Gary Kohanbash, Ph.D.
Contact
Campus: 530 45th St
Office: 7131 Rangos Research Building
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Ph: 412-692-9456
Fax: 412-692-8906
Education
- B.S., (hons), Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, 2007
- M.S., Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, 2009
- Ph.D., Brain Tumor Immunology, University of Pittsburgh, 2012
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, 2014
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 2016
Academic Affiliation
- Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
- Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology
About Research
Dr. Kohanbash’s laboratory has made significant development in multiple pre-clinical studies and in the analysis of clinical trial samples. These efforts led to multiple publications including a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight. This work identified novel biomarkers and response pathways in pediatric low-grade glioma patients receiving peptide vaccine immunotherapy and provided a foundation for Dr. Kohanbash’s in-development clinical trial combining an IDO inhibitor with a peptide vaccine. Dr. Kohanbash was invited to present this work at the 2018 bi-annual International Symposium for Pediatric Neuro-Oncology.
In another study, Dr. Kohanbash’s laboratory utilized single-cell RNA-sequencing to identify a genetic and flow cytometric signature to distinguish between microglia and tumor-infiltrating macrophages. This study was published in Genome Biology.
To address some of the key questions in brain tumor immunobiology, his lab has developed human and mouse models of supratentorial ependymoma and a novel mouse model of diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas. These models have enabled his lab and collaborators the use of highly relevant models, which they believe will advance the fields.
Dr. Kohanbash’s lab continues to play a significant part in multiple collaborative studies. Some of their most promising collaborations include working with Joseph C. Glorioso III, PhD, testing oncolytic viral vectors as therapies for glioblastomas and a collaboration with W. Barry Edwards, PhD, on developing novel immunoPET tracers.
Lastly in collaboration with Katherine E. Warren, MD, at the NCI, Dr. Kohanbash has generated promising preclinical data for a trial combining of peptide vaccine with SGI-110.
Selected Publications
Castro BA, Flanigan P, Jahangiri A, Hoffman D, Chen W, Kuang R, De Lay M, Yagnik G, Wagner JR, Mascharak S, Sidorov M, Shrivastav S, Kohanbash G, Okada H, Aghi MK. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor downregulation: a novel mechanism of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. Oncogene [ahead of print], 2016.
Han SJ, Reis G, Kohanbash G, Shrivastav S, Magill ST, Molinaro AM, McDermott MW, Theodosopoulos PV, Aghi MK, Berger MS, Butowski NA, Barani I, Phillips JJ, Perry A, Okada H. Expression and prognostic impact of immune modulatory molecule PD-L1 in meningioma. J Neurooncol 130(3):543-552, 2016.
Najac C, Chaumeil MM, Kohanbash G, Guglielmetti C, Gordon JW, Okada H, Ronen SM. Detection of inflammatory cell function using (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy of hyperpolarized [6-(13)C]-arginine. Science Reports 10;6:31397, 2016.
Ahn B, Kohanbash G, Ohkuri T, Kosaka A, Chen X, Ikeura M, Wang TC, Okada H. Histamine deficiency promotes accumulation of immunosuppressive immature myeloid cells and growth of murine gliomas. Oncoimmunology 26;4(11):e1047581, 2015.
Kohanbash G, McKaveney K, Sakaki M, Ueda R, Mintz AH, Amankulor N, Fujita M, Ohlfest JR, Okada H. Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulation Factor Promotes the Immunosuppressive Activity of Glioma-Infiltrating Myeloid Cells through Interleukin-4 Receptor-α. Cancer Research 1;73(21):6413-23, 2013.
Kohanbash G, Ishikawa E, Fujita M, Ikeura M, McKaveney K, Zhu J, Sakaki M, Sarkar S, and Okada H. Differential activity of interferon-α8 promoter is regulated by Oct-1 and a SNP that dictates prognosis of glioma. OncoImmunology 1(4):487-492, 2012.
Kohanbash G, Okada H. Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells in Gliomas and Glioma Development. Immunological Investigations 41(6-7):658-79, 2012.
Okada H, Kalinski P, Ueda R, Hoji A, Kohanbash G, Donegan TE, Mintz AH, Engh JA, Bartlett DL, Brown CK, Zeh H, Holtzman MP, Reinhart TA, Whiteside TL, Butterfield LH, Hamilton RL, Potter DM, Pollack IF, Salazar AM, Lieberman FS. Induction of CD8+ T-cell responses against novel glioma-associated antigen peptides and clinical activity by vaccinations with {alpha}-type 1 polarized dendritic cells and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stabilized by lysine and carboxymethylcellulose in patients with recurrent malignant glioma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 20;29(3):330-6, 2011.
Kohanbash G, Sasaki K, Hoji A, Ueda R, McDonald HA, Reinhart TA, Martinson J, Lotze MT, Marincola FM, Wang E, Fujita M, Okada H. MiR-17-92 Expression in Differentiated T Cells - Implications for Cancer Immunotherapy. Journal of Translational Medicine 18;8(1):17, 2010.
Ueda R, Kohanbash G, Sasaki K, Fujita M, Zhu X, Kastenhuber ER, McDonald HA, Potter DM, Hamilton RL, Lotze MT, Khan SA, Sobol RW, and Okada H. Dicer-regulated microRNAs 222 and 339 promote resistance of cancer cells to cytotoxic T-lymphocytes by down-regulation of ICAM-1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 106(26):10746-51, 2009.
A complete list of Dr. Kohanbash's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.
Research Interests
- Immunotherapy for pediatric and adult central nervous system tumors