Research Summary

Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, is Professor of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to joining the UCSF faculty, Dr. McCormick pursued cancer-related work with several Bay Area biotechnology firms and held positions with Cetus Corporation (Director of Molecular Biology, 1981-1990; Vice President of Research, 1990-1991) and Chiron Corporation, where he was Vice President of Research from 1991 to 1992. In 1992 he founded Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing new cancer therapies, and served as its Chief Scientific Officer until 1996. At Onyx Pharmaceuticals, he initiated and led drug discovery efforts that led to the approval of Sorafenib in 2005 for treatment of renal cell cancer, and for liver cancer in 2007, and the approval of ONYX-015 in 2006 in China for treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer. Sorafenib is being tested in multiple indications worldwide. In addition, Dr. McCormick’s group led to the identification of a CDK4 kinase inhibitor. Dr. McCormick's current research interests center on the fundamental differences between normal and cancer cells that can allow the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies.

Dr. McCormick holds the David A. Wood Chair of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research at UCSF. Dr. McCormick is the author of over 285 scientific publications and holds 20 issued patents. He also served as President, 2012-2013 for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). More recently, he has taken a leadership role at the Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research, overseeing an NCI supported national effort to develop therapies against Ras-driven cancers. These cancers include most pancreatic cancers, and many colorectal and lung cancers, and are amongst the most difficult cancers to treat.

Research Funding

  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2028 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • October 10, 2020 - May 1, 2025 - Direct targeting of SOS1 in SOS1-mutant cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Sponsor Award ID: unknown
  • April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2023 - Regulating neurofibromin through degradation, dimerization and binding to SPRED1 , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: DOD CDMRP, Sponsor Award ID: W81XWH2010129
  • April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2023 - New Ways of Targeting K-Ras , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: 15R35CA197709

Education

University of Birmingham, England, B.Sc., 1972, Biochemistry
University of Cambridge, England, Ph.D., 1975, Biochemistry

Honors & Awards

  • 1996
    Fellow of the Royal Society
  • 2002
    Bristol Myers Squibb Unrestricted Cancer Research Grant
  • 2002
    AACR – G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award
  • 2002
    Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical Research
  • 2003
    University of Chicago, Cancer Research Center, Shubitz Award
  • 2005
    Institute of Medicine
  • 2010
    ASCO Science of Oncology Award
  • 2014
    National Academy of Science
  • 2015
    Memorial Sloan Kettering, Sloan Award
  • 2017
    Luminary Award in GI Cancer
  • 2018
    Biochemical Society Centenary Award

Selected Publications

  1. Yang ZZ, Bortoletto AS, Cardenas MG, Bartels MD, Mwesigwa S, Le Roux CA, Snider CG, Wang MT, Fan H, Van Nostrand EL, McCormick F, Parchem RJ. Oncogenic KRAS Rewires mRNA Stability and Translation through AGO2-Mediated Disruption of the miRNA pathway. Cancer Res. 2026 Aug 24. View on PubMed
  2. Silva JM, Canche L, Cheng A, Young LC, McCormick F. NF1 and SPRED1/2 cooperate through RAS-MAPK-independent functions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026 Jun 02; 123(22):e2535319123. View on PubMed
  3. Simanshu DK, McCormick F. Revisiting RAS family GTPase signaling: effector selectivity and oncogenic bypass. Biochem J. 2026 May 06; 483(5):761-775. View on PubMed
  4. Parker K, Ghorbanpoor S, Malik W, Highfield L, Wang J, Hensley E, Kelley G, Clark S, Ranieri M, Sahu S, Zhang C, Ploszaj M, Andrussier D, Huang HY, Chen T, Wang B, Xu R, Setoodeh S, Lin K, Maciag AE, McCormick F, Beltran PJ, Wong KK, Stice JP, Sinkevicius KW, Hata AN. Dual inhibition of GTP-bound (ON) and GDP-bound (OFF) KRASG12C suppresses PI3Kα and leads to potent tumor inhibition. bioRxiv. 2026 Apr 30. View on PubMed
  5. McCormick F. The heart of the matter: a personal view of Fred Wittinghofer's contributions to RAS biology and drug design. Biol Chem. 2026 May 26; 407(1-3):7-15. View on PubMed
  6. Stahlhut C, Maciag AE, Sullivan KA, Singh K, Gitego N, Zhang Z, Chan AH, Sharma AK, Alexander PA, Shu J, Yang Y, Rigby M, Ma R, Setoodeh S, Smith BP, Pei J, Rabara D, Larsen EK, Turner DM, Zhang C, Feng C, Feng S, Stice JP, Xu R, Lin K, Stephen AG, Lightstone FC, Ji C, Wang K, Simanshu DK, Nissley DV, Wallace E, Wang B, Sinkevicius KW, McCormick F, Beltran PJ. Discovery of BBO-11818, a Potent and Selective Noncovalent Inhibitor of (ON) and (OFF) KRAS with Activity against Multiple Oncogenic Mutants. Cancer Discov. 2026 Apr 01; 16(4):740-759. View on PubMed
  7. Balius TE, Dyba M, Kumari V, Denson JP, Yi M, Sharma AK, Prakash P, Alberico E, Messing S, Wall V, Chan AH, Simanshu DK, Nissley DV, McCormick F, Esposito D, Maciag AE, Turner DM. Disulfide tethering reveals cryptic pockets in oncogenic KRAS. Commun Chem. 2026 Mar 30; 9(1). View on PubMed
  8. Castel P, Schoyer L, Stronach B, Bogdanova R, Bennett AM, Blakeley J, Bornhorst M, Bowers T, Brachmann SM, Burkitt-Wright E, Chatfield K, De Luca A, El-Chammas K, Elkadri A, Fortunato JE, Gelb BD, Goriely A, Gripp K, Grover K, Homan L, Kern KA, Kiuru M, Lawson CC, Lee YS, McCormick F, Ney G, Nuevo-Tapioles C, Pardej S, Pierpont EI, Plank J, Ratner N, Rauen KA, Robinson JE, Rogers L, Sheppard SE, Shiels K, Stevenson D, Tiemens D, Traylor M, Weaver KN, Yohe M, Green T. The 9th International RASopathies Symposium. Am J Med Genet A. 2026 Aug; 200(8):1934-1941. View on PubMed
  9. Sancilio C, Fada L, Pulido J, Mousad AD, Sorkin S, Mastroianni M, Jacobs G, Mccormick F. Dashboard Knee: Injury Mechanisms, Diagnostic Challenges, and Treatment Outcomes. Cureus. 2026 Mar; 18(3):e104683. View on PubMed
  10. Georgouli K, Tempkin JOB, Stanton LG, Oppelstrup T, Shrestha R, Carpenter TS, Aydin F, Zhang X, Bhatia H, Yang Y, Van QN, Bonilla PA, Gulten G, Goswami D, Di Natale F, Chavez JR, Moon JY, Dharuman G, Hengartner NW, Simanshu DK, Tran TH, Nguyen K, Stanley CB, Van Essen B, Bremer PT, Lightstone FC, Stephen AG, Glosli JN, Gnanakaran S, Turbyville TJ, McCormick F, Nissley DV, Streitz FH, Ingólfsson HI. KRAS4a and KRAS4b show distinct lipid-dependent regulation of RAS-RAF membrane dynamics. J Biol Chem. 2026 Mar; 302(3):111237. View on PubMed
  11. Konstantinidou M, Vickery HR, Pennings MAM, Virta JM, Luo SY, Visser EJ, Bannier SD, Srikanth M, Cismoski SZ, Young LC, van den Oetelaar MCM, McCormick F, Ottmann C, Brunsveld L, Arkin MR. Modulation of the 14-3-3σ/C-RAF "Auto"inhibited Complex by Molecular Glues. J Am Chem Soc. 2026 02 11; 148(5):4951-4965. View on PubMed
  12. Bonsor DA, Finci LI, Potter JR, Young LC, Wall VE, Goldstein de Salazar R, Geis KR, Stephens T, Finney J, Nissley DV, McCormick F, Simanshu DK. Structure of SHOC2-KRAS-PP1C complex reveals RAS isoform-specific determinants and insights into targeting complex assembly by RAS inhibitors. Nat Commun. 2026 Jan 10; 17(1):1614. View on PubMed
  13. Sancilio C, Pulido J, Mousad A, Sorkin S, Mastroianni M, McCormick F. Rare Subscapularis Anterior Leading Edge Tear following Traumatic Posterior Shoulder Dislocation: A Case Report. J Orthop Case Rep. 2025 Dec; 15(12):129-134. View on PubMed
  14. Song LF, Rabara D, Bali SK, Pei J, Lau EY, Kirshner D, Lightstone FC, McCormick F, Stephen AG, Yang Y. How KRAS Mutations Impair Intrinsic GTP Hydrolysis: Experimental and Computational Investigations. J Chem Inf Model. 2025 Dec 08; 65(23):12822-12833. View on PubMed
  15. Carpenter TS, Aydin F, Neale C, Van QN, Zhang X, Bhatia H, Sidabras JW, Frank PH, Georgouli K, Tempkin JOB, Casamayor VB, Gulten G, Shrestha R, Goswami D, Di Natale F, Chavez JR, Moody A, Moon JY, Oppelstrup T, Glosli JN, Dharuman G, Wong S, Liu S, Hengartner NW, López CA, Nguyen K, Stanley CB, Stanton LG, Patel L, Reddy T, Turbyville TJ, Van Essen B, Bremer PT, Lightstone FC, Stephen AG, Gnanakaran S, McCormick F, Nissley DV, Streitz FH, Ingólfsson HI. Dynamics and lipid membrane coupling of the RAS-RAF complex revealed via multiscale simulations. Biophys J. 2026 Jan 20; 125(2):485-501. View on PubMed
  16. Konstantinidou M, Vickery HR, Pennings MAM, Virta JM, Visser EJ, Bannier SD, Srikanth M, Cismoski SZ, Young LC, van den Oetelaar MCM, McCormick F, Ottmann C, Brunsveld L, Arkin MR. Modulation of the 14-3-3σ/C-RAF "auto"inhibited complex by molecular glues. bioRxiv. 2025 Jul 31. View on PubMed
  17. Terayama K, Furuzono S, Fer N, Yan W, Young LC, Czyzyk DJ, Goldstein de Salazar R, Sasaki M, Uozumi A, Konishi M, Kanda S, Sogawa Y, Yamaguchi M, Tsuji T, Kuroyanagi J, Hayashi M, Ogura Y, Simanshu DK, Kubota K, Tanaka J, McCormick F. Molecular glues that facilitate RAS binding to PI3Kα promote glucose uptake without insulin. Science. 2025 Jul 24; 389(6758):402-408. View on PubMed
  18. Vasudevan HN, Arang N, Sacconi Nunez M, Kennedy P, Payne E, Mohabeer S, Chien J, Wright A, Sale MJ, Krogan NJ, Forget A, McCormick F. A transcriptomic, proteomic, and functional genetic atlas dissects neurofibromin function in the peripheral nervous system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jul 08; 122(27):e2506823122. View on PubMed
  19. Simanshu DK, Xu R, Stice JP, Czyzyk DJ, Feng S, Denson JP, Riegler E, Yang Y, Zhang C, Donovan S, Smith BP, Abreu-Blanco M, Chen M, Feng C, Fu L, Rabara D, Young LC, Dyba M, Yan W, Lin K, Ghorbanpoorvalukolaie S, Larsen EK, Malik W, Champagne A, Parker K, Ju JH, Jeknic S, Esposito D, Turner DM, Lightstone FC, Wang B, Wehn PM, Wang K, Stephen AG, Maciag AE, Hata AN, Sinkevicius KW, Nissley DV, Wallace EM, McCormick F, Beltran PJ. BBO-10203 inhibits tumor growth without inducing hyperglycemia by blocking RAS-PI3Kα interaction. Science. 2025 Jul 24; 389(6758):409-415. View on PubMed
  20. Alexander P, Chan AH, Rabara D, Swain M, Larsen EK, Dyba M, Chertov O, Ashraf M, Champagne A, Lin K, Maciag A, Gillette WK, Nissley DV, McCormick F, Simanshu DK, Stephen AG. Biophysical and structural analysis of KRAS switch-II pocket inhibitors reveals allele-specific binding constraints. J Biol Chem. 2025 07; 301(7):110331. View on PubMed

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