Overview

Dr. Alexandros (Alex) Papachristodoulou is a translational cancer biologist and an Assistant Professor at the
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics of the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
and a member of the Center for Cell Signaling and Rutger Cancer Institute (RCI) of New Jersey. He obtained
his MSc in Cancer Therapeutics at the Barts Cancer Institute in London, UK and completed his PhD in Cancer
Biology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Before joining Rutgers as an independent investigator, Alex
completed his postdoctoral training at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he identified novel
subcellular functions for a homeobox gene in prostatic mitochondrial homeostasis, cancer initiation and
treatment response to metformin interception. Now, as an NCI R00 Pathway to Independence, Prostate
Cancer Foundation (PCF) and Society for Basic Urologic Oncology (SBUR) Young Investigator awardee, his
lab engages in correlative studies with novel pre-clinical models and human prostate cancer biobanks to
identify previously unrecognized genetic, mitochondrial and metabolic alterations in high-risk prostate cancer.
In parallel, Alex is currently co-leading the PCF Cancer Disparities working group and is actively engaging in
outreach activities to raise awareness for early prostate cancer detection. The overarching goal of his
independent research is to enhance our understanding on the mitochondrial determinants of cancer initiation,
predisposition to aggressive disease and precision therapy.

Education

D.Phil, 2017, University of Zurich, Zurich Switzerland

Languages

German
Greek

Relevant Publications

Papachristodoulou A*, Heidegger I, Virk RK, Di Bernardo M, Kim JY, Laplanca C, Picech F, Sch??fer G, De Castro GL, Hibshoosh H, Loda M, Klocker H, Rubin AM, Benson CM, McKiernan JM, Dutta A*, Abate-Shen C; Metformin overcomes the consequences of NKX3.1 loss to suppress prostate cancer progression; Eur Urol., Apr;85(4):361-372; *authors contributed equally; 2024

Papachristodoulou A*, Rodriguez-Calero A, Panja S, Margolskee E, Virk RK, Milner TA, Pina Martina L, Kim JY, Di Bernardo M, Williams AB, Maliza EA, Caputo JM, Haas C, Wang V, De Castro GL, Wenske S, Hibshoosh H, McKiernan JM, Shen M, Rubin M, Mitrofanova A, Dutta A*, Abate-Shen C; NKX3.1 localization to mitochondria suppresses prostate cancer initiation; Cancer Discov. 11(9):2316-2333; *authors contributed equally; 2021

Lopez-Bujanda ZA, Obradovic A, Nirschl RT, O'Donnell T, Laserson U, Macedo-Gonzales RJ, Crawley L, Papachristodoulou A, Reshef R, Yuan T, Soni KM, Antonarakis ES, Larman BH, Shen M, Muranski P, Drake CG; TGM4: An immunogenic prostate-restricted antigen. J. Immunother Cancer. 9(6):e001649; 2021

Papachristodoulou A*, Silginer M*, Weller M, Schneider H, Hasenbach K, Janicot M, Roth P.; Therapeutic targeting of TGF-?? ligands in glioblastoma using novel antisense oligonucleotides reduces the growth of experimental gliomas; Clin Cancer Res. 25(23):7189-7201. *authors contributed equally; 2019

Papachristodoulou A*, Signorell RD*, Werner B, Brambila D, Luciani P, Cavusoglu M, Grandjean J, Silginer M, Rudin M, Martin E, Weller M, Roth P, Leroux JC.; Chemotherapy sensitization of glioblastoma by ultrasound-mediated delivery of therapeutic liposomes. J. Control Release. 295:130-139. *authors contributed equally; 2019

Areas Of Interest

Health Disparities

Metabolism

Mitochondria

Precision Medicine

Prostate cancer

Course List

EDUC9080K

QA/QI Studies

Translational prostate cancer research and mitochondrial biology laboratory

Our laboratory uses a plethora of pre-clinical models, which recapitulate the genetics, progression and
heterogeneity of human prostate tumors as well as genome base editing tools to readily characterize the
function of pathogenic mtDNA alterations. We are particularly interested in determining the functional impact
and clinical relevance of genetic and metabolic factors for prostate cancer progression and disparities. By
understanding how these alterations confer specific vulnerabilities to more aggressive tumors, his studies aim
at developing novel precision medicine strategies that can improve patient care.