KM, Xiong W, Puntel M, Liu C, Levy E, Lugo C, Kocharian A, Allison JP, Curran MA, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG. Gene therapy-mediated reprogramming tumor infiltrating T cells using IL-2 and inhibiting NF-κB signaling improves the efficacy of immunotherapy in a brain cancer model. Neurotherapeutics 9(4):827-43, 2012. PMID: 22996231.
- Jenq RR, Curran MA, Goldberg GL, Liu C, Allison JP, van den Brink MR. Repertoire enhancement with adoptively transferred female lymphocytes controls the growth of pre-implanted murine prostate cancer. PLoS One 7(4):e35222, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22493742.
- Curran MA, Kim M, Montalvo W, Al-Shamkhani A, Allison JP. Combination CTLA-4 blockade and 4-1BB activation enhances tumor rejection by increasing T-cell infiltration, proliferation, and cytokine production. PLoS One 6(4):e19499, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21559358.
- Curran MA, Montalvo W, Yagita H, Allison JP. PD-1 and CTLA-4 combination blockade expands infiltrating T cells and reduces regulatory T and myeloid cells within B16 melanoma tumors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107(9):4275-80, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20160101.
- Curran MA, Allison JP. Tumor vaccines expressing flt3 ligand synergize with ctla-4 blockade to reject preimplanted tumors. Cancer Res 69(19):7747-55, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19738077.
- Fenjves ES, Ochoa MS, Cechin S, Gay-Rabinstein C, Pérez-Alvarez I, Ichii H, Mendez A, Ricordi C, Curran MA. Protection of human pancreatic islets using a lentiviral vector expressing two genes: cFLIP and GFP. Cell Transplant 17(7):793-802, 2008. PMID: 19044206.
- Quezada SA, Peggs KS, Curran MA, Allison JP. CTLA4 blockade and GM-CSF combination immunotherapy alters the intratumor balance of effector and regulatory T cells. J Clin Invest 116(7):1935-45, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16778987.
- Shai E, Palmon A, Panet A, Marmary Y, Sherman Y, Curran MA, Galun E, Condiotti R. Prolonged transgene expression in murine salivary glands following non-primate lentiviral vector transduction. Mol Ther 12(1):137-43, 2005. PMID: 15963929.
- Condiotti R, Curran MA, Nolan GP, Giladi H, Ketzinel-Gilad M, Gross E, Galun E. Prolonged liver-specific transgene expression by a non-primate lentiviral vector. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 320(3):998-1006, 2004. PMID: 15240147.
- Fenjves ES, Ochoa MS, Gay-Rabinstein C, Ricordi C, Curran MA. Retrovirally transferred genes inhibit apoptosis in an insulin-secreting cell line: implications for islet transplantation. Cell Transplant 13(5):489-96, 2004. PMID: 15565861.
- Price MA, Case SS, Carbonaro DA, Yu XJ, Petersen D, Sabo KM, Curran MA, Engel BC, Margarian H, Abkowitz JL, Nolan GP, Kohn DB, Crooks GM. Expression from second-generation feline immunodeficiency virus vectors is impaired in human hematopoietic cells. Mol Ther 6(5):645-52, 2002. PMID: 12409263.
- Curran MA, Ochoa MS, Molano RD, Pileggi A, Inverardi L, Kenyon NS, Nolan GP, Ricordi C, Fenjves ES. Efficient transduction of pancreatic islets by feline immunodeficiency virus vectors1. Transplantation 74(3):299-306, 2002. PMID: 12177606.
- Ai M, Jayaprakash P, Budhani P, Bartkowiak T, Sheng J, Curran MA. Targeted hypoxia reduction restores T cell infiltration and sensitivity to immunotherapy in prostate cancer. The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Abstracts
- Callahan MK, Horak CE, Curran MA, Hollman T, Schaer DA, Yuan J, Lesokhin AM, Kitano S, Hong Q, Ariyan CE, Busam KJ, Feely W, Jure-Kunkel M, Grosso J, Simon JS, Korman AJ, Wigginton JM, Gupta AK, Zhang X, Phillips T, Simmons P, Sznol M, Wolchok JD. Peripheral blood and tumor biomarkers in patients with advanced melanoma treated with combination nivolumab (anti-PD-1, BMS-936558, ONO-4538) and ipilimumab. 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (Abstr #004). e-Pub 2013.
Book Chapters
- Wolkowicz R, Nolan GP, Curran MA. Lentiviral vectors for the delivery of DNA into mammalian cells. In: Methods Mol Biol. Humana Press: Totowa, NJ, 391-411, 2004.
- Curran MA, Nolan GP. Non-primate lentiviral vectors. In: Lentiviral Vectors. Preinger-Verlag, 75-101, 2002.
- Curran MA, Nolan GP. Recombinant feline immunodeficiency virus vectors: preparation and use. In: Methods Mol Med. Humana Press, 335-50, 2002.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | High Impact, High Risk Research Award: Opening the central nervous system to immunotherapy by blocking TREK1 |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Immunologic rejection of prostate cancer without autoimmune side effects |
| Funding Source: | DOD/Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (DOD/CDMRP) |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Immunobiology and translational application of the ThEO/TcEO T cell program |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Institutional Research Grant (IRG) Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | T cell immune checkpoint combinations for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Oropharynx Program, Discovery Section |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma - Development Research Program (DRP) entitled, “Identifying mechanisms of acquired resistance to immunotherapy” |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator, DRP |
| Title: | Aptamer targeted immune modulation of glioblastoma |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |