Research Summary

As a physician-scientist and practicing breast medical oncologist, I have dedicated my career to understanding and treating aggressive breast cancers, with a particular focus on metastatic disease. In my roles as Co-Leader of the UCSF Breast Oncology Program, Vice-Chair of the Cell & Tissue Biology Department, and Co-Leader of the Oral, Head and Neck Research Program, I bridge the gap between basic research and clinical practice, working to translate laboratory discoveries into meaningful treatments for patients. Our research program has made significant contributions to understanding the mechanisms of breast cancer metastasis, notably identifying the critical role of the MYC oncogene in driving metastasis in triple-negative breast cancers. Our laboratory has successfully discovered multiple therapeutic vulnerabilities, including cell cycle, metabolic, and immune pathways, with the ongoing mission of developing promising new therapies for metastatic cancer.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2024 - April 30, 2028 - Development of CapCell Scope for Metabolic Imaging of Tissue Heterogeneity and Therapy Response. , unknown . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 2R01EB028148
  • September 30, 2021 - September 14, 2026 - Combining Immunotherapy and MYC Synthetic-Lethality for Metastatic Breast Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: CDMRP Breast Research Program Breakthrough Award, Sponsor Award ID: unknown
  • August 1, 2023 - August 1, 2026 - Targeting the PIM Kinase Pathway to Eliminate Breast Cancer Metastasis , PI . Sponsor: CDMRP Breast Cancer Research Program, Sponsor Award ID: HT9425-23-1-0539
  • September 1, 2004 - August 31, 2025 - Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms in Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32CA108462
  • May 1, 2020 - April 30, 2025 - Understanding breast cancer progression as a defect in the mechanics of tissue self-organization , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA244109
  • July 3, 2018 - June 30, 2023 - Uncovering Mechanisms of Regulation and Dependency on Fatty Acid Oxidation in MYC-Driven Tumors , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA223817
  • June 1, 2016 - May 31, 2021 - Integrative approach to heterogeneity in breast cancer metastasis , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA199315
  • August 1, 2012 - May 31, 2018 - In Vivo Metabolic Catastrophe Is Induced By Acute Oncogene Inhibition (PQ #22) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA170447
  • April 19, 2010 - January 31, 2017 - Targeting the MYC Oncogene with CDK Inhibitors , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA136717
  • August 1, 2005 - July 31, 2011 - CDK Inhibition in Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K08CA104032

Education

University of California, Los Angeles, B.S., 1986-1990, Cell and Molecular Biology
University of California, Los Angeles, M.D., 1990-1997, Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., 1990-1997, Molecular Biology
University of California, San Francisco, 1997-1999, Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, 1999-2003, Medical Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 1990-1997
    N.I.H. Medical Scientist Training Fellowship
  • 1997
    Emil Bogen Research Award, (most outstanding graduate research) UCLA School of Medicine
  • 1997
    UCSF Molecular Medicine Fellow
  • 2001-2004
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Physician-Scientist Fellowship – NCI K08 Mentored Physician-Scientist Fellowship Award
  • 2008
    Susan G. Komen Scholar Award
  • 2009
    V-Foundation Scholar
  • 2011
    Elected Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)

Selected Publications

  1. Williams J, Camarda R, Malkov S, Zimmerman LJ, Manning S, Aran D, Beardsley A, Van de Mark D, Nakagawa R, Chen Y, Berdan C, Louie SM, Mahieu C, Superville D, Winkler J, Willey E, Hutchins EJ, Gagnon JD, Avsaroglu SK, Shinoda K, Gruner M, Nishida H, Ansel KM, Werb Z, Nomura DK, Kajimura S, Butte AJ, Sanders ME, Liebler DC, Rugo HS, Krings G, Shepherd JA, Goga A. Tumor cell-adipocyte gap junctions activate lipolysis and contribute to breast tumorigenesis. Nat Commun. 2025 Aug 20; 16(1):7438. View on PubMed
  2. Montoya T, Lee JV, Qiu L, Krall A, Matulionis N, Seo Y, Finck BN, Kelley RK, Christofk H, Goga A. Alanine catabolism as a targetable vulnerability for MYC-driven liver cancer. View on PubMed
  3. Upadhyay V, Ortega EF, Ramirez Hernandez LA, Alexander M, Kaur G, Trepka K, Rock RR, Shima RT, Cheshire WC, Alipanah-Lechner N, Calfee CS, Matthay MA, Lee JV, Goga A, Jain IH, Turnbaugh PJ. Gut bacterial lactate stimulates lung epithelial mitochondria and exacerbates acute lung injury. bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 25. View on PubMed
  4. Park JH, Jung KH, Jia D, Yang S, Attri KS, Ahn S, Murthy D, Samanta T, Dutta D, Ghidey M, Chatterjee S, Han SY, Pedroza DA, Tiwari A, Lee JV, Davis C, Li S, Putluri V, Creighton CJ, Putluri N, Dobrolecki LE, Lewis MT, Rosen JM, Onuchic JN, Goga A, Kaipparettu BA. Biguanides antithetically regulate tumor properties by the dose-dependent mitochondrial reprogramming-driven c-Src pathway. Cell Rep Med. 2025 Feb 18; 6(2):101941. View on PubMed
  5. Nakagawa R, Beardsley A, Durney S, Hayward MK, Subramanyam V, Meyer NP, Wismer H, Goodarzi H, Weaver VM, Van de Mark D, Goga A. Tumor Cell Spatial Organization Directs EGFR/RAS/RAF Pathway Primary Therapy Resistance through YAP Signaling. bioRxiv. 2025 Jan 31. View on PubMed
  6. Winkler J, Tan W, Diadhiou CM, McGinnis CS, Abbasi A, Hasnain S, Durney S, Atamaniuc E, Superville D, Awni L, Lee JV, Hinrichs JH, Wagner PS, Singh N, Hein MY, Borja M, Detweiler AM, Liu SY, Nanjaraj A, Sitarama V, Rugo HS, Neff N, Gartner ZJ, Oliveira Pisco A, Goga A, Darmanis S, Werb Z. Single-cell analysis of breast cancer metastasis reveals epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity signatures associated with poor outcomes. J Clin Invest. 2024 Sep 03; 134(17). View on PubMed
  7. McGinnis CS, Miao Z, Superville D, Yao W, Goga A, Reticker-Flynn NE, Winkler J, Satpathy AT. The temporal progression of lung immune remodeling during breast cancer metastasis. Cancer Cell. 2024 Jun 10; 42(6):1018-1031.e6. View on PubMed
  8. Turpin R, Liu R, Munne PM, Peura A, Rannikko JH, Philips G, Boeckx B, Salmelin N, Hurskainen E, Suleymanova I, Aung J, Vuorinen EM, Lehtinen L, Mutka M, Kovanen PE, Niinikoski L, Meretoja TJ, Mattson J, Mustjoki S, Saavalainen P, Goga A, Lambrechts D, Pouwels J, Hollmén M, Klefström J. Respiratory complex I regulates dendritic cell maturation in explant model of human tumor immune microenvironment. J Immunother Cancer. 2024 Apr 11; 12(4). View on PubMed
  9. Pena G, Rohrberg J, Goga A, Heald R. Changes in spindle morphology driven by TPX2 overexpression in MYC-driven breast cancer cells. MicroPubl Biol. 2024; 2024. View on PubMed
  10. Sutanto R, Neahring L, Serra Marques A, Jacobo Jacobo M, Kilinc S, Goga A, Dumont S. The oncogene cyclin D1 promotes bipolar spindle integrity under compressive force. PLoS One. 2024; 19(3):e0296779. View on PubMed
  11. Jacobo Jacobo M, Donnella HJ, Sobti S, Kaushik S, Goga A, Bandyopadhyay S. An inflamed tumor cell subpopulation promotes chemotherapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer. Sci Rep. 2024 02 14; 14(1):3694. View on PubMed
  12. Sutanto R, Neahring L, Marques AS, Kilinc S, Goga A, Dumont S. The oncogene cyclin D1 promotes bipolar spindle integrity under compressive force. bioRxiv. 2023 May 31. View on PubMed
  13. Navickas A, Asgharian H, Winkler J, Fish L, Garcia K, Markett D, Dodel M, Culbertson B, Miglani S, Joshi T, Yin K, Nguyen P, Zhang S, Stevers N, Hwang HW, Mardakheh F, Goga A, Goodarzi H. An mRNA processing pathway suppresses metastasis by governing translational control from the nucleus. Nat Cell Biol. 2023 06; 25(6):892-903. View on PubMed
  14. Lee JV, Housley F, Yau C, Nakagawa R, Winkler J, Anttila JM, Munne PM, Savelius M, Houlahan KE, Van de Mark D, Hemmati G, Hernandez GA, Zhang Y, Samson S, Baas C, Kok M, Esserman LJ, van 't Veer LJ, Rugo HS, Curtis C, Klefström J, Matloubian M, Goga A. Author Correction: Combinatorial immunotherapies overcome MYC-driven immune evasion in triple negative breast cancer. Nat Commun. 2022 Nov 21; 13(1):7140. View on PubMed
  15. Deng N, Minoche A, Harvey K, Li M, Winkler J, Goga A, Swarbrick A. Deep whole genome sequencing identifies recurrent genomic alterations in commonly used breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models. Breast Cancer Res. 2022 09 24; 24(1):63. View on PubMed
  16. Spanogiannopoulos P, Kyaw TS, Guthrie BGH, Bradley PH, Lee JV, Melamed J, Malig YNA, Lam KN, Gempis D, Sandy M, Kidder W, Van Blarigan EL, Atreya CE, Venook A, Gerona RR, Goga A, Pollard KS, Turnbaugh PJ. Host and gut bacteria share metabolic pathways for anti-cancer drug metabolism. Nat Microbiol. 2022 10; 7(10):1605-1620. View on PubMed
  17. Lee JV, Housley F, Yau C, Nakagawa R, Winkler J, Anttila JM, Munne PM, Savelius M, Houlahan KE, Van de Mark D, Hemmati G, Hernandez GA, Zhang Y, Samson S, Baas C, Kok M, Esserman LJ, van 't Veer LJ, Rugo HS, Curtis C, Klefström J, Matloubian M, Goga A. Combinatorial immunotherapies overcome MYC-driven immune evasion in triple negative breast cancer. Nat Commun. 2022 06 27; 13(1):3671. View on PubMed
  18. Bui TBV, Burgering BMT, Goga A, Rugo HS, van 't Veer LJ. Biomarkers for Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibitors in the Treatment of Hormone Receptor-Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer: Translation to Clinical Practice. JCO Precis Oncol. 2022 06; 6:e2100473. View on PubMed
  19. Li Z, Ferguson L, Deol KK, Roberts MA, Magtanong L, Hendricks JM, Mousa GA, Kilinc S, Schaefer K, Wells JA, Bassik MC, Goga A, Dixon SJ, Ingolia NT, Olzmann JA. Ribosome stalling during selenoprotein translation exposes a ferroptosis vulnerability. Nat Chem Biol. 2022 07; 18(7):751-761. View on PubMed
  20. Samson S, Northey JJ, Acerbi I, Goga A, Flink CL, Weaver VM, LaBarge MA. NCI's publication affiliation conundrum: Reframing innovation to incentivize an equitable path for advocate representation. Transl Oncol. 2022 Feb; 16:101325. View on PubMed

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