Research Summary

My primary clinical and research interests focus on gastrointestinal malignancies, where I have developed and led multiple clinical trials, both within UCSF and across multiple sites nationwide and overseas. I am interested in the development and evaluation of new therapeutic agents ranging from novel cytotoxics to molecular targeted agents to immunotherapies, with a particular emphasis on evaluating these in patients with pancreatic cancer. This work has entailed collaborating with laboratory-based investigators on the correlative/translational science to identify individual patient/tumor characteristics that influence prognosis and response to specific therapies, including both tissue- and blood-based biomarkers. Other university responsibilities include leading the site committee for gastrointestinal cancer-specific clinical trial development at the UCSF HDFCCC and serving as chair of the scientific Protocol Review Committee. Nationally, I have served on the scientific program committee, grants committee, and specialty editorial board for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), sit on the editorial board for multiple peer-reviewed oncology journals, and am currently a member of NCI’s Pancreatic Cancer Task Force and the NCCN Pancreatic Cancer guidelines committee.

Research Funding

  • September 19, 2011 - August 31, 2014 - Dual Targeting of MEK and EGFR Signaling Pathways in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA149939
  • September 19, 2011 - August 31, 2014 - Dual Targeting of MEK and EGFR Signaling Pathways in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA149939
  • September 19, 2011 - August 31, 2014 - Dual Targeting of MEK and EGFR Signaling Pathways in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA149939
  • September 19, 2011 - August 31, 2014 - Dual Targeting of MEK and EGFR Signaling Pathways in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA149939

Education

Brown University, Providence, RI, Sc.B., 1991, Applied Mathematics/Biology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, M.D., 1995, Medicine
Board certified, Internal Medicine, 1998
Board certified, Medical Oncology, 2002

Honors & Awards

  • 1987
    National Merit Scholarship
  • 1988
    IBM Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship
  • 1990
    Sigma Xi, elected associate member
  • 1991
    Departmental honors and Magna cum laude, Brown University
  • 1993
    Alpha Omega Alpha, student essay competition honoree
  • 1994
    Harry C. Saltzstein Prize in Medical Writing, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
  • 1995
    Medical Assistance Programs/Reader's Digest International Fellowship
  • 2000
    Amgen National Oncology Fellows' Forum, selected for oral presentation
  • 2000
    American Society of Clinical Oncology, Travel Award (meritorious abstract)
  • 2001
    Digestive Disease Center Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2003
    UCSF Cancer Center Clinical Investigator Research Program award
  • 2003
    American Society of Clinical Oncology Career Development Award
  • 2007
    Joan Rombauer UCSF Endowed Fellowship
  • 2008
    UCSF Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Classroom Setting, nominee
  • 2011
    NCI Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award
  • 2013
    UCSF Hematology and Oncology Division Teaching Award

Selected Publications

  1. O'Hara MH, O'Reilly EM, Varadhachary G, Wolff RA, Wainberg ZA, Ko AH, Fisher G, Rahma O, Lyman JP, Cabanski CR, Mick R, Gherardini PF, Kitch LJ, Xu J, Samuel T, Karakunnel J, Fairchild J, Bucktrout S, LaVallee TM, Selinsky C, Till JE, Carpenter EL, Alanio C, Byrne KT, Chen RO, Trifan OC, Dugan U, Horak C, Hubbard-Lucey VM, Wherry EJ, Ibrahim R, Vonderheide RH CD40 agonistic monoclonal antibody APX005M (sotigalimab) and chemotherapy, with or without nivolumab, for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma: an open-label, multicentre, phase 1b study.  View on PubMed
  2. Shitara K, Van Cutsem E, Bang YJ, Fuchs C, Wyrwicz L, Lee KW, Kudaba I, Garrido M, Chung HC, Lee J, Castro HR, Mansoor W, Braghiroli MI, Karaseva N, Caglevic C, Villanueva L, Goekkurt E, Satake H, Enzinger P, Alsina M, Benson A, Chao J, Ko AH, Wainberg ZA, Kher U, Shah S, Kang SP, Tabernero J Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab or Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone for Patients With First-line, Advanced Gastric Cancer: The KEYNOTE-062 Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial.  View on PubMed
  3. Hoang T, Dayyani F, Alfaro A, Huynh J, Ji J, Ko AH, Cho M, Hiyama D Variability in multimodality treatment influences survival in non-metastatic gastric cancer patients.  View on PubMed
  4. Ko AH, Jordan AC, Tooker E, Lacey SF, Chang RB, Li Y, Venook AP, Tempero M, Damon L, Fong L, O'Hara MH, Levine BL, Melenhorst JJ, Plesa G, June CH, Beatty GL Dual Targeting of Mesothelin and CD19 with Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Modified T Cells in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer.  View on PubMed
  5. Shah MA, Enzinger P, Ko AH, Ocean AJ, Philip PA, Thakkar PV, Cleveland K, Lu Y, Kortmansky J, Christos PJ, Zhang C, Kaur N, Elmonshed D, Galletti G, Sarkar S, Bhinder B, Pittman ME, Plotnikova OM, Kotlov N, Frenkel F, Bagaev A, Elemento O, Betel D, Giannakakou P, Lenz HJ Multicenter Phase II Study of Cabazitaxel in Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancer: Association of HER2 Expression and M2-Like Tumor-Associated Macrophages with Patient Outcome.  View on PubMed
  6. Wang ZJ, Zhang TT, An C, Ko AH, Tempero M, Collisson E, Yeh BM Estimation of Fractional Extracellular Space at CT for Predicting Chemotherapy Response and Survival in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.  View on PubMed
  7. Burns ST, Damon L, Akagi N, Laszik Z, Ko AH Rapid Improvement in Gemcitabine-associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy After a Single Dose of Eculizumab: Case Report and Review of the Literature.  View on PubMed
  8. Wu AA, Bever KM, Ho WJ, Fertig EJ, Niu N, Zheng L, Parkinson RM, Durham JN, Onners B, Ferguson AK, Wilt C, Ko AH, Wang-Gillam A, Laheru DA, Anders RA, Thompson ED, Sugar EA, Jaffee EM, Le DT A Phase II Study of Allogeneic GM-CSF-Transfected Pancreatic Tumor Vaccine (GVAX) with Ipilimumab as Maintenance Treatment for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer.  View on PubMed
  9. Kundranda M, Gracian AC, Zafar SF, Meiri E, Bendell J, Algül H, Rivera F, Ahn ER, Watkins D, Pelzer U, Charu V, Zalutskaya A, Kuesters G, Pipas JM, Santillana S, Askoxylakis V, Ko AH Corrigendum to 'Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II study of istiratumab (MM-141) plus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine versus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in front-line metastatic pancreatic cancer (CARRIE)': Annals of Oncology, Volume  View on PubMed
  10. Susko M, Wang CJ, Lazar AA, Kim S, Laffan A, Feng M, Ko A, Venook AP, Atreya CE, Van Loon K, Anwar M Factors Impacting Differential Outcomes in the Definitive Radiation Treatment of Anal Cancer Between HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Patients.  View on PubMed
  11. Tsujikawa T, Crocenzi T, Durham JN, Sugar EA, Wu AA, Onners B, Nauroth JM, Anders RA, Fertig EJ, Laheru DA, Reiss K, Vonderheide RH, Ko AH, Tempero MA, Fisher GA, Considine M, Danilova L, Brockstedt DG, Coussens LM, Jaffee EM, Le DT Evaluation of Cyclophosphamide/GVAX Pancreas Followed by Listeria-Mesothelin (CRS-207) with or without Nivolumab in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer.  View on PubMed
  12. Ursem C, Zhou M, Paciorek A, Atreya CE, Ko AH, Venook A, Zhang L, Van Loon K Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Impact of Oophorectomy for Ovarian Metastases from Colorectal Cancer.  View on PubMed
  13. Kundranda M, Gracian AC, Zafar SF, Meiri E, Bendell J, Algül H, Rivera F, Ahn ER, Watkins D, Pelzer U, Charu V, Zalutskaya A, Kuesters G, Pipas JM, Santillana S, Askoxylakis V, Ko AH Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II study of istiratumab (MM-141) plus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine versus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in front-line metastatic pancreatic cancer (CARRIE).  View on PubMed
  14. Diaz CL, Cinar P, Hwang J, Ko AH, Tempero MA CA 19-9 Response: A Surrogate to Predict Survival in Patients With Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.  View on PubMed
  15. Savoie MB, Paciorek A, Zhang L, Van Blarigan EL, Sommovilla N, Abrams D, Atreya CE, Bergsland EK, Chern H, Kelley RK, Ko A, Laffan A, Sarin A, Varma MG, Venook AP, Van Loon K Vitamin D Levels in Patients with Colorectal Cancer Before and After Treatment Initiation.  View on PubMed
  16. Ko AH, Nakakura EK Adjuvant Therapy for Ampullary Cancer.  View on PubMed
  17. Johns C, Diaz CL, Hwang J, Kerridge WD, Ko AH, Tempero MA Alternate Week Gemcitabine and Capecitabine: An Effective Treatment for Patients With Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.  View on PubMed
  18. Janssen QP, Buettner S, Suker M, Beumer BR, Addeo P, Bachellier P, Bahary N, Bekaii-Saab T, Bali MA, Besselink MG, Boone BA, Chau I, Clarke S, Dillhoff M, El-Rayes BF, Frakes JM, Grose D, Hosein PJ, Jamieson NB, Javed AA, Khan K, Kim KP, Kim SC, Kim SS, Ko AH, Lacy J, Margonis GA, McCarter MD, McKay CJ, Mellon EA, Moorcraft SY, Okada KI, Paniccia A, Parikh PJ, Peters NA, Rabl H, Samra J, Tinchon C, van Tienhoven G, van Veldhuisen E, Wang-Gillam A, Weiss MJ, Wilmink JW, Yamaue H, Homs MYV, van Eijck CHJ, Katz MHG, Groot Koerkamp B Neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX in Patients With Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Patient-Level Meta-Analysis.  View on PubMed
  19. Le DT, Picozzi VJ, Ko AH, Wainberg ZA, Kindler H, Wang-Gillam A, Oberstein P, Morse MA, Zeh HJ, Weekes C, Reid T, Borazanci E, Crocenzi T, LoConte NK, Musher B, Laheru D, Murphy A, Whiting C, Nair N, Enstrom A, Ferber S, Brockstedt DG, Jaffee EM Results from a Phase IIb, Randomized, Multicenter Study of GVAX Pancreas and CRS-207 Compared with Chemotherapy in Adults with Previously Treated Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (ECLIPSE Study).  View on PubMed
  20. Wu C, Jermakowicz WJ, Chakravorti S, Cajigas I, Sharan AD, Jagid JR, Matias CM, Sperling MR, Buckley R, Ko A, Ojemann JG, Miller JW, Youngerman B, Sheth SA, McKhann GM, Laxton AW, Couture DE, Popli GS, Smith A, Mehta AD, Ho AL, Halpern CH, Englot DJ, Neimat JS, Konrad PE, Neal E, Vale FL, Holloway KL, Air EL, Schwalb J, Dawant BM, D'Haese PF Effects of surgical targeting in laser interstitial thermal therapy for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: A multicenter study of 234 patients.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI