Ryan Denu, MD, PhD
Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2020 | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, US, MD |
| 2018 | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, US, Cell & Molecular Biology, PhD |
| 2012 | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, US, Molecular Biology, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2023-2026 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2022-2025 | Postgraduate Fellow, Hematology/Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2020-2022 | Internal Medicine Resident, Internal Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2023 | American Board of Internal Medicine |
| 2022 | Texas Medical License |
Honors & Awards
| 2025 - Present | Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Clinical/Translational Research |
| 2025 - Present | Humanitas Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 - Present | Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2024 - Present | Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2023 | Clifton D. Howe Award, MD Anderson |
| 2020 | Charles Russell Bardeen, Founding Dean, Fourth Year Student Award, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2019 | STAT Wunderkind, STAT News |
| 2019 | Alpha Omega Alpha |
| 2018 | Honorable Mention for Publication of the Year Award, Radiation Oncology Institute |
| 2018 | Best Oral Presentation, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2018 | Most Cited Paper, Acta Haematologica |
| 2018 | Thesis of the Year Finalist, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2016 | Cancer Close Up Contest Winner, National Cancer Institute |
| 2016 | Norman Fost Ethics Essay Contest Winner, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2016 | Best Poster Award, International Chemical Biology Society Annual Meeting |
| 2014 | Molly and Louis Hinshaw Medical Student Scholarship, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2013 | Travel Award, ASCI/AAP Joint Meeting |
| 2012 | Dean’s Prize, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2012 | Trainee Research Award, American Society of Hematology |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Ginn MP, Denu RA, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Harrison DJ, Nakazawa MS, Conley AP, Patel S, Livingston JA. TFCP2 Fusion-Positive Rhabdomyosarcomas: A Report of 10 Cases and a Review of the Literature. Cancers (Basel) 17(9), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40361368.
- Giani C, Salawu A, Ljevar S, Denu RA, Napolitano A, Palmerini E, Connolly EA, Ogura K, Wong DD, Scanferla R, Rosenbaum E, Bajpai J, Li ZC, Bae S, D'Ambrosio L, Bialick S, Wagner AJ, Lee ATJ, Kosela-Paterczyk H, Baldi GG, Brunello A, Lee YC, Loong HH, Boikos S, Campos F, Cicala CM, Maki RG, Hindi N, Figura C, Almohsen SS, Patel S, Jones RL, Ibrahim T, Karim R, Kawai A, Carey-Smith R, Boyle R, Taverna SM, Lazar AJ, Demicco EG, Bovee JVMG, Dei Tos AP, Fletcher C, Baumhoer D, Sbaraglia M, Schaefer IM, Miceli R, Gronchi A, Stacchiotti S. International Multicenter Retrospective Study From the Ultra-rare Sarcoma Working Group on Low-grade Fibromyxoid Sarcoma, Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma, and Hybrid Forms: Outcome of Primary Localized Disease. Am J Surg Pathol 49(1):27-34, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39466087.
- Denu RA, Quintana-Perez CD, Wangsiricharoen S, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Ratan R, Roland CL, You YN. DNA Mismatch Repair Deficiency as a Biomarker in Sarcoma. Surg Oncol Insight 1(4), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 40190387.
- Denu RA, Somaiah N. Imatinib in advanced GIST: if it's working, don't stop a good thing. Lancet Oncol 25(9):1105-1107, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39127065.
- Giani C, Denu RA, Ljevar S, Gronchi A, Napolitano A, Rosenbaum E, Salawu A, Bajpai J, Connolly EA, Lee ATJ, Trent JC, Kosela-Paterczyk H, Chia-Chen Li Z, Ogura K, Palmerini E, Baldi GG, Brunello A, Campos F, Cicala CM, Maki RG, Wagner AJ, Andelkovic V, Loong HH, Wong DD, Jones RL, Tap WD, Taverna SM, Lazar AJ, Demicco EG, Hong A, Bovee JVMG, Dei Tos AP, Fletcher CDM, Baumhoer D, Sbaraglia M, Schaefer IM, Miceli R, Stacchiotti S. Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma and sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma, outcome of advanced disease: retrospective study from the Ultra-Rare Sarcoma Working Group. ESMO Open 9(9):103689, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39265219.
- Denu RA, Joseph CP, Urquiola ES, Byrd PS, Yang RK, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Nassif Haddad EF, Nakazawa MS, Patel S, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N. Utility of Clinical Next Generation Sequencing Tests in KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Cancers (Basel) 16(9), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38730662.
- Denu RA, Forth V, Shafiq M. Pleural fluid characteristics of patients with COVID-19 infection. Clin Respir J 18(3):e13744, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38529671.
- Denu RA, McDermott JJ, Patel SC, Patel T, Dahr SS. Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada-Like Uveitis Secondary to Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Gastric Cancer: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. Case Rep Oncol 17(1):1071-1086, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39474530.
- Denu RA, Yang RK, Lazar AJ, Patel SS, Lewis VO, Roszik J, Livingston JA, Wang WL, Shaw KR, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Bird J, Raza S, Akdemir KC, Rodon Ahnert J, Subbiah V, Patel S, Conley AP. Clinico-Genomic Profiling of Conventional and Dedifferentiated Chondrosarcomas Reveals TP53 Mutation to Be Associated with Worse Outcomes. Clin Cancer Res 29(23):4844-4852, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37747813.
- Denu RA, Moyers JT, Gouda MA, Conley AP, Lazar AJ, Subbiah V. The Landscape of Alterations from 1407 Ultra-Rare Sarcomas from the AACR GENIE Database: Clinical Implications. Clin Cancer Res 29(22):4669-4678, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37643131.
- Denu RA, Vaidya A, Pryor KP, Mitchell RN, Solomon DH. Thinking Outside the Heart. N Engl J Med 388(17):e60, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37099344.
- Tucker JB, Bonema SC, Garcia-Varela R, Denu RA, Hu Y, McGregor SM, Burkard ME, Weaver BA. Misaligned Chromosomes are a Major Source of Chromosomal Instability in Breast Cancer. Cancer Res Commun 3(1):54-65, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36968230.
- Denu RA, Solomon DH, Mitchell RN, Sun YP, Loscalzo J. Thinking Outside the Heart. N Engl J Med 387(14):1310-1316, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36198182.
- Singh CK, Denu RA, Nihal M, Shabbir M, Garvey DR, Huang W, Iczkowski KA, Ahmad N. PLK4 is upregulated in prostate cancer and its inhibition reduces centrosome amplification and causes senescence. Prostate 82(9):957-969, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35333404.
- Olsen MR, Denu RA, Lyon JB, Gulliver JM, Capitini CM, DeSantes KB. Undifferentiated and Unresectable Sarcoma With NTRK3-Fusion in a Pediatric Patient Treated With Larotrectinib and Proton Beam Radiotherapy. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 44(3):e770-e774, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34862354.
- Klemm LC, Denu RA, Hind LE, Rocha-Gregg BL, Burkard ME, Huttenlocher A. Centriole and Golgi microtubule nucleation are dispensable for the migration of human neutrophil-like cells. Mol Biol Cell 32(17):1545-1556, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34191538.
- Matson DR, Denu RA, Zasadil LM, Burkard ME, Weaver BA, Flynn C, Stukenberg PT. High nuclear TPX2 expression correlates with TP53 mutation and poor clinical behavior in a large breast cancer cohort, but is not an independent predictor of chromosomal instability. BMC Cancer 21(1):186, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33622270.
- Singh A, Denu RA, Wolfe SK, Sperger JM, Schehr J, Witkowsky T, Esbona K, Chappell RJ, Weaver BA, Burkard ME, Lang JM. Centrosome amplification is a frequent event in circulating tumor cells from subjects with metastatic breast cancer. Mol Oncol 14(8):1898-1909, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32255253.
- Denu RA, Burkard ME. Analysis of the "centrosome-ome" identifies MCPH1 deletion as a cause of centrosome amplification in human cancer. Sci Rep 10(1):11921, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32681070.
- Denu RA, Fost N. The Number of Discarded Kidneys Is Likely Much Larger Than Reported. JAMA Intern Med 180(3):466-467, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32119043.
- Denu RA, Patel D, Becker BJ, Shiffler T, Kleinschmidt P. MRSA Septicemia With Septic Arthritis and Prostatic, Intraretinal, Periapical, and Lung Abscesses. WMJ 119(1):62-65, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32348075.
- Denu RA, Kaur G, Sass MM, Lakkaraju A, Burkard ME. Centrosome Amplification in Cancer Disrupts Autophagy and Sensitizes to Autophagy Inhibition. Mol Cancer Res 18(1):33-45, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31604847.
- Denu RA, Maloney J, Tomasallo CD, Jacobs NM, Krebsbach JK, Schmaling AL, Perez E, Bersch AJ, LeCaire TJ, Meiman JG, Malecki KM, LoConte NK. Survey of Radon Testing and Mitigation by Wisconsin Residents, Landlords, and School Districts. WMJ 118(4):169-176, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31978285.
- Denu RA, Sass MM, Johnson JM, Potts GK, Choudhary A, Coon JJ, Burkard ME. Polo-like kinase 4 maintains centriolar satellite integrity by phosphorylation of centrosomal protein 131 (CEP131). J Biol Chem 294(16):6531-6549, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30804208.
- Denu RA, Matson DR, Davis MJ, Tedford NJ, Brichta CE, Diamond CA, Hoover-Regan ML. Association of Immune Thrombocytopenia and T-Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in a Pediatric Patient. Case Rep Hematol 2019:1425151, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31929920.
- Denu RA, Shabbir M, Nihal M, Singh CK, Longley BJ, Burkard ME, Ahmad N. Centriole Overduplication is the Predominant Mechanism Leading to Centrosome Amplification in Melanoma. Mol Cancer Res 16(3):517-527, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29330283.
- Denu RA, Mendonca EA, Fost N. Potential yield of imminent death kidney donation. Am J Transplant 18(2):486-491, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 28975705.
- Rosenberg SA, Denu RA, Francis D, Hullett CR, Fisher M, Schuster JM, Bassetti MF, Kimple RJ. RTAnswers Online Patient Education Materials Deviate From Recommended Reading Levels. Appl Radiat Oncol 7(2):26-30, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 34169120.
- Denu RA, Burkard ME. Synchronous Bilateral Breast Cancer in a Patient With Nager Syndrome. Clin Breast Cancer 17(3):e151-e153, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28139434.
- Denu RA, Rosenberg SA, Howard SP. Familial Trigeminal Neuralgia Treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Case Report and Literature Review. J Radiat Oncol 6(2):149-152, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29201285.
- Denu RA. Estimates of Cancer Deaths Prevented by Raising Cigarette Taxes. JAMA Intern Med 177(5):739, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28460094.
- Denu RA. SIRT3 Enhances Mesenchymal Stem Cell Longevity and Differentiation. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2017:5841716, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28717408.
- Denu RA, Hampton JM, Currey A, Anderson RT, Cress RD, Fleming ST, Lipscomb J, Wu XC, Wilson JF, Trentham-Dietz A. Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities Are More Pronounced in Inflammatory Breast Cancer Than Other Breast Cancers. J Cancer Epidemiol 2017:7574946, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28894467.
- Denu RA, Henrich Lobo R, Mattison RJ. Management of differentiation syndrome in an elderly patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia who subsequently developed refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts. Leuk Lymphoma 57(12):2905-2907, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27073113.
- Yu W, Denu RA, Krautkramer KA, Grindle KM, Yang DT, Asimakopoulos F, Hematti P, Denu JM. Loss of SIRT3 Provides Growth Advantage for B Cell Malignancies. J Biol Chem 291(7):3268-79, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26631723.
- Denu RA, Hampton JM, Currey A, Anderson RT, Cress RD, Fleming ST, Lipscomb J, Sabatino SA, Wu XC, Wilson JF, Trentham-Dietz A. Influence of patient, physician, and hospital characteristics on the receipt of guideline-concordant care for inflammatory breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol 40:7-14, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26605428.
- Denu RA, Zasadil LM, Kanugh C, Laffin J, Weaver BA, Burkard ME. Centrosome amplification induces high grade features and is prognostic of worse outcomes in breast cancer. BMC Cancer 16:47, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26832928.
- Choudhary A, Zachek B, Lera RF, Zasadil LM, Lasek A, Denu RA, Kim H, Kanugh C, Laffin JJ, Harter JM, Wisinski KB, Saha S, Weaver BA, Burkard ME. Identification of Selective Lead Compounds for Treatment of High-Ploidy Breast Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 15(1):48-59, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26586723.
- Denu RA, Nemcek S, Bloom DD, Goodrich AD, Kim J, Mosher DF, Hematti P. Fibroblasts and Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells Are Phenotypically Indistinguishable. Acta Haematol 136(2):85-97, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27188909.
- Denu RA, Rush PS, Ahrens SE, Westergaard RP. Idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia with giant cell arteritis and pulmonary mucormycosis. Med Mycol Case Rep 6:73-5, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25473601.
- Kim J, Breunig MJ, Escalante LE, Bhatia N, Denu RA, Dollar BA, Stein AP, Hanson SE, Naderi N, Radek J, Haughy D, Bloom DD, Assadi-Porter FM, Hematti P. Biologic and immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stromal cells derived from human pancreatic islets. Cytotherapy 14(8):925-35, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22571381.
- Kim J, Denu RA, Dollar BA, Escalante LE, Kuether JP, Callander NS, Asimakopoulos F, Hematti P. Macrophages and mesenchymal stromal cells support survival and proliferation of multiple myeloma cells. Br J Haematol 158(3):336-46, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22583117.
Review Articles
- Denu RA, Dann AM, Keung EZ, Nakazawa MS, Nassif Haddad EF. The Future of Targeted Therapy for Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers (Basel) 16(5), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38473300.
- Denu RA, Hematti P. Optimization of oxidative stress for mesenchymal stromal/stem cell engraftment, function and longevity. Free Radic Biol Med 167:193-200, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33677063.
- Denu RA, Hematti P. Effects of Oxidative Stress on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Biology. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2016:2989076, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27413419.
- Asimakopoulos F, Kim J, Denu RA, Hope C, Jensen JL, Ollar SJ, Hebron E, Flanagan C, Callander N, Hematti P. Macrophages in multiple myeloma: emerging concepts and therapeutic implications. Leuk Lymphoma 54(10):2112-21, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23432691.
Book Chapters
- Denu RA, Hematti P. Sirtuins and Stem Cell Maintenance, Proliferation, and Differentiation. In: Sirtuin Biology in Medicine: Targeting New Avenues of Care in Development, Aging, and Disease, 2021.
- Denu RA. Sirtuin Signaling in Hematologic Malignancies. In: Sirtuin Biology in Cancer and Metabolic Disease.
Letters to the Editor
- Denu RA. Reported Biologic Differences in Breast Cancer by Race Due to Disparities in Screening. JAMA Oncol 4: 883, 2018.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified March 11, 2026