Natalia Baran, MSc, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Natalia Baran
Natalia Baran, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., is an Assistant Professor ( Research Faculty) in the Department of Leukemia. Dr. Baran received her MSc in biotechnology in 2006 and her MD in 2007 (Poland). She next continued her research and clinical training in Germany, where she obtained her Ph.D. in Medicine and absolved her residency and received German board certification in internal medicine, hematology and oncology in 2015. Dr. Baran joined the Department of Leukemia at the MD Anderson Cancer Center as a postdoctoral fellow in 2016 and was trained under the mentorship of Dr. Marina Konopleva, and was further working as an Research Instructor in Dr. Konopleva's laboratory till 2022. Dr. Baran is actively involved in translational research work mainly to explore metabolism related vulnerabilities and the involvement of metabolic reprograming in acquired drug resistance in acute myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemias. Her metabolic expertise was further expanded to study strategies that enhance anti-leukemic response through metabolic modulation of immune environment. This led finally to development of therapeutic approaches to eradicate leukemic cells.
Read More
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Leukemia - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Instructor, Department of Leukemia - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | University of Bonn, Bonn, DEU, PHD, Medicine |
| 2007 | Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, POL, MD, Medicine |
| 2006 | Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, POL, Master Engineer, Biotechnology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2016-2021 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, Internal medicine, Hematology, University of Texas, MDACC, Houston, TX |
| 2011-2015 | Clinical Residency, Internal medicine, Hematology and Oncology, University of Heidelberg, Heideberg |
| 2008-2010 | Clinical Residency, Internal medicine, Hematology and Oncology, University of Bonn, Bonn |
| 2007-2008 | Research Fellowship, Internal medicine, endocrinology, University of Bonn, Bonn |
Board Certifications
| 2015 | German Board of Internal Medicine , Hematology and Oncology |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Member, DoCM Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, 2021 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2021 | ASH Abstract Achievement Award and Abstract selection for oral presentation, Atlanta, ASH |
| 2021 | SPORE Career Enhancement Award, SPORE |
| 2020 | The Kimberly Patterson Fellowship in Leukemia Research, UT Texas MDACC |
| 2020 | 10th MD Anderson APSS Abstract selection for oral presentation, UT Texas MDACC |
| 2020 | ASH Abstract Achievement Award and Abstract selection for oral presentation, San Diego, ASH |
| 2020 | MD Anderson Cancer Center Trainee Recognition Award, UT Texas MDACC |
| 2019 | The Kimberly Patterson Fellowship in Leukemia Research, UT Texas MDACC |
| 2019 | ASH Abstract Achievement Award and Abstract selection for oral presentation |
| 2018 | Keystone Agilent Travel Award, KEYSTONE |
| 2018 | AACR Takeda Abstract Achievement Award, AACR |
| 2017 | ASH Abstract Achievement Award 2017, ASH |
| 2017 | Travel Award for EMBO Symposium on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, EMBO |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Piya S, Yang Y, Bhattacharya S, Sharma P, Ma H, Mu H, He H, Ruvolo V, Baran N, Davis RE, Jain AK, Konopleava M, Kantarjian H, Andreeff M, You MJ, Borthakur G. Targeting the NOTCH1-MYC-CD44 axis in leukemia-initiating cells in T-ALL. Leukemia 36(5):1261-1273, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35173274.
- Baran N, Lodi A, Dhungana Y, Herbrich S, Collins M, Sweeney S, Pandey R, Skwarska A, Patel S, Tremblay M, Kuruvilla VM, Cavazos A, Kaplan M, Warmoes MO, Veiga DT, Furudate K, Rojas-Sutterin S, Haman A, Gareau Y, Marinier A, Ma H, Harutyunyan K, Daher M, Garcia LM, Al-Atrash G, Piya S, Ruvolo V, Yang W, Shanmugavelandy SS, Feng N, Gay J, Du D, Yang JJ, Hoff FW, Kaminski M, Tomczak K, Eric Davis R, Herranz D, Ferrando A, Jabbour EJ, Emilia Di Francesco M, Teachey DT, Horton TM, Kornblau S, Rezvani K, Sauvageau G, Gagea M, Andreeff M, Takahashi K, Marszalek JR, Lorenzi PL, Yu J, Tiziani S, Hoang T, Konopleva M. Inhibition of mitochondrial complex I reverses NOTCH1-driven metabolic reprogramming in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nat Commun 13(1):2801, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35589701.
- Zhang Q, Riley-Gillis B, Han L, Jia Y, Lodi A, Zhang H, Ganesan S, Pan R, Konoplev SN, Sweeney SR, Ryan JA, Jitkova Y, Dunner K, Grosskurth SE, Vijay P, Ghosh S, Lu C, Ma W, Kurtz S, Ruvolo VR, Ma H, Weng CC, Ramage CL, Baran N, Shi C, Cai T, Davis RE, Battula VL, Mi Y, Wang J, DiNardo CD, Andreeff M, Tyner JW, Schimmer A, Letai A, Padua RA, Bueso-Ramos CE, Tiziani S, Leverson J, Popovic R, Konopleva M. Correction: Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia. Signal Transduct Target Ther 7(1):110, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35365596.
- Zhang Q, Riley-Gillis B, Han L, Jia Y, Lodi A, Zhang H, Ganesan S, Pan R, Konoplev SN, Sweeney SR, Ryan JA, Jitkova Y, Dunner K, Grosskurth SE, Vijay P, Ghosh S, Lu C, Ma W, Kurtz S, Ruvolo VR, Ma H, Weng CC, Ramage CL, Baran N, Shi C, Cai T, Davis RE, Battula VL, Mi Y, Wang J, DiNardo CD, Andreeff M, Tyner JW, Schimmer A, Letai A, Padua RA, Bueso-Ramos CE, Tiziani S, Leverson J, Popovic R, Konopleva M. Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia. Signal Transduct Target Ther 7(1):51, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35185150.
- Panina S, Pei J, Baran N, Patel S, Alatrash G, Konoplev S, Konopleva M, Kirienko N;. Novel mitochondria-targeting compounds selectively kill human leukemic cells;. Leukemia, 2022.
- Li Y, Xie X, Jie Z, Zhu L, Yang JY, Ko CJ, Gao T, Jain A, Jung SY, Baran N, Konopleva MY, Cheng X, Sun SC. DYRK1a mediates BAFF-induced noncanonical NF-kB activation to promote autoimmunity and B cell leukemogenesis. Blood 138(23):2360-2371, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34255829.
- Saito K, Zhang Q, Yang H, Yamatani K, Ai T, Ruvolo V, Baran N, Cai T, Ma H, Jacamo R, Kuruvilla V, Imoto J, Kinjo S, Ikeo K, Moriya K, Suzuki K, Miida T, Kim YM, Vellano CP, Andreeff M, Marszalek JR, Tabe Y, Konopleva M. Exogenous mitochondrial transfer and endogenous mitochondrial fission facilitate AML resistance to OxPhos inhibition. Blood Adv 5(20):4233-4255, 2021. PMID: 34507353.
- George B, Kantarjian H, Baran N, Krocker JD, Rios A. TP53 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Molecular Aspects and Patterns of Mutation. Int J Mol Sci 22(19), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34639121.
- Kerbauy LN, Marin ND, Kaplan M, Banerjee PP, Berrien-Elliott MM, Becker-Hapak M, Basar R, Foster M, Garcia Melo L, Neal CC, McClain E, Daher M, Nunez Cortes AK, Desai S, Inng Lim FW, Mendt MC, Schappe T, Li L, Shaim H, Shanley M, Ensley EL, Uprety N, Wong P, Liu E, Ang SO, Cai R, Nandivada V, Mohanty V, Miao Q, Shen Y, Baran N, Fowlkes NW, Chen K, Muniz-Feliciano L, Champlin RE, Nieto YL, Koch J, Treder M, Fischer W, Okamoto OK, Shpall EJ, Fehniger TA, Rezvani K. Combining AFM13, a Bispecific CD30/CD16 Antibody, with Cytokine-Activated Blood and Cord Blood-Derived NK Cells Facilitates CAR-like Responses Against CD30+ Malignancies. Clin Cancer Res 27(13):3744-3756, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33986022.
- Herbrich S, Baran N, Cai T, Weng C, Aitken MJL, Post SM, Henderson J, Shi C, Richard-Carpentier G, Sauvageau G, Baggerly K, Al-Atrash G, Davis RE, Daver N, Zha D, Konopleva M. Overexpression of CD200 is a Stem Cell-Specific Mechanism of Immune Evasion in AML. J Immunother Cancer 9(7), 2021. PMID: 34326171.
- Stuani L, Sabatier M, Saland E, Cognet G, Poupin N, Bosc C, Castelli FA, Gales L, Turtoi E, Montersino C, Farge T, Boet E, Broin N, Larrue C, Baran N, Cissé MY, Conti M, Loric S, Kaoma T, Hucteau A, Zavoriti A, Sahal A, Mouchel PL, Gotanègre M, Cassan C, Fernando L, Wang F, Hosseini M, Chu-Van E, Le Cam L, Carroll M, Selak MA, Vey N, Castellano R, Fenaille F, Turtoi A, Cazals G, Bories P, Gibon Y, Nicolay B, Ronseaux S, Marszalek JR, Takahashi K, DiNardo CD, Konopleva M, Pancaldi V, Collette Y, Bellvert F, Jourdan F, Linares LK, Récher C, Portais JC, Sarry JE. Mitochondrial metabolism supports resistance to IDH mutant inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia. J Exp Med 218(5), 2021. PMID: 33760042.
- Daher M, Basar R, Gokdemir E, Baran N, Uprety N, Nunez Cortes AK, Mendt M, Kerbauy LN, Banerjee PP, Shanley M, Imahashi N, Li L, Lim FLWI, Fathi M, Rezvan A, Mohanty V, Shen Y, Shaim H, Lu J, Ozcan G, Ensley E, Kaplan M, Nandivada V, Bdiwi M, Acharya S, Xi Y, Wan X, Mak D, Liu E, Jiang XR, Ang S, Muniz-Feliciano L, Li Y, Wang J, Kordasti S, Petrov N, Varadarajan N, Marin D, Brunetti L, Skinner RJ, Lyu S, Silva L, Turk R, Schubert MS, Rettig GR, McNeill MS, Kurgan G, Behlke MA, Li H, Fowlkes NW, Chen K, Konopleva M, Champlin RE, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. Targeting a cytokine checkpoint enhances the fitness of armored cord blood CAR-NK cells. Blood 137(5):624-636, 2021. PMID: 32902645.
- Mendt M, Daher M, Basar R, Shanley M, Kumar B, Wei Inng FL, Acharya S, Shaim H, Fowlkes N, Tran JP, Gokdemir E, Uprety N, Nunez-Cortes AK, Ensley E, Mai T, Kerbauy LN, Melo-Garcia L, Lin P, Shen Y, Mohanty V, Lu J, Li S, Nandivada V, Wang J, Banerjee P, Reyes-Silva F, Liu E, Ang S, Gilbert A, Li Y, Wan X, Gu J, Zhao M, Baran N, Muniz-Feliciano L, Wilson J, Kaur I, Gagea M, Konopleva M, Marin D, Tang G, Chen K, Champlin R, Rezvani K, Shpall EJ. Metabolic Reprogramming of GMP Grade Cord Tissue Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Enhances Their Suppressive Potential in GVHD. Front Immunol 12:631353, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34017325.
- Polak A, Bialopiotrowicz E, Krzymieniewska B, Wozniak J, Stojak M, Cybulska M, Kaniuga E, Mikula M, Jablonska E, Gorniak P, Noyszewska-Kania M, Szydlowski M, Piechna K, Piwocka K, Bugajski L, Lech-Maranda E, Barankiewicz J, Kolkowska-Lesniak A, Patkowska E, Glodkowska-Mrowka E, Baran N, Juszczynski P. SYK inhibition targets acute myeloid leukemia stem cells by blocking their oxidative metabolism. Cell Death Dis 11(11):956, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33159047.
- Panina SB, Pei J, Baran N, Konopleva M, Kirienko NV. Utilizing Synergistic Potential of Mitochondria-Targeting Drugs for Leukemia Therapy. Front Oncol 10:435, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32318340.
- Rytelewski M, Harutyunyan K, Baran N, Mallampati S, Zal MA, Cavazos A, Butler JM, Konoplev S, El Khatib M, Plunkett S, Marszalek JR, Andreeff M, Zal T, Konopleva M. Inhibition of Oxidative Phosphorylation Reverses Bone Marrow Hypoxia Visualized in Imageable Syngeneic B-ALL Mouse Model. Front Oncol 10:991, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32695673.
- Khan S, Zhang X, Lv D, Zhang Q, He Y, Zhang P, Liu X, Thummuri D, Yuan Y, Wiegand JS, Pei J, Zhang W, Sharma A, McCurdy CR, Kuruvilla VM, Baran N, Ferrando AA, Kim YM, Rogojina A, Houghton PJ, Huang G, Hromas R, Konopleva M, Zheng G, Zhou D. A selective BCL-XL PROTAC degrader achieves safe and potent antitumor activity. Nat Med 25(12):1938-1947, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31792461.
- Zacharias NM, Baran N, Shanmugavelandy SS, Lee J, Lujan JV, Dutta P, Millward SW, Cai T, Wood CG, Piwnica-Worms D, Konopleva M, Bhattacharya PK. Assessing Metabolic Intervention with a Glutaminase Inhibitor in Real-Time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Mol Cancer Ther 18(11):1937-1946, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31387889.
- Panina SB, Baran N, Brasil da Costa FH, Konopleva M, Kirienko NV. A mechanism for increased sensitivity of acute myeloid leukemia to mitotoxic drugs. Cell Death Dis 10(8):617, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31409768.
- Piya S, Mu H, Bhattacharya S, Lorenzi PL, Davis RE, McQueen T, Ruvolo V, Baran N, Wang Z, Qian Y, Crews CM, Konopleva M, Ishizawa J, You MJ, Kantarjian H, Andreeff M, Borthakur G. BETP degradation simultaneously targets acute myelogenous leukemia stem cells and the microenvironment. J Clin Invest 129(5):1878-1894, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30829648.
- Baran N, Konopleva M. Molecular Pathways: Hypoxia-Activated Prodrugs in Cancer Therapy. Clin Cancer Res 23(10):2382-2390, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28137923.
- Matre P, Velez J, Jacamo R, Qi Y, Su X, Cai T, Chan SM, Lodi A, Sweeney SR, Ma H, Davis RE, Baran N, Haferlach T, Su X, Flores ER, Gonzalez D, Konoplev S, Samudio I, DiNardo C, Majeti R, Schimmer AD, Li W, Wang T, Tiziani S, Konopleva M. Inhibiting glutaminase in acute myeloid leukemia: metabolic dependency of selected AML subtypes. Oncotarget 7(48):79722-79735, 2016. PMID: 27806325.
- Hoang VT, Buss EC, Wang W, Hoffmann I, Raffel S, Zepeda-Moreno A, Baran N, Wuchter P, Eckstein V, Trumpp A, Jauch A, Ho AD, Lutz C. The rarity of ALDH(+) cells is the key to separation of normal versus leukemia stem cells by ALDH activity in AML patients. Int J Cancer 137(3):525-36, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25545165.
- Baran N, ter Braak M, Saffrich R, Woelfle J, Schmitz U. Novel activating mutation of human calcium-sensing receptor in a family with autosomal dominant hypocalcaemia. Mol Cell Endocrinol 407:18-25, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25766501.
- Stiehl T, Baran N, Ho AD, Marciniak-Czochra A. Cell division patterns in acute myeloid leukemia stem-like cells determine clinical course: a model to predict patient survival. Cancer Res 75(6):940-9, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25614516.
- Stiehl T, Baran N, Ho AD, Marciniak-Czochra A. Clonal selection and therapy resistance in acute leukaemias: mathematical modelling explains different proliferation patterns at diagnosis and relapse. J R Soc Interface 11(94):20140079, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24621818.
- Hanke M, Hoffmann I, Christophis C, Schubert M, Hoang VT, Zepeda-Moreno A, Baran N, Eckstein V, Wuchter P, Rosenhahn A, Ho AD. Differences between healthy hematopoietic progenitors and leukemia cells with respect to CD44 mediated rolling versus adherence behavior on hyaluronic acid coated surfaces. Biomaterials 35(5):1411-9, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24269154.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Metabolic and transcriptomic cross talk between leukemic cells and macrophages as a therapeutic target in AML |
| Funding Source: | UTMDACC Leukemia SPORE Career Enhancement Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Mechanisms of Mitochondria-Mediated Adaptive Resistance in AML |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Targeting mitochondrial complex I in acute lymphoblastic leukemia |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Inhibiting Oxidative Phosphorylation: A Novel Strategy in Leukemia |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Mechanisms of Venetoclax Resistance in AML |
| Funding Source: | Leukemia and Lymphoma Society |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Overexpression of CD200 is a Stem Cell- Specific Mechanism of Immune Evasion in AML Major Goals: These findings will indicate utility of CD200 as a novel immune checkpoint target for the development of therapeutic strategies against cancer stem cells |
| Funding Source: | IRG MD Anderson |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Metabolic and transcriptomic analysis of the cross talk between leukemic cells and NK cells to improve the cellular therapy against acute myeloid leukemia |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | IN vitro anti-leukemia Efficacy analysis of the novel TCA Cycle and mitochondrial respiration inhibitor IM156 combined with antileukemia agents in AML and T-ALL models |
| Funding Source: | ImmunoMet Therapeutics, Inc |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Anti-leukemia Efficacy analysis of the novel PDH/α-KGDH inhibitor CPI-613 combined with Azacitidine and Venetoclax in AML models |
| Funding Source: | Rafael Pharmaceuticals |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |