Research Summary

I am a physician-scientist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and an attending physician in the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Clinic at UCSF. Our lab is interested in multiple areas of cancer biology and translational oncology. Our current research projects include developing novel CAR T and radioimmunotherapies for prostate and bladder cancers (including identifying new therapeutic targets using transcriptomic and proteomic approaches), and understanding resistance mechanisms to antibody-drug conjugates and other surface-protein targeting modalities. In addition, we are interested in the role of CDK12 in regulating transcription and replication, and identifying new therapeutic approaches to treat this aggressive subtype of disease. I completed my postdoctoral research fellowship with Drs. Felix Feng and Alan Ashworth and my clinical training with Drs. Eric Small, Terence Friedlander and Chuck Ryan. I completed my PhD dissertation in the Biomedical Sciences program at UCSF with the late Dr. Zena Werb, and studied transcriptional regulation of metastasis and the tumor microenvironment.

Research Funding

  • August 1, 2025 - July 30, 2029 - Strategies to upregulate and image NECTIN4 to enhance NECTIN4 Targeted Therapies in bladder cancer , . Sponsor: DOD Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program, Sponsor Award ID: CA240972
  • July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2028 - Defining and exploiting the cancer surfaceome landscape for novel therapeutics , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: Clinical Investigator Award
  • September 15, 2022 - September 15, 2027 - Defining the roles of PPARgamma and TGFbeta in regulating NECTIN4 and resistance to NECTIN4-targeting therapies , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: K08CA273514
  • January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2024 - Discovering Precision Oncology Approaches for CDK12-Deficient Prostate Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Prostate Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: 20YOUN06
  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2024 - Understanding the Role of CDK12 and Identifying Immunotherapy and Synthetic Lethal Targeting Strategies , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Department of Defense, Sponsor Award ID: W81XWH2010136
  • - - The Role of Precision Therapy in the Treatment of CDK12 Altered Metastatic Prostate Cancer , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: Prostate Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: PCF 2020 Bristol-Myers Squibb-PCF

Education

  • Stanford University, B.S. with Honors, 06/2006 Biology, minor in Chemistry
  • University of California, San Francisco, Ph.D., 05/2012, Biomedical Sciences
  • University of California, San Francisco, M.D., 05/2014, Medicine
  • University of California, San Francisco, Resident, 06/2016, Internal Medicine
  • University of California, San Francisco, Fellow, 06/2019, Hematology/Medical Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • Young Investigator Award, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), 2023
  • UCSF Prostate Pilot Award, UCSF Prostate Cancer Program, 2023
  • Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 2020
  • Physician Research Award, Department of Defense, Prostate Cancer Research Program, 2019
  • A.P. Giannini Postdoctoral Fellow, A.P. Giannini Foundation, 2018
  • Rosenberg Fellowship in Genitourinary Oncology, UCSF, Division of Hematology/Oncology, 2018
  • Clinical Fellow Award, UCSF, Division of Hematology/Oncology, 2017
  • Quinlan Fellowship in Genitourinary Oncology, UCSF, Division of Hematology/Oncology, 2017
  • T32 Fellow in Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cancer, UCSF, Helen Diller Cancer Center, 2017
  • Invited Mini-Symposium Speaker - Cancer Cell Biology, American Society of Cell Biology Annual Meeting - SF, 2013
  • Pre-doctoral Fellowship, Department of Defense, Breast Cancer Research Program, 2010
  • Pre-doctoral Fellowship, California Breast Cancer Research Program, 2009
  • Dean's Award for Academic Accomplishment, Stanford University, 2006
  • Firestone Medal for Undergraduate Thesis, Stanford University, 2006
  • Goldwater Scholar, Goldwater Foundation, 2003

Selected Publications

  1. Chang K, Delavan HM, Yip E, Kasap C, Zhu J, Lodha R, Liao SY, Berman SC, Carretero-Gonzalez A, Basar M, Gokturk Ozcan G, Teo MY, Solit DB, Rosenberg JE, Al-Ahmadie H, Ding CCK, Chan E, Steri V, Porten SP, Koshkin VS, Friedlander TW, Feng FY, Lee JK, Wiita AP, Chu CE, Chou J Modulating the PPAR? pathway upregulates NECTIN4 and enhances chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in bladder cancer.  View on PubMed
  2. Yang H, Song H, Yip E, Gilpatrick T, Chang K, Allegakoen P, Lu KL, Hui K, Pham JH, Kasap C, Kumar V, Gayle J, Stohr BA, Cornelia Ding CK, Wiita AP, Meng MV, Chou J, Porten SP, Huang FW. Bladder cancer variants share aggressive features including a CA125+ cell state and targetable TM4SF1 expression. Nat Commun. 2025 Jun 17; 16(1):5312.  View on PubMed
  3. Tien JC, Zhai Y, Wu R, Zhang Y, Chang Y, Cheng Y, Todd AJ, Wheeler CE, Li S, Mannan R, Cheng C, Magnuson B, Cruz G, Cao Y, Mahapatra S, Stolfi C, Cao X, Su F, Wang R, Yang J, Zhou L, Qiao Y, Xiao L, Cieslik M, Wang X, Wang Z, Chou J, Fearon ER, Ding K, Cho KR, Chinnaiyan AM. Defining CDK12 as a tumor suppressor and therapeutic target in mouse models of tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jun 17; 122(24):e2426909122.  View on PubMed
  4. Li H, Melnyk JE, Fu BXH, Shrestha R, Zhang M, Sjöström M, Feng S, Anderson JA, Han W, Chesner LN, Shin HJ, Farsh T, Suarez HJ, Nath S, Chou J, Das R, Egusa EA, Zhu J, Winters A, Maheshwari A, Hua JT, Alshalalfa M, Chen WS, Calvert M, Davicioni E, Kishishita A, Barpanda A, Liu T, Wiita AP, Stohr BA, Siddiqui J, Huang B, Small EJ, Shokat KM, Nelson P, Quigley DA, Wasmuth EV, Gilbert LA, Feng FY. Genome-wide CRISPR screens identify PTGES3 as a novel AR modulator. bioRxiv. 2025 May 31.  View on PubMed
  5. Li H, Younger NS, Malik B, Shin HJ, Zhang C, Niknafs Y, Zhao SG, Wilder-Romans K, Pitchiaya S, Han S, Barnard T, Lloyd P, Zhang M, Chesner LN, Calvert M, Egusa EA, Zhu J, Chou J, Das R, Kothari V, Shenoy T, Diolaiti ME, Malik R, Prensner JR, Burlingame A, Ashworth A, Chinnaiyan AM, Feng F, Li H. Identification and Characterization of PLUTO-201, a Novel Long Non-Coding RNA Associated with Poor Outcomes in Prostate Cancer. bioRxiv. 2025 May 24.  View on PubMed
  6. Bidkar AP, Peter R, Wadhwa A, Bobba KN, Bidlingmaier S, Meher N, Chou J, Greenland N, Dasari C, Naik S, Raveendran A, Basak M, Camara Serrano JA, Steri V, Kogan S, Oskowitz A, He J, Wilson DM, Aggarwal R, Sriram R, VanBrocklin HF, Seo Y, Liu B, Flavell RR. Effective Treatment of Disseminated Prostate Cancer Using CD46-Targeted 225Ac Therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Feb 13.  View on PubMed
  7. Meher N, Bidkar AP, Wadhwa A, Bobba KN, Dhrona S, Dasari C, Mu C, Fong COY, Cámara JA, Ali U, Basak M, Bulkley D, Steri V, Fontaine SD, Zhu J, Oskowitz A, Aggarwal RR, Sriram R, Chou J, Wilson DM, Seo Y, Santi DV, Ashley GW, VanBrocklin HF, Flavell RR. PET Imaging Using 89Zr-Labeled StarPEG Nanocarriers Reveals Heterogeneous Enhanced Permeability and Retention in Prostate Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther. 2025 Jan 02; 24(1):141-151.  View on PubMed
  8. Chou J, Robinson TM, Egusa EA, Lodha R, Zhang M, Badura M, Mikayelyan M, Delavan HM, Swinderman J, Wilson C, Zhu J, Das R, Nguyen M, Loehr A, Golsorkhi T, Simmons A, Abida W, Chinnaiyan AM, Arkin MR, Small EJ, Quigley DA, Yang L, Kim M, Ashworth A, Feng FY. Synthetic Lethal Targeting of CDK12-Deficient Prostate Cancer with PARP Inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Dec 02; 30(23):5445-5458.  View on PubMed
  9. Yang Y, Badura ML, O'Leary PC, Delavan HM, Robinson TM, Egusa EA, Zhong X, Swinderman JT, Li H, Zhang M, Kim M, Ashworth A, Feng FY, Chou J, Yang L. Transcription and DNA replication collisions lead to large tandem duplications and expose targetable therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer. Nat Cancer. 2024 Dec; 5(12):1885-1901.  View on PubMed
  10. Kwon DH, Trihy L, Darvish N, Hearst E, Sumra S, Borno HT, Bose R, Chou J, de Kouchkovsky I, Desai A, Ekstrand B, Friedlander T, Kaur G, Koshkin VS, Nesheiwat S, Sepucha K, Small EJ, Aggarwal RR, Belkora J. Patients Can Administer Mobile Audio Recordings to Increase Knowledge in Advanced Prostate Cancer. Cancer Med. 2024 Nov; 13(22):e70433.  View on PubMed
  11. Tien JC, Luo J, Chang Y, Zhang Y, Cheng Y, Wang X, Yang J, Mannan R, Mahapatra S, Shah P, Wang XM, Todd AJ, Eyunni S, Cheng C, Rebernick RJ, Xiao L, Bao Y, Neiswender J, Brough R, Pettitt SJ, Cao X, Miner SJ, Zhou L, Wu YM, Labanca E, Wang Y, Parolia A, Cieslik M, Robinson DR, Wang Z, Feng FY, Chou J, Lord CJ, Ding K, Chinnaiyan AM. CDK12 loss drives prostate cancer progression, transcription-replication conflicts, and synthetic lethality with paralog CDK13. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Oct 15; 5(10):101758.  View on PubMed
  12. Zhu X, Chan E, Turski ML, Mendez CE, Hsu SC, Kumar V, Shipp C, Jindal T, Chang K, Onodera C, Devine WP, Grenert JP, Stohr BA, Ding CC, Stachler MD, Quigley DA, Feng FY, Chu CE, Porten SP, Chou J, Friedlander TW, Koshkin VS. HER2 overexpression in urothelial carcinoma with GATA3 and PPARG copy number gains. Oncologist. 2024 Aug 05; 29(8):e1094-e1097.  View on PubMed
  13. Nguyen CB, Reimers MA, Perera C, Abida W, Chou J, Feng FY, Antonarakis ES, McKay RR, Pachynski RK, Zhang J, Reichert ZR, Palmbos PL, Caram MEV, Vaishampayan UN, Heath EI, Hopkins AC, Cieslik MP, Wu YM, Robinson DR, Baladandayuthapani V, Chinnaiyan AM, Alva AS. Evaluating Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancers with Deleterious CDK12 Alterations in the Phase 2 IMPACT Trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Aug 01; 30(15):3200-3210.  View on PubMed
  14. Tien JC, Chang Y, Zhang Y, Chou J, Cheng Y, Wang X, Yang J, Mannan R, Shah P, Wang XM, Todd AJ, Eyunni S, Cheng C, Rebernick RJ, Xiao L, Bao Y, Neiswender J, Brough R, Pettitt SJ, Cao X, Miner SJ, Zhou L, Wu YM, Labanca E, Wang Y, Parolia A, Cieslik M, Robinson DR, Wang Z, Feng FY, Lord CJ, Ding K, Chinnaiyan AM. CDK12 Loss Promotes Prostate Cancer Development While Exposing Vulnerabilities to Paralog-Based Synthetic Lethality. bioRxiv. 2024 Mar 21.  View on PubMed
  15. Koshkin VS, Kumar V, Kline B, Escobar D, Aslam M, Cooperberg MR, Aggarwal RR, de Kouchkovsky I, Chou J, Meng MV, Friedlander T, Porten S, Hope TA. Initial Experience with 68Ga-FAP-2286 PET Imaging in Patients with Urothelial Cancer. J Nucl Med. 2024 02 01; 65(2):199-205.  View on PubMed
  16. Bobba KN, Bidkar AP, Wadhwa A, Meher N, Drona S, Sorlin AM, Bidlingmaier S, Zhang L, Wilson DM, Chan E, Greenland NY, Aggarwal R, VanBrocklin HF, He J, Chou J, Seo Y, Liu B, Flavell RR. Development of CD46 targeted alpha theranostics in prostate cancer using 134Ce/225Ac-Macropa-PEG4-YS5. Theranostics. 2024; 14(4):1344-1360.  View on PubMed
  17. Yang Y, Badura ML, O'Leary PC, Delavan HM, Robinson TM, Egusa EA, Zhong X, Swinderman JT, Li H, Zhang M, Kim M, Ashworth A, Feng FY, Chou J, Yang L. Large tandem duplications in cancer result from transcription and DNA replication collisions. medRxiv. 2024 Jan 10.  View on PubMed
  18. Shipp C, Jindal T, Chou J, Friedlander TW, Koshkin VS, Kumar V. Central Nervous System Disease Progression Among Patients With Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma Treated With Enfortumab Vedotin: A Case Series. Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2024 04; 22(2):315-321.  View on PubMed
  19. Aggarwal R, Starzinski S, de Kouchkovsky I, Koshkin V, Bose R, Chou J, Desai A, Kwon D, Kaushal S, Trihy L, Rastogi M, Ippisch R, Aslam M, Friedlander T, Feng F, Oh D, Cheung A, Small E, Evans M, Fong L, Hope TA. Single-dose 177Lu-PSMA-617 followed by maintenance pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: an open-label, dose-expansion, phase 1 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2023 11; 24(11):1266-1276.  View on PubMed
  20. Lundberg A, Zhang M, Aggarwal R, Li H, Zhang L, Foye A, Sjöström M, Chou J, Chang K, Moreno-Rodriguez T, Shrestha R, Baskin A, Zhu X, Weinstein AS, Younger N, Alumkal JJ, Beer TM, Chi KN, Evans CP, Gleave M, Lara PN, Reiter RE, Rettig MB, Witte ON, Wyatt AW, Feng FY, Small EJ, Quigley DA. The Genomic and Epigenomic Landscape of Double-Negative Metastatic Prostate Cancer. Cancer Res. 2023 08 15; 83(16):2763-2774.  View on PubMed

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