Niki M. Zacharias Millward, PhD
Department of Urology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Niki M. Zacharias Millward
Rewiring of cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer. Metabolism fuels cellular growth and proliferation and is downstream of genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes. Our lab wants to understand the metabolic changes that drive cancer progression, how these changes create therapeutic vulnerabilities, and how metabolic imaging can be used to monitor therapeutic response. The Department of Urology at MD Anderson often treats patients with rare urological cancers such as penile cancer, renal medullary carcinoma, chromophobe renal cell cancer, and fumarate-hydratase deficient renal cell carcinoma. Our lab has generated some of the only patient-derived xenograft (PDX) animal models of these rare cancers which provides a powerful tool for understanding these subtypes and developing new, targeted therapeutic modalities for their treatment. Our discoveries in these models can be further complemented and validated using our deep bank of patient tissues. My goal is to create an integrated platform that generates animal models of rare urological cancers from patient tissue, carries out molecular analysis of these models to inform new therapeutic development, cross-validates these observations with banked patient tissues, and uses the resulting data to develop new clinical trials.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Urology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Associate Member, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2004 | California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, US, Chemistry, Ph.D |
| 1997 | Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, US, Chemistry, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2010-2012 | Research Fellowship, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California |
| 2008-2008 | Research Fellowship, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Urology - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2017 - 2024
Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Systems Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2017
James G. Boswell Fellow, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Huntington Medical Research Institutes and California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2010 - 2012
Other Professional Positions
Associate Member, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, 2012 - Present
Scientist II, Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Pasadena, CA, 2004 - 2007
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Grant Reviewer, Independent Research Grant (IRG), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2025 - 2026
Committee Member, Institutional Biosafety Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2025 - Present
Member, Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2025 - 2025
Department of Urology Senator, Faculty Senate, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2024 - 2025
Grant Reviewer, Independent Research Grant (IRG), University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - 2021
Editorial Activities
Cancer Imaging and Image-directed Interventions, Frontiers in Oncology, 2023 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2016 | Best Poster (CPRIT Award), Gulf Coast Consortium Bioscience Research Collaborative Summer Undergraduate Poster Symposium |
| 2011 | Best Poster and Presentation Award in MRI Probes including Hyperpolarization II Session at World Molecular Imaging Congress |
| 2011 | International Society of Magnetic Resonance Annual Research Conference Student Stipend Award |
| 2010 | In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Gordon Research Conference Student Stipend Award |
| 2000 - 2001 | NIH Training Grant in Bioorganic Chemistry |
| 1999 | Caltech Award for Excellence in Teaching |
| 1997 | Faculty Achievement Award College of Science at Texas A&M |
| 1997 | Phi Beta Kappa |
| 1994 - 1995 | Texas A&M University Honor Scholarship |
| 1993 - 1997 | Dean's List at Texas A&M University |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2022. Targeting Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Rare Renal Cell Carcinoma Patient-Derived Xenograft Models. Conference. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2019. Monitoring Cancer Metabolism using Magnetic Resonance. Conference. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2016. In Vivo and In Vitro Metabolism in Acute Myeloid Leukemia after Treatment with Glutaminase Inhibitor CB839. Conference. Universiy of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2015. Metabolic Profiling to Differentiate Aggressive versus Indolent Prostate Cancer. Conference. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2014. Metabolic Profiling of Cancer: In Vitro and In Vivo Assays. Conference. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2012. Comparative metabolic fingerprinting employing hyperpolarized diethyl succinate in three different cancers. Conference. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2025. Differential Efficacy of Panitumumab in Preclinical Models of Renal Cell Carcinoma. Poster. 14th Metabolism in Cancer Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Targeting the EGFR Pathway in Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinomas. Invited. University of Texas 2nd Annual Christopher G. Wood Advances in Urological Oncology Symposium. Austin, Texas, US.
- 2023. Development and Preclinical Testing of Patient-Derived Xenograft Renal Medullary Carcinoma and Fumarate Hydratase-Deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma Animal Models. Conference. Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Galveston, TX, US.
- 2023. Clinical Translation to Basic Research in Renal Cell Carcinoma. Conference. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Austin, TX, US.
- 2018. Assessing Metabolic Intervention in Acute Myeloid Leukemia with a Glutaminase Inhibitor in Real-Time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance. Poster. Metabolism in Cancer Symposium, TX, US.
- 2018. Determining Metabolism using Magnetic Resonance Ex Vivo and In Vivo. Invited. Metabolism in Cancer Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
National Presentations
- 2022. Metabolic hallmarks of rare renal cell carcinoma patient-derived xenograft models. Invited. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2021. Targeting neddylation in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy for the treatment of renal medullary carcinoma. Conference. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference. Virtual Conference Poster, US.
- 2020. Prolyl hydroxylase 3 knockdown accelerates VHL-mutant kidney cancer growth in vivo. Conference. Society of Basic Urological Research. Virtual Conference Poster, US.
- 2018. Invited Attendee. Invited. Sensing the Future: The Future of Sensing Workshop, US.
- 2015. Role of glutamine in metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming in AML (poster). Conference. American Society of Hematology, US.
- 2010. Imaging tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism in vivo by hyperpolarized 13C succinate. Invited. In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Gordon Research Conference, US.
- 2010. Towards in vivo metabolic imaging of brain employing PHIP hyperpolarized 13C diethyl succinate. Conference. In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Gordon Research Conference, US.
- 2005. hERG mutant panel for lead optimization of compounds with hERG liability. Conference. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, US.
- 2000. Disulfide crosslinking in the alpha and gamma subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Conference. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, US.
International Presentations
- 2025. RCC PDX Models at MD Anderson Cancer Center: A Legacy Story. Invited. Kidney Cancer Association RCC Animal Modeling Workshop. Dallas, US.
- 2025. Tissue Factor Expression In Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Poster. American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, US.
- 2025. Impact of Aurora Kinase Pathway Inhibition in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patient-Derived Xenograft Models. Poster. American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, US.
- 2024. Differential Efficacy of Panitumumab in Preclinical Models of Renal Medullary Carcinoma and Fumarate Hydratase-Deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma. Poster. International Kidney Cancer Symposium: North America. Louisville, US.
- 2023. Therapeutic Targets in Preclinical Urologic Cancer Models. Invited. Experimental Biology 4th International Conference. Houston, US.
- 2022. PET/MR Imaging of a Lung Metastasis Model of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma with (2S,4R)-4-[18F]Fluoroglutamine. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC). Miami, US.
- 2020. Prolyl hydroxylase 3 knockdown accelerates VHL-mutant kidney cancer growth in vivo. Conference. International Kidney Cancer Symposium (IKCS) North America. Virtual Conference Poster and Presentation, US.
- 2020. Glutamine Imaging for the Detection of Renal Cell Carcinoma Lung Metastases. Conference. World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC). Virtual Conference Poster, US.
- 2019. Assessing Metabolic Intervention with a Glutaminase Inhibitor in Real-time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC). Montreal, CA.
- 2018. Androgen receptor signaling in castration-resistant prostate patient derived xenograft animal models alters real-time hyperpolarized pyruvate to lactate conversion in vivo. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC). Seattle, US.
- 2016. Using metabolism to differentiate aggressive versus indolent prostate cancer for diagnosis and treatment. Invited. International Cancer Study and Therapy Confernece. Baltimore, US.
- 2016. In Vivo and In Vitro Metabolism in Acute Myeloid Leukemia after Treatment with Glutaminase Inhibitor CB839. Invited. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, US.
- 2013. Towards Real-time Metabolic and Molecular Imaging of Cancer by Three Different Modalities of Polarization. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, US.
- 2013. Chemical Reaction Induced Simultaneous Polarization of Multiple Magnetic Resonance Imaging Agents,. Conference. Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC). Boston, US.
- 2013. Metabolic Tissue Biomarker for Ovarian Cancer Determined by High Field NMR Spectroscopy. Conference. Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC). Boston, US.
- 2013. Metabolic Analysis of ARHI-induced Autophagy by 1H-NMR. Conference. Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC). Boston, US.
- 2013. Hyperpolarized Silicon Nanoparticles Functionalized with Thioaptamers – Towards in vivo MRI Targeting of Ovarian Cancer. Conference. Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC). Boston, US.
- 2013. Towards the Implementation of Hyperpolarized, Functionalized Silicon Nanoparticles as In Vivo Colorectal Molecular Imaging Agents. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, US.
- 2012. Imaging TCA Cycle Metabolism in a Rat Brain by Hyperpolarization. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting, AU.
- 2012. Comparative Metabolic Fingerprinting Employing Hyperpolarized Diethylsuccinate in Two Cancer Models In Vivo. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Melbourne, AU.
- 2011. Imaging Oncogene Expression Using Hyperpolarized Succinic Acid. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting, CA.
- 2011. In vivo imaging and metabolism of hyperpolarized 13C diethyl succinate in mice. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Montreal, CA.
- 2011. Interrogating Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle: A Comparative Study by Hyperpolarized Succinic Acid and its Diethylester. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting, CA.
- 2011. Hyperpolarized Oncology: Real time Molecular and Metabolic Imaging of Cancer In Vivo. Conference. World Molecular Imaging Congress. San Diego, US.
- 2010. Imaging TCA cycle metabolism by PHIP hyperpolarization of 13C succinate in vivo. Conference. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting, SE.
Formal Peers
- 2013. Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 for In Vivo Imaging. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2025 - 2026 |
| Title: | Interrogating the role of TRIP13 in sarcomatoid chromophobe renal cell carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Kidney Cancer Association |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Trailblazer Award |
| Date: | 2025 - 2027 |
| Title: | Determining Expression of Cell Surface Proteins in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Evaluation of Antibody Drug Conjugates in Patient-Derived Xenograft Models |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Urology |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | Characterizing Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Based on HPV Status |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | RA230419 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | Evaluating the response of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma to novel targeted metabolic therapies |
| Funding Source: | Kidney Cancer Association |
| Role: | Mentor |
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | Determining Cell Cycle Vulnerabilities in HPV+ and HPV- Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2023 - 2024 |
| Title: | Leveraging Patient-Derived Xenograft Models to Identify and Therapeutically Target Metabolic Hallmarks of Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Kidney Cancer Association |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2023 - 2027 |
| Title: | Targeting Distinct Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Aggressive Renal Cell Carcinoma Variants |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | RP230271 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2024 |
| Title: | Evolution of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Inhibitors for Renal Cell Carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | DOD/Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (DOD/CDMRP) |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | KC210213 |
| Date: | 2021 - 2024 |
| Title: | Targeting Resistance Mechanisms in SMARCB1-Deficient Tumors |
| Funding Source: | DOD/Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (DOD/CDMRP) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | KC200096P |
| Date: | 2021 - 2024 |
| Title: | Targeted Hyperpolarized Molecular Beacons for Colorectal Cancer Detection |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIBIB |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | R21EB031217 |
| Date: | 2020 - 2020 |
| Title: | GMaP Region 3 Research Completion Awards |
| Funding Source: | University of New Mexico |
| Role: | Research Advisor |
| Date: | 2020 - 2022 |
| Title: | UPR/MDACC Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Research Advisor |
| Date: | 2019 - 2024 |
| Title: | UPR/MDACC Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | U54 |
| Date: | 2019 - 2022 |
| Title: | Metabolic Inhibition of Kidney Cancer |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Institutional Research Grant |
| Date: | 2019 - 2020 |
| Title: | Glutamine Imaging for the Detection of Renal Cell Carcinoma Lung Metastases |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Co-PI |
| ID: | CABI Pilot Project Program |
| Date: | 2019 - 2021 |
| Title: | Molecular Targeted Magnetic Resonance Reporter for Cancer Detection |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | RP180164 |
| Date: | 2016 - 2016 |
| Title: | Development of Targeted Theranostic Nanoparticles for the Imaging and Treatment of Breast Cancer |
| Funding Source: | UT MD Anderson, Center for Radiation Oncology |
| Role: | Co-PI |
| Date: | 2015 - 2017 |
| Title: | Functional Imaging and Prostate Cancer |
| Funding Source: | MDACC Philanthropy - Prostate Moonshot |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2015 - 2017 |
| Title: | NCI Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 1R21CA181994-01A1 |
| Date: | 2015 - 2017 |
| Title: | Non-Invasive Colonscopy by Molecular Imaging of Mucin Targeted Hyperpolarized Silicon Nanoparticles |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2015 - 2016 |
| Title: | Intrinsic and microenvironment-modulated glutamine dependence in AML: Biology and therapeutic targeting with glutaminase inhibitors |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2014 - 2015 |
| Title: | Determining and Correlating the Metabolic Profile of Melanoma Cell Lines with iNOS Expression |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2014 - 2015 |
| Title: | Glioblastoma Moonshot |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Moonshot |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2014 - 2015 |
| Title: | Anti-leukemia efficacy of the novel glutaminase inhibitor CB-839 |
| Funding Source: | Calithera Biosciences, Inc |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2014 - 2016 |
| Title: | Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer In Vivo by Molecular Imaging of Lactose-functionalized |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2013 - 2016 |
| Title: | Determining Aggressiveness of Prostate Cancer Using In Vivo Hyperpolarized Metabolic Imaging |
| Funding Source: | Institutional Research Grant UT MD Anderson |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2013 - Present |
| Title: | Colleen's Dream Foundation - Gift |
| Funding Source: | Colleen's Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2013 - 2014 |
| Title: | Imaging Cell Death |
| Funding Source: | UT MD Anderson Moonshot Knowledge Gap |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2013 - 2014 |
| Title: | High Definition Non-invasive MR Colonoscopy by Hyperpolarized Silicon Nanoparticles |
| Funding Source: | UT MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2012 - 2013 |
| Title: | Personalized X-aptamer-nanoparticle therapeutics for ovarian or melanoma cancers and a novel detection mechanism |
| Funding Source: | CCTS MRP Proposal UTMDACC and UT Health |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2012 - 2016 |
| Title: | Early detection, characterization, and monitoring efficacy of chemotherapy in prostate cancer using hyperpolarized metabolic imaging agents |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | PC110065 |
| Date: | 2010 - 2012 |
| Title: | In Vivo PHIP Imaging of plaques in Alzheimer’s disease |
| Funding Source: | James G. Boswell Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2006 - 2007 |
| Title: | Cell-Based Technology for Protein-Protein Interactions |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIMH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | SBIR 1R43MH079828-01A1 |
| Date: | 2006 - 2007 |
| Title: | hERG MAP-A rational approach to eliminate ion channel related cardiotoxicity |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHLBI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | SBIR 1R43HL083652-01 |
| Date: | 2006 - 2007 |
| Title: | Novel assay to identify non-ATP competitive protein kinase inhibitors |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIMH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | SBIR 1R43CA128150-01 |
| Date: | 2005 - 2007 |
| Title: | Compounds Targeting the Alpha-2 GABA-A Receptor Subtype |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIMH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | SBIR 1R43MH072074-01A1 |
| Title: | Real-time Metabolic Imaging of Leukemia By Hyperpolarization |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Jackson, J, Johns, AC, Campos Clemente, L, Manuel, C, Qiao, W, Lu, W, Khan, KB, Solis Soto, LM, Chahoud, J, Rao, P, Campbell, M, Pettaway, CA, Zacharias, NM. Tissue Factor Expression in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancers 17(21), 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Zacharias, NM, Ozambela, M, Karki, M, He, R, Chauhan, PK, Pesquera, P, Hernandez Gonzalez, AE, Ochoa, O, Pieretti, AC, Chen, H, de la Cerda, C, Yu, Z, Grover, A, Hicks-Peňa, S, Fowlkes, NW, Wang, L, Maity, T, Rao, P, Genovese, G, Tannir, NM, Karam, JA, Msaouel, P. Differential Efficacy of Bevacizumab and Erlotinib in Preclinical Models of Renal Medullary Carcinoma and Fumarate Hydratase–Deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma. Molecular cancer therapeutics 24(11):1722-1732, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40601845.
- Jackson, J, Sanchez, D, Joon, A, Estecio, MR, Johns, AC, Shah, AY, Campbell, M, Ward, JF, Pisters, LL, Guo, CC, Zhang, M, Zacharias, NM, Tu, S. Bilateral Germ Cell Tumor of the Testis. Cells 14(9), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40358182.
- Grimm, SL, Karki, M, Blum, KA, Bertocchio, JP, He, R, Tripathi, DN, Zacharias, NM, Lebenthal, J, Sheth, RA, Rao, P, Genovese, G, Lu, Z, Bast Jr, RC, Ingram, D, Segura Lazcano, R, Wani, K, Wang, W, Lazar, A, Tannir, NM, Walker, CL, Coarfa, C, Msaouel, P. CA-125 as a Biomarker in Renal Medullary Carcinoma. Clinical Cancer Research 31(6):1057-1068, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39836407.
- Mustasam, A, Parza, K, Ionescu, F, Gullapalli, K, Paravathaneni, M, Kim, YC, Sandstrom, R, Assaad, MA, Grass, GD, Johnstone, PA, Eschrich, S, Safa, H, Chadha, J, Souza, GR, David, J, Semaan, A, Zacharias, NM, Pettaway, CA, Giuliano, AR, Spiess, PE, Chahoud, J. The Prognostic Role of HPV or p16INK4a Status in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma. JNCCN Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 23(2), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39752880.
- Jammihal T, Saliby RM, Labaki C, Soulati H, Gallegos J, Peris A, McCurry D, Yu C, Shah V, Poduval D, El Zarif T, El Ahmar N, Laimon YN, Eid M, Sheshdeh AB, Krajewski KM, Buttner FA, Schwab M, Heng D, Casellas RC, Rai K, Zacharias Millward NM, Msaouel P, Karam J, Signoretti S, Van Allen E, Choueiri TK, Braun DA, Shukla SA. Immunogenomic determinants of exceptional response to immune checkpoint inhibition in renal cell carcinoma. Nat Cancer 6(2):372-384, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39789182.
- Jackson, J, Sanchez, D, Johns, AC, Campbell, M, Aydin, AM, Gokden, N, Maraboyina, S, Muesse, JL, Ward, JF, Pisters, LL, Millward, NZ, Guo, C, Tu, S. Germ Cell Tumor of the Testis. Journal of Clinical Medicine 13(12), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38929965.
- Rose KM, Pham R, Zacharias NM, Ionescu F, Paravathaneni M, Marchetti KA, Sanchez D, Mustasam A, Sandstrom R, Vikram R, Dhillon J, Rao P, Schneider A, Pagliaro L, Alifrangis C, Albersen M, Roussel E, Master VA, Nazha B, Hernandez C, Moses KA, Protzel C, Montgomery J, Angel M, Tobias-Machado M, Spiess PE, Pettaway CA, Chahoud J. Neoadjuvant Platinum-Based chemotherapy and lymphadenectomy for penile cancer: an international, Multi-Institutional, Real-World study. J Natl Cancer Inst 116(6):966-973, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38366627.
- Zacharias NM, Segarra L, Akagi K, Fowlkes NW, Chen H, Alaniz A, de la Cerda C, Pesquera P, Xi Y, Wang J, Chahoud J, Lu X, Rao P, Martinez-Ferrer M, Pettaway CA. Transcriptomic, Proteomic, and Genomic Mutational Fraction Differences Based on HPV Status Observed in Patient-Derived Xenograft Models of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 16(5), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38473423.
- Ionescu F, Nguyen J, Segura CM, Paravathaneni M, Grass GD, Johnstone P, Zacharias NM, Pettaway CA, Lu X, Kim Y, Whiting J, Dhillon J, Eschrich SA, Chadha J, Gullapalli K, Roman Souza G, Miyagi H, Manley BJ, Spiess PE, Chahoud J. Multiplex Immunofluorescence Captures Progressive Immune Exhaustion with Advancing Penile Squamous Cell Cancer Stage. Cancers (Basel) 16(2), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38275860.
- Soeung M, Perelli L, Chen Z, Dondossola E, Ho IL, Carbone F, Zhang L, Khan H, Le CN, Zhu C, Peoples MD, Feng N, Jiang S, Zacharias NM, Minelli R, Shapiro DD, Deem AK, Gao S, Cheng EH, Lucchetti D, Walker CL, Carugo A, Giuliani V, Heffernan TP, Viale A, Tannir NM, Draetta GF, Msaouel P, Genovese G. SMARCB1 regulates the hypoxic stress response in sickle cell trait. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 120(21):e2209639120, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37186844.
- Shapiro DD, Zacharias NM, Tripathi DN, Karki M, Bertocchio JP, Soeung M, He R, Westerman ME, Gao J, Rao P, Lam TNA, Jonasch E, Perelli L, Cheng EH, Carugo A, Heffernan TP, Walker CL, Genovese G, Tannir NM, Karam JA, Msaouel P. Neddylation inhibition sensitises renal medullary carcinoma tumours to platinum chemotherapy. Clin Transl Med 13(5):e1267, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37226898.
- Chahoud J, Zacharias NM, Pham R, Qiao W, Guo M, Lu X, Alaniz A, Segarra L, Martinez-Ferrer M, Gleber-Netto FO, Pickering CR, Rao P, Pettaway CA. Prognostic Significance of p16 and Its Relationship with Human Papillomavirus Status in Patients with Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Results of 5 Years Follow-Up. Cancers (Basel) 14(24), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36551510.
- Pollard AC, Paolillo V, Radaram B, Qureshy S, Li L, Maity T, Wang L, Uddin MN, Wood CG, Karam JA, Pagel MD, Piwnica-Worms D, Millward SW, Fowlkes NW, Norton W, Engel BJ, Pisaneschi F, Zacharias NM. PET/MR Imaging of a Lung Metastasis Model of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma with (2S,4R)-4-[18F]Fluoroglutamine. Mol Imaging Biol 24(6):959-972, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35732988.
- Pieretti AC, Ozambela M, Westerman ME, Nogueras-Gonzalez GM, Segarra LA, Zacharias NM, Vaporciyan A, Hofstetter W, Huynh T, Aldousari S, Matin SF, Karam JA. Predictors of Survival in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Renal Cell Carcinoma and Inferior Vena Cava Tumor Thrombus. Clin Genitourin Cancer 20(4):e330-e338, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35279419.
- Grindel BJ, Engel BJ, Ong JN, Srinivasamani A, Liang X, Zacharias NM, Bast RC, Curran MA, Takahashi TT, Roberts RW, Millward SW. Directed Evolution of PD-L1-Targeted Affibodies by mRNA Display. ACS Chem Biol 17(6):1543-1555, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35611948.
- McCowan CV, Salmon D, Hu J, Pudakalakatti S, Whiting N, Davis JS, Carson DD, Zacharias NM, Bhattacharya PK, Farach-Carson MC. Post-Acquisition Hyperpolarized 29Silicon Magnetic Resonance Image Processing for Visualization of Colorectal Lesions Using a User-Friendly Graphical Interface. Diagnostics (Basel) 12(3), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35328163.
- Tu SM, Guo CC, Chow DS, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Implications for Drug Resistance and Chemosensitivity in Cancer Care. Cancers (Basel) 14(6), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35326699.
- Pudakalakatti S, Titus M, Enriquez JS, Ramachandran S, Zacharias NM, Shureiqi I, Liu Y, Yao JC, Zuo X, Bhattacharya PK. Identifying the Metabolic Signatures of PPARD-Overexpressing Gastric Tumors. Int J Mol Sci 23(3), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35163565.
- Tu SM, Estecio MR, Lin SH, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Rude Awakening or Bad Dream from Cancer Dormancy?. Cancers (Basel) 14(3), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35158923.
- Pieretti AC, Westerman ME, Childs A, Millward N, Shapiro DD, Sircar K, Rao P, Jonasch E, Campbell MT, Tannir NM, Matin SF, Wood CG, Karam JA. Sarcomatoid features and lymph node-positive disease in chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. Urol Oncol 39(11):790.e17-790.e23, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34301458.
- Salzillo TC, Mawoneke V, Weygand J, Shetty A, Gumin J, Zacharias NM, Gammon ST, Piwnica-Worms D, Fuller GN, Logothetis CJ, Lang FF, Bhattacharya PK. Measuring the Metabolic Evolution of Glioblastoma throughout Tumor Development, Regression, and Recurrence with Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance. Cells 10(10), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34685601.
- Rao Y, Gammon ST, Sutton MN, Zacharias NM, Bhattacharya P, Piwnica-Worms D. Excess Exogenous Pyruvate Inhibits Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity in Live Cells in a MCT1-Dependent Manner. J Biol Chem 297(1):100775, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34022218.
- Zacharias NM, Wang L, Maity T, Li L, Millward SW, Karam JA, Wood CG, Navai N. Prolyl Hydroxylase 3 Knockdown Accelerates VHL-Mutant Kidney Cancer Growth In Vivo. Int J Mol Sci 22(6), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33799686.
- Grindel BJ, Engel BJ, Hall CG, Kelderhouse LE, Lucci A, Zacharias NM, Takahashi TT, Millward SW. Mammalian Expression and In Situ Biotinylation of Extracellular Protein Targets for Directed Evolution. ACS Omega 5(39):25440-25455, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33043224.
- Rao Y, Gammon S, Zacharias NM, Liu T, Salzillo T, Xi Y, Wang J, Bhattacharya P, Piwnica-Worms D. Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate-to-[1-13C]lactate conversion is rate-limited by monocarboxylate transporter-1 in the plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117(36):22378-22389, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32839325.
- Dutta P, Pando SC, Mascaro M, Riquelme E, Zoltan M, Zacharias NM, Gammon ST, Piwnica-Worms D, Pagel MD, Sen S, Maitra A, Shams S, McAllister F, Bhattacharya PK. Early Detection of Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasias (PanINs) in Transgenic Mouse Model by Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Int J Mol Sci 21(10), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32466260.
- Zacharias NM, Baran N, Shanmugavelandy SS, Lee J, Velez Lujan J, 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. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31387889.
- Yang H, Shu Z, Jiang Y, Mao W, Pang L, Redwood A, Jeter-Jones SL, Jennings NB, Ornelas A, Zhou J, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Bartholomeusz G, Iles LR, Zacharias NM, Millward SW, Lopez-Berestein G, Le XF, Ahmed AA, Piwnica-Worms H, Sood AK, Bast RC, Lu Z. 6-Phosphofructo-2-Kinase/Fructose-2,6-Biphosphatase-2 Regulates TP53-Dependent Paclitaxel Sensitivity in Ovarian and Breast Cancers. Clin Cancer Res. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31391192.
- Dutta P, Perez MR, Lee J, Kang Y, Pratt M, Salzillo TC, Weygand J, Zacharias NM, Gammon ST, Koay EJ, Kim M, McAllister F, Sen S, Maitra A, Piwnica-Worms D, Fleming JB, Bhattacharya PK. Combining Hyperpolarized Real-Time Metabolic Imaging and NMR Spectroscopy To Identify Metabolic Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer. J Proteome Res 18(7):2826-2834, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31120258.
- Zacharias NM, Ornelas A, Lee J, Hu J, Davis JS, Uddin N, Pudakalakatti S, Menter DG, Karam JA, Wood CG, Hawk ET, Kopetz S, Vilar E, Bhattacharya PK, Millward SW. Real-Time Interrogation of Aspirin Reactivity, Biochemistry, and Biodistribution by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 58(13):4179-4183, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30680862.
- Zacharias N, Lee J, Ramachandran S, Shanmugavelandy S, McHenry J, Dutta P, Millward S, Gammon S, Efstathiou E, Troncoso P, Frigo DE, Piwnica-Worms D, Logothetis CJ, Maity SN, Titus MA, Bhattacharya P. Androgen Receptor Signaling in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Alters Hyperpolarized Pyruvate to Lactate Conversion and Lactate Levels In Vivo. Mol Imaging Biol 21(1):86-94, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 29748904.
- Seo H, Choi I, Whiting N, Hu J, Luu QS, Pudakalakatti S, McCowan C, Kim Y, Zacharias N, Lee S, Bhattacharya P, Lee Y. Hyperpolarized Porous Silicon Nanoparticles: Potential Theragnostic Material for 29 Si Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Chemphyschem 19(17):2143-2147, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29779258.
- Hövener JB, Pravdivtsev AN, Kidd B, Bowers CR, Glöggler S, Kovtunov KV, Plaumann M, Katz-Brull R, Buckenmaier K, Jerschow A, Reineri F, Theis T, Shchepin RV, Wagner S, Bhattacharya P, Zacharias NM, Chekmenev EY. Parahydrogen-based Hyperpolarization for Biomedicine. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 57(35):11140-11162, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29484795.
- Zacharias NM, McCullough C, Shanmugavelandy S, Lee J, Lee Y, Dutta P, McHenry J, Nguyen L, Norton W, Jones LW, Bhattacharya PK. Metabolic Differences in Glutamine Utilization Lead to Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Prostate Cancer. Sci Rep 7(1):16159, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29170516.
- Ornelas A, Zacharias-Millward N, Menter DG, Davis JS, Lichtenberger L, Hawke D, Hawk E, Vilar E, Bhattacharya P, Millward S. Beyond COX-1: the effects of aspirin on platelet biology and potential mechanisms of chemoprevention. Cancer Metastasis Rev 36(2):289-303, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28762014.
- Ornelas A, McCullough CR, Lu Z, Zacharias NM, Kelderhouse LE, Gray J, Yang H, Engel BJ, Wang Y, Mao W, Sutton MN, Bhattacharya PK, Bast RC, Millward SW. Induction of autophagy by ARHI (DIRAS3) alters fundamental metabolic pathways in ovarian cancer models. BMC Cancer 16(1):824, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27784287.
- Whiting N, Hu J, Zacharias NM, Lokesh GL, Volk DE, Menter DG, Rupaimoole R, Previs R, Sood AK, Bhattacharya P. Developing hyperpolarized silicon particles for in vivo MRI targeting of ovarian cancer. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 3(3):036001, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27547777.
- Zand B, Previs RA, Zacharias NM, Rupaimoole R, Mitamura T, Nagaraja AS, Guindani M, Dalton HJ, Yang L, Baddour J, Achreja A, Hu W, Pecot CV, Ivan C, Wu SY, McCullough CR, Gharpure KM, Shoshan E, Pradeep S, Mangala LS, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Wang Y, Nick AM, Davies MA, Armaiz-Pena G, Liu J, Lutgendorf SK, Baggerly KA, Eli MB, Lopez-Berestein G, Nagrath D, Bhattacharya PK, Sood AK. Role of Increased n-acetylaspartate Levels in Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 108(6), 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26819345.
- Benito J, Ramirez MS, Millward NZ, Velez J, Harutyunyan KG, Lu H, Shi YX, Matre P, Jacamo R, Ma H, Konoplev S, McQueen T, Volgin A, Protopopova M, Mu H, Lee J, Bhattacharya PK, Marszalek JR, Davis RE, Bankson JA, Cortes JE, Hart CP, Andreeff M, Konopleva M. Hypoxia-activated prodrug TH-302 targets hypoxic bone marrow niches in pre-clinical leukemia models. Clin Cancer Res 22(7):1687-98, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26603259.
- Jeong, G, Lee, J, Gong, G, Ko, H, Choi, I, Seo H, Lee, Y, Zacharias Millward N, Bhattacharya, P. Bio-interfacial magnetic resonance imaging of hyperpolarized contrast agents for metabolic flux interrogation in vivo. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 36:224. e-Pub 2016.
- Zacharias, McCullough CR, Wagner S, Sailasuta N, Chan HR, Lee Y, Hu J, Perman WH, Henneberg C, Ross BD, Bhattacharya P. Towards Real-Time Metabolic Profiling of Cancer with Hyperpolarized Succinate. Journal of Molecular Imaging & Dynamics. e-Pub 2016.
- Rupaimoole R, Lee J, Haemmerle M, Ling H, Previs RA, Pradeep S, Wu SY, Ivan C, Ferracin M, Dennison JB, Millward NM, Nagaraja AS, Gharpure KM, McGuire M, Sam N, Armaiz-Pena GN, Sadaoui NC, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Calin GA, Drapkin RI, Kovacs J, Mills GB, Zhang W, Lopez-Berestein G, Bhattacharya PK, Sood AK. Long Noncoding RNA Ceruloplasmin Promotes Cancer Growth by Altering Glycolysis. Cell Rep 13(11):2395-402, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26686630.
- Whiting N, Hu J, Shah JV, Cassidy MC, Cressman E, Millward NZ, Menter DG, Marcus CM, Bhattacharya PK. Real-Time MRI-Guided Catheter Tracking Using Hyperpolarized Silicon Particles. Sci Rep 5:12842, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26239953.
- Zacharias NM, Lee, Y, Piwnica-Worms, D, Bhattacharya, PK. Chemical Reaction-Induced Multi-molecular Polarization (CRIMP). Chemical Communication 50:13030-13033, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25224323.
- Zacharias NM, Chan HR, Sailasuta N, Ross BD, Bhattacharya P. Real-time molecular imaging of tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism in vivo by hyperpolarized 1-(13)C diethyl succinate. J Am Chem Soc 134(2):934-43, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22146049.
- Bhattacharya P, Chekmenev EY, Reynolds WF, Wagner S, Zacharias N, Chan HR, Bünger R, Ross BD. Parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) hyperpolarized MR receptor imaging in vivo: a pilot study of 13C imaging of atheroma in mice. NMR Biomed 24(8):1023-8, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21538638.
- Eastwood AL, Blum AP, Zacharias NM, Dougherty DA. A selenide-based approach to photochemical cleavage of peptide and protein backbones at engineered backbone esters. J Org Chem 74(23):9241-4, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19902952.
- Petersson EJ, Brandt GS, Zacharias NM, Dougherty DA, Lester HA. Caging proteins through unnatural amino acid mutagenesis. Methods Enzymol 360:258-73, 2003. e-Pub 2003. PMID: 12622154.
- Beene DL, Brandt GS, Zhong W, Zacharias NM, Lester HA, Dougherty DA. Cation-pi interactions in ligand recognition by serotonergic (5-HT3A) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: the anomalous binding properties of nicotine. Biochemistry 41(32):10262-9, 2002. e-Pub 2002. PMID: 12162741.
- Li, L, Zhong, Z, Zacharias, N, Gibbs, Lester C, HA, Dougherty, DA. The tethered agonist approach to mapping ion channel proteins - towards a structural model for the agonist binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Chemistry and Biology 8:47-58, 2001. e-Pub 2001. PMID: 11182318.
- Bekele H, Nesloney CL, McWilliams KW, Zacharias NM, Chitnumsub P, Kelly JW. Improved Synthesis of the Boc and Fmoc Derivatives of 4-(2'-Aminoethyl)-6-dibenzofuranpropionic Acid: An Unnatural Amino Acid That Nucleates beta-Sheet Folding. J Org Chem 62(7):2259-2262, 1997. e-Pub 1997. PMID: 11671538.
Invited Articles
- Salzillo TC, Hu J, Nguyen L, Whiting N, Lee J, Weygand J, Dutta P, Pudakalakatti S, Millward NZ, Gammon ST, Lang FF, Heimberger AB, Bhattacharya PK. Interrogating Metabolism in Brain Cancer. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am 24(4):687-703, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27742110.
- Suto MJ, Zacharias N. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as drug targets. Expert Opin Ther Targets, 2004. e-Pub 2004.
Review Articles
- Parza K, Mustasam A, Ionescu F, Paravathaneni M, Sandstrom R, Safa H, Grass GD, Johnstone PA, Eschrich SA, Chadha J, Zacharias N, Pettaway CA, Spiess PE, Chahoud J. The Prognostic Role of Human Papillomavirus and p16 Status in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma-A Systematic Review. Cancers (Basel) 15(14), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37509374.
- Tu SM, Moran C, Norton W, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Origin of Metastasis and Sub-clonality. Semin Diagn Pathol 40(1):63-68, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 35729019.
- Pudakalakatti S, Enriquez JS, McCowan C, Ramezani S, Davis JS, Zacharias NM, Bourgeois D, Constantinou PE, Harrington DA, Carson D, Farach-Carson MC, Bhattacharya PK. Hyperpolarized MRI with silicon micro and nanoparticles: Principles and applications. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 13(6):e1722, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33982426.
- Enriquez JS, Chu Y, Pudakalakatti S, Hsieh KL, Salmon D, Dutta P, Millward NZ, Lurie E, Millward S, McAllister F, Maitra A, Sen S, Killary A, Zhang J, Jiang X, Bhattacharya PK, Shams S. Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance and Artificial Intelligence: Frontiers of Imaging in Pancreatic Cancer. JMIR Med Inform 9(6):e26601, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34137725.
- Dutta P, Salzillo TC, Pudakalakatti S, Gammon ST, Kaipparettu BA, McAllister F, Wagner S, Frigo DE, Logothetis CJ, Zacharias NM, Bhattacharya PK. Assessing Therapeutic Efficacy in Real-time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Metabolic Imaging. Cells 8(4), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30978984.
- Zacharias N, Dougherty DA. Cation-pi interactions in ligand recognition and catalysis. Trends Pharmacol Sci 23(6):281-7, 2002. e-Pub 2002. PMID: 12084634.
Book Chapters
- Bennett PB, Zacharias N, Nicholas JB, Sahba SD, Kulkarni A, Nowak M. Unnatural Amino Acids as Probes of Ion Channel Structure - Function and Pharmacology. In: Expression and Analysis of Recombinant Ion Channels: From structural Studies to Pharmacological Screening. Wiley Publishing, 2006.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified January 12, 2026