Jennifer Carew

Professor - Tucson

Biography

Jennifer Carew conducted her PhD dissertation research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which was focused on the therapeutic implications of mitochondrial defects in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She subsequently completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she investigated novel strategies to overcome drug resistance in hematological malignancies. Dr. Carew holds multiple patents and has received prestigious awards from the American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Voelcker Foundation and others in recognition of her work. She is currently the Co-Director of the Hematological Malignancies Disease Team at the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Cancer Focus

I am a translational researcher with the major goals of identifying novel selective therapeutic targets for patients with hematological malignancies and developing new strategies to overcome drug resistance. Our lab has extensive expertise using mechanistic approaches to investigate the safety, efficacy and pharmacodynamics of experimental anticancer agents in the preclinical setting. We also work closely with key clinical collaborators to translate our lab-based studies into investigator-initiated early phase clinical trials. Our team is currently focused on targeting essential regulators of protein turnover and epigenetic stability in addition to our drug discovery efforts.

Selected Publications

Carew, J. S., C. M. Espitia, W. Zhao, Y. Han, V. Visconte, J. Phillips, and S. T. Nawrocki, "Disruption of Autophagic Degradation with ROC-325 Antagonizes Renal Cell Carcinoma Pathogenesis.", Clin Cancer Res, vol. 23, issue 11, pp. 2869-2879, 2017 Jun 01. PMCID: PMC5593077  PMID: 27881580

Visconte, V., B. Przychodzen, Y. Han, S. T. Nawrocki, S. Thota, K. R. Kelly, B. J. Patel, C. Hirsch, A. S. Advani, H. E. Carraway, et al., "Complete mutational spectrum of the autophagy interactome: a novel class of tumor suppressor genes in myeloid neoplasms.", Leukemia, vol. 31, issue 2, pp. 505-510, 2017 02. PMCID: PMC5844476  PMID: 27773925

Visconte, V., S. T. Nawrocki, C. M. Espitia, K. R. Kelly, A. Possemato, S. A. Beausoleil, Y. Han, H. E. Carraway, A. Nazha, A. S. Advani, et al., "Comprehensive quantitative proteomic profiling of the pharmacodynamic changes induced by MLN4924 in acute myeloid leukemia cells establishes rationale for its combination with azacitidine.", Leukemia, vol. 30, issue 5, pp. 1190-4, 2016 05. PMCID: PMC4792796  PMID: 26369982

Nawrocki, S. T., K. R. Kelly, P. G. Smith, M. Keaton, H. Carraway, M. A. Sekeres, J. P. Maciejewski, and J. S. Carew, "The NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor MLN4924 disrupts nucleotide metabolism and augments the efficacy of cytarabine.", Clin Cancer Res, vol. 21, issue 2, pp. 439-47, 2015 Jan 15. PMCID: PMC4297545  PMID: 25388161

Mahalingam, D., M. Mita, J. Sarantopoulos, L. Wood, R. K. Amaravadi, L. E. Davis, A. C. Mita, T. J. Curiel, C. M. Espitia, S. T. Nawrocki, et al., "Combined autophagy and HDAC inhibition: a phase I safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic analysis of hydroxychloroquine in combination with the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat in patients with advanced solid tumors.", Autophagy, vol. 10, issue 8, pp. 1403-14, 2014 Aug. PMCID: PMC4203517  PMID: 24991835

520-626-2272
Research Interests: 
Cancer Biology and Cancer Prevention
Drug discovery
Molecular medicine
Pharmacology
Precision medicine