Research Funding

  • September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2026 - Discovering Infection-mediated Pathways of Glioma Etiology and Prognosis by Leveraging Multiplex Serology and Immunogenomics , Principle Investigator . Sponsor: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, Sponsor Award ID: 1R01CA266676
  • February 1, 2018 - January 31, 2021 - HKLE-seq: an enrichment method for unbiased amplification and next-generation sequencing of all HERV-K and SVA (HKLE) insertion breakpoints genome-wide in human DNA samples , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NIGMS, Sponsor Award ID: R15GM126562

Education

PhD, 2014 - Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley

Honors & Awards

  • 2023
    UCSF Cataylst Award - Extracellular Vesicle Research
  • 2017
    Senior Scholar Teaching/Mentorship Award, University of Nevada
  • 2016
    Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium (BTEC) Young Investigator Award, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2016
    Cancer Center Impact Award, University of California, San Francisco
  • 2014
    NIH T32 Fellowship, University of California, San Francisco
  • 2012
    Graduate Student Research Award, University of California, Berkeley

Selected Publications

  1. Guerra G, Nakase T, Kachuri L, McCoy L, Hansen HM, Rice T, Wiemels JL, Wiencke JK, Molinaro AM, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Association of immunoglobulin E levels with glioma risk and survival. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Mar 01; 117(3):545-553.  View on PubMed
  2. Francis SS, Guerra G. Response to Lehrer and Rheinstein and to Alexiou, Zagorianakou, and Voulgaris. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Mar 01; 117(3):568-569.  View on PubMed
  3. Beckhaus T, Kachuri L, Nakase T, Schürmann P, Eisenblätter R, Geerts M, Böhmer G, Strauß HG, Hirchenhain C, Schmidmayr M, Müller F, Fasching PA, Häfner N, Luyten A, Jentschke M, Hillemanns P, O'Mara TA, Francis SS, Witte JS, Dörk T, Ramachandran D. Genome-Wide Association Analyses of HPV16 and HPV18 Seropositivity Identify Susceptibility Loci for Cervical Cancer. J Med Virol. 2025 Feb; 97(2):e70195.  View on PubMed
  4. Rodriguez Almaraz E, Guerra GA, Al-Adli NN, Young JS, Dada A, Quintana D, Taylor JW, Oberheim Bush NA, Clarke JL, Butowski NA, de Groot J, Pekmezci M, Perry A, Bollen AW, Scheffler AW, Glidden DV, Phillips JJ, Costello JF, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper S, Berger MS, Francis SS, Chang SM, Solomon DA. Longitudinal profiling of IDH-mutant astrocytomas reveals acquired RAS-MAPK pathway mutations associated with inferior survival. Neurooncol Adv. 2025 Jan-Dec; 7(1):vdaf024.  View on PubMed
  5. Kachuri L, Guerra GA, Nakase T, Wendt GA, Hansen HM, Molinaro AM, Bracci P, McCoy L, Rice T, Wiencke JK, Eckel-Passow JE, Jenkins RB, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Genetic predisposition to altered blood cell homeostasis is associated with glioma risk and survival. Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 14; 16(1):658.  View on PubMed
  6. Guerra G, Wendt G, McCoy L, Hansen HM, Kachuri L, Molinaro AM, Rice T, Guan V, Capistrano L, Hsieh A, Kalsi V, Sallee J, Taylor JW, Clarke JL, Almaraz ER, Wiencke JK, Eckel-Passow JE, Jenkins RB, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Functional germline variants in DNA damage repair pathways are associated with altered survival in adults with glioma treated with temozolomide. Neuro Oncol. 2025 Jan 02.  View on PubMed
  7. Guerra G, Wendt G, McCoy L, Hansen HM, Kachuri L, Molinaro AM, Rice T, Guan V, Capistrano L, Hsieh A, Kalsi V, Sallee J, Taylor JW, Clarke JL, Rodriguez Almaraz E, Wiencke JK, Eckel-Passow JE, Jenkins RB, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Functional germline variants in DNA damage repair pathways are associated with altered survival in adults with glioma treated with temozolomide. medRxiv. 2024 Oct 10.  View on PubMed
  8. Nakase T, Guerra GA, Ostrom QT, Ge T, Melin BS, Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Jenkins RB, Eckel-Passow JE, Glioma International Case-Control Study (GICC), Bondy ML, Francis SS, Kachuri L. Genome-wide polygenic risk scores predict risk of glioma and molecular subtypes. Neuro Oncol. 2024 Oct 03; 26(10):1933-1944.  View on PubMed
  9. Guerra G, Nakase T, Kachuri L, McCoy L, Hansen HM, Rice T, Wiemels JL, Wiencke JK, Molinaro AM, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Association of immunoglobulin E levels with glioma risk and survival. medRxiv. 2024 Sep 23.  View on PubMed
  10. Taylor JW, Warrier G, Hansen HM, McCoy L, Rice T, Guerra G, Francis SS, Clarke JL, Bracci PM, Hadad S, Kelsey KT, Wrensch M, Molinaro AM, Wiencke JK. Oligodendroglioma patient survival is associated with circulating B-cells and age. Neurooncol Adv. 2024 Jan-Dec; 6(1):vdae143.  View on PubMed
  11. Nakase T, Guerra G, Ostrom QT, Ge T, Melin B, Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Jenkins RB, Eckel-Passow JE, Glioma International Case-Control Study (GICC), Bondy ML, Francis SS, Kachuri L. Genome-wide Polygenic Risk Scores Predict Risk of Glioma and Molecular Subtypes. medRxiv. 2024 Jan 11.  View on PubMed
  12. Bian S, Guo X, Yang X, Wei Y, Yang Z, Cheng S, Yan J, Chen Y, Chen GB, Du X, Francis SS, Shu Y, Liu S. Genetic determinants of IgG antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination. Am J Hum Genet. 2024 01 04; 111(1):181-199.  View on PubMed
  13. Kachuri L, Guerra GA, Wendt GA, Hansen HM, Molinaro AM, Bracci P, McCoy L, Rice T, Wiencke JK, Eckel-Passow JE, Jenkins RB, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Genetic predisposition to altered blood cell homeostasis is associated with glioma risk and survival. medRxiv. 2023 Oct 16.  View on PubMed
  14. Francis SS, Guerra G, Hansen HM, Wendt G, Kachuri L, Wiencke JK, Wrensch M. Inherited polymorphisms in the Human Leukocyte Antigen Region modify the association between varicella-zoster virus antibody reactivity and glioma prognosis. Neuro Oncol. 2023 10 03; 25(10):1910-1912.  View on PubMed
  15. Guerra G, McCoy L, Hansen HM, Rice T, Molinaro AM, Wiemels JL, Wiencke JK, Wrensch M, Francis SS. Antibodies to varicella-zoster virus and three other herpesviruses and survival in adults with glioma. Neuro Oncol. 2023 06 02; 25(6):1047-1057.  View on PubMed
  16. Santoro A, Moskowitz AJ, Ferrari S, Carlo-Stella C, Lisano J, Francis S, Wen R, Akyol A, Savage KJ. Nivolumab combined with brentuximab vedotin for relapsed/refractory mediastinal gray zone lymphoma. Blood. 2023 06 01; 141(22):2780-2783.  View on PubMed
  17. Harker-Murray P, Mauz-Körholz C, Leblanc T, Mascarin M, Michel G, Cooper S, Beishuizen A, Leger KJ, Amoroso L, Buffardi S, Rigaud C, Hoppe BS, Lisano J, Francis S, Sacchi M, Cole PD, Drachtman RA, Kelly KM, Daw S. Nivolumab and brentuximab vedotin with or without bendamustine for R/R Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents, and young adults. Blood. 2023 04 27; 141(17):2075-2084.  View on PubMed
  18. Johnson KJ, Bauchet L, Francis SS, Hainfellner JA, Kruchko C, Lau CC, Ostrom QT, Scheurer ME, Yuan Y. Pediatric brain tumors: Origins, epidemiology, and classification - The 2022 Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium meeting report. Clin Neuropathol. 2023 Mar-Apr; 42(2):74-80.  View on PubMed
  19. Caiazza F, Conroy PC, Ivry SL, York T, Lin J, Hernandez S, Hoffmann TJ, Francis SS, Park WG, Yip-Schneider MT, Schmidt CM, Brand R, Craik CS, Kirkwood K. Accurate Identification of Mucinous Pancreatic Cystic Lesions Using Small-Volume Analytes. J Surg Res. 2023 04; 284:322-331.  View on PubMed
  20. Bracci PM, Rice T, Hansen HM, Francis SS, Lee S, McCoy LS, Shrestha PP, Warrier G, Clarke JL, Molinaro AM, Taylor JW, Wiencke JK, Wrensch MR. Pre-surgery immune profiles of adult glioma patients. J Neurooncol. 2022 Aug; 159(1):103-115.  View on PubMed

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