Yuan Pan
Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine
About Yuan Pan
Dr. Yuan Pan’s research program lies at the intersection of neuroscience and cancer biology. She trained with Drs. David Gutmann and Michelle Monje in cancer neuroscience, neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), and glial biology. Her recent work has revealed that neuronal activity synchronizes with germline Nf1 (a tumor suppressor) mutation to drive the initiation and maintenance of optic pathway glioma (Pan et al., Nature, 2021). This contribution to the emerging field of cancer neuroscience has opened exciting new avenues for developing treatment strategies for patients with cancer.
In 2022, Dr. Pan established an independent research program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and quickly secured research funding for her group. The Pan Lab is focused on understanding the interactions between neurons, cancer cells, and chemotherapy. These efforts aim to shed light on the pathogenesis of several types of nervous system cancers and to provide potential strategies for predicting, treating, and preventing these cancers and improving patient quality of life.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Neuro-Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | University of Iowa, Iowa City, PHD, Biochemistry |
| 2010 | Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong, CHN, BS, Life Science |
Postgraduate Training
| 2018-2020 | Research Fellowship, Cancer Neuroscience, Stanford University, Stanford, CA |
| 2015-2017 | Research Fellowship, Cancer Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO |
Experience & Service
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Research Scientist, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2020 - 2022
Honors & Awards
| 2022 | CPRIT Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members Award |
| 2022 | UT Rising STARS Award |
| 2021 | Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Young Investigator Award |
| 2021 | Society for Neuro-Oncology 2021 Pediatric Basic Science Award |
| 2019 | Department of Defense NF Research Program Early Investigator Award, Department of Defense |
| 2018 | Ian’s Friends Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship |
| 2016 | McDonnell Center for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Postdoc Fellowship |
| 2014 | Graduate & Professional Student Government Grant, University of Iowa |
| 2012 | Lois Bigger Gehring Award for the Best Presentation |
| 2011 | Midwest Eye Research Symposium Outstanding Oral Presentation |
| 2010 | First Honor Graduate, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
| 2009 | Lee Hysan Foundation Scholarship, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
| 2007 | Dean's List, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Pan Y, Hu J. Hormonal basis of brain fog in cancer treatment. J Exp Med 221(5), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38597926.
- Pan Y, Hysinger JD, Yalçin B, Lennon JJ, Byun YG, Raghavan P, Schindler NF, Anastasaki C, Chatterjee J, Ni L, Xu H, Malacon K, Jahan SM, Ivec AE, Aghoghovwia BE, Mount CW, Nagaraja S, Scheaffer S, Attardi LD, Gutmann DH, Monje M. Nf1 mutation disrupts activity-dependent oligodendroglial plasticity and motor learning in mice. Nat Neurosci. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38816530.
- Amit M, Anastasaki C, Dantzer R, Demir IE, Deneen B, Dixon KO, Egeblad M, Gibson EM, Hervey-Jumper SL, Hondermarck H, Magnon C, Monje M, Na'ara S, Pan Y, Repasky EA, Scheff NN, Sloan EK, Talbot S, Tracey KJ, Trotman LC, Valiente M, Van Aelst L, Venkataramani V, Venkatesh HS, Vermeer PD, Winkler F, Wong RJ, Gutmann DH, Borniger JC. Next directions in the neuroscience of cancers rrising outside the CNS. Cancer Discov 14(4):669-673, 2024. PMID: 38571430.
- Irshad K, Huang YK, Rodriguez P, Lo J, Aghoghovwia BE, Pan Y, Chang KC. The neuroimmune regulation and potential therapeutic strategies of optic pathway glioma. Brain Sci 13(10), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37891793.
- Pan Y, Monje M. Neuron-glial interactions in health and brain cancer. Adv Biol (Weinh) 6(9):e2200122, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35957525.
- Anastasaki C, Mo J, Chen JK, Chatterjee J, Pan Y, Scheaffer SM, Cobb O, Monje M, Le LQ, Gutmann DH. Neuronal hyperexcitability drives central and peripheral nervous system tumor progression in models of neurofibromatosis-1. Nat Commun 13(1):2785, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35589737.
- Pan Y, Hysinger JD, Barron T, Schindler NF, Cobb O, Guo X, Yalçin B, Anastasaki C, Mulinyawe SB, Ponnuswami A, Scheaffer S, Ma Y, Chang KC, Xia X, Toonen JA, Lennon JJ, Gibson EM, Huguenard JR, Liau LM, Goldberg JL, Monje M, Gutmann DH. NF1 mutation drives neuronal activity-dependent initiation of optic glioma. Nature 594(7862):277-282, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34040258.
- Guo X, Pan Y, Xiong M, Sanapala S, Anastasaki C, Cobb O, Dahiya S, Gutmann DH. Midkine activation of CD8+ T cells establishes a neuron-immune-cancer axis responsible for low-grade glioma growth. Nat Commun 11(1):2177, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32358581.
- Pan Y, Monje M. Activity shapes neural circuit form and function: a historical perspective. J Neurosci 40(5):944-954, 2020. PMID: 31996470.
- Guo X, Pan Y, Gutmann DH. Genetic and genomic alterations differentially dictate low-grade glioma growth through cancer stem cell-specific chemokine recruitment of T cells and microglia. Neuro Oncol 21(10):1250-1262, 2019. PMID: 31111915.
- Durón C, Pan Y, Gutmann DH, Hardin J, Radunskaya A. Variability of betweenness centrality and its effect on identifying essential genes. Bull Math Biol 81(9):3655-3673, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30350013.
- Pan Y, Xiong M, Chen R, Ma Y, Corman C, Maricos M, Kindler U, Semtner M, Chen YH, Dahiya S, Gutmann DH. Athymic mice reveal a requirement for T-cell-microglia interactions in establishing a microenvironment supportive of Nf1 low-grade glioma growth. Genes Dev 32(7-8):491-496, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29632086.
- Pan Y, Duron C, Bush EC, Ma Y, Sims PA, Gutmann DH, Radunskaya A, Hardin J. Graph complexity analysis identifies an ETV5 tumor-specific network in human and murine low-grade glioma. PLoS One 13(5):e0190001, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29787563.
- Pan Y, Bush EC, Toonen JA, Ma Y, Solga AC, Sims PA, Gutmann DH. Whole tumor RNA-sequencing and deconvolution reveal a clinically-prognostic PTEN/PI3K-regulated glioma transcriptional signature. Oncotarget 8(32):52474-52487, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28881745.
- Solga AC, Toonen JA, Pan Y, Cimino PJ, Ma Y, Castillon GA, Gianino SM, Ellisman MH, Lee DY, Gutmann DH. The cell of origin dictates the temporal course of neurofibromatosis-1 (Nf1) low-grade glioma formation. Oncotarget 8(29):47206-47215, 2017. PMID: 28525381.
- Chen R, Pan Y, Gutmann DH. The power of the few. Genes Dev 31(12):1177-1179, 2017. PMID: 28765159.
- Pan Y, Smithson LJ, Ma Y, Hambardzumyan D, Gutmann DH. CCL5 establishes an autocrine high-grade glioma growth regulatory circuit critical for mesenchymal glioblastoma survival. Oncotarget 8(20):32977-32989, 2017. PMID: 28380429.
- Walter C, Crawford L, Lai M, Toonen JA, Pan Y, Sakiyama-Elbert S, Gutmann DH, Pathak A. Increased tissue stiffness in tumors from mice with neurofibromatosis-1 optic glioma. Biophys J 112(8):1535-1538, 2017. PMID: 28445745.
- Ricker CA, Pan Y, Gutmann DH, Keller C. Challenges in drug discovery for neurofibromatosis type 1-associated low-grade glioma. Front Oncol 6:259, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 28066715.
- Laird JG, Pan Y, Modestou M, Yamaguchi DM, Song H, Sokolov M, Baker SA. Identification of a VxP targeting signal in the flagellar Na+ /K+ -ATPase. Traffic 16(12):1239-53, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26373354.
- Pan Y, Laird JG, Yamaguchi DM, Baker SA. An N-terminal ER export signal facilitates the plasma membrane targeting of HCN1 channels in photoreceptors. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56(6):3514-21, 2015. PMID: 26030105.
Book Chapters
- Irshad K, Brossier N, Pan Y. Neuronal activity in brain tumor pathogenesis: adding to the complexities of central nervous system neoplasia. In: Cancer Neuroscience. Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 3-25, 2023.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified June 06, 2024