Find The Cause Research Consortium
Published Papers
Consortium peer-reviewed, full length publications and abstracts:
(Click on link next to each Consortium member’s name for a complete list)
David Sherr, Ph.D David Sherr | SPH (bu.edu)
Professor of Environmental Health
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Director, Boston University Superfund Research Program
Co-Director, Cancer Intercept Program, BU School of Medicine
Stefano Monti, Ph.D Stefano Monti | SPH (bu.edu)
Associate Professor of Medicine, Biostatistics, and Bioinformatics, BU School of Medicine
Affiliate Member, Hariri Institute for Computing and CS&E
Affiliate Member, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard
Gail E. Sonenshein, Ph.D https://sackler.tufts.edu/facultyResearch/faculty/sonenshein-gail/publications
Professor of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology
Tufts University School of Medicine
Charlotte Kuperwasser, Ph.D https://sackler.tufts.edu/facultyResearch/faculty/kuperwaasser-charlotte/publications
Director, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Convergence Laboratory (RBSCL)
Professor of Developmental, Molecular & Chemical Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine
Investigator, Molecular Oncology Research Institute (MORI)
Full length, peer-reviewed and funded in part through Find The Cause (2017-2021):
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor suppresses immunity to oral squamous cell carcinoma through immune checkpoint regulation | PNAS , Zhongyan Wang, , ,
New Candidate Cancer Genes Identified Using Math Models. Li A, Monti S.
The Carcinogenome Project: In Vitro Gene Expression Profiling of Chemical Perturbations to Predict Long-Term Carcinogenicity. S, Sherr DH, Monti S., Li A, Lu X, Natoli T, Bittker J, Sipes NS, Subramanian A, Auerbach
Assessment of a Highly Multiplexed RNA Sequencing Platform and Comparison to Existing High-Throughput Gene Expression Profiling Techniques. Monti S., Reed E, Moses E, Xiao X, Liu G, Campbell J, Perdomo C.
Tributyltin induces a transcriptional response without a brite adipocyte signature in adipocyte models. Monti S, Kim S, Li A, Schlezinger J.
Towards Resolving the Pro- and Anti-Tumor Effects of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor. Monti S, Sherr DH, Narasimhan S, Stanford Zulick E, Novikov O, Parks AJ, Schlezinger JJ, Wang Z, Laroche F, Feng H, Mulas F.
Network-based analysis of transcriptional profiles from chemical perturbations experiments. Sherr DH, Monti S., Mulas F, Li A,
The Diverse and Important Contributions of the AHR to Cancer and Cancer Immunity. Monti S., Sherr DH., Wang Z.
Inflammatory breast cancer: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and its target CYP1B1 correlates closely with Wnt5a/b-ß-catenin signalling, the stem cell phenotype and disease progression. Sherr DH, Mohamed HT, Gadalla R, El-Husseiny N, Hassan H, Wang Z, Ibrahim SA, El-Shinawi M, Mohamed MM.
Old Receptor, New Tricks-The Ever-Expanding Universe of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Functions. Sherr DH, Esser C, Lawrence BP, Perdew GH, Puga A, Barouki R, Coumoul X., Perdew GH, Puga A, Barouki R, Coumoul X.
Towards Resolving the Pro- and Anti-Tumor Effects of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor. Monti S, Sherr DH. Narasimhan S, Stanford Zulick E, Novikov O, Parks AJ, Schlezinger JJ, Wang Z, Laroche F, Feng H, Mulas F.
The diverse and important contributions of the AHR to cancer and cancer immunity. Monti S, Sherr DH, Wang Z,.
Find The Cause-funded Poster Presentations and Meeting abstracts (2017-2019):
Li, A, Natoli T, Bittker J., Subramanian A, Auerbach S, Sherr DH, Monti S. Boston University Evans Day. In vitro gene expression profiling to predict chemical carcinogenicity. Boston. 2017.
Wang Z, Monti S, Sherr DH. The diverse and important contributions of the AHR to cancer and cancer immunity. 2017; Current Opinions in Toxicology 2:102-107.
Mulas F, Li A, Sherr DH, Monti S. Network-based analysis of transcriptional profiles from chemical perturbations experiments. BMC Bioinformatics. 2017 Mar 23; 18(Suppl 5):130.View Related Profiles. PMID: 28361664; DOI: 10.1186/s12859-017-1536-9;.
Commodore N, Ramirez-Cardenas A, Sherr DH. Identifying antagonists of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor with biological activity in vitro. 2017. Emerging Researchers National Conference (ERN). Washington, D.C.
Mohamed HT, Gadalla R, El-Ghonaimy EA, El-Husseiny N, Ibrahim SAA, El-Shinawi M, Sherr DH, Mohamed MM. The AHR and CYP1B1 modulate the cancer stem cell phenotype of triple negative inflammatory breast cancer via stimulation of the WNT5a/b and β-catenin signaling pathway. 2017. 9 th International Meeting of the Stem Cell Network. Muenster, Germany
Wang Z. Stanford, EA, Novikov O, Sherr DH. The role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in head and neck cancers. 2017. Boston University/Dana Farber Cancer Center Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Advances in Head and Neck Cancer, Immunotherapy and Precision Medicine. Boston, Ma.
Kenison JE, Wang Z, Ramirez-Cardenas A, Stanford EA, Novikov O, Sherr DH. Targeting the aryl hydrocarbon receptor to both inhibit tumor expansion and enhance tumor immunity; A new immune checkpoint regulator? 2017. New England Immunology Conference. Woods Hole, MA.
Li, A, Natoli T, Bittker J., Subramanian A, Auerbach S, Sherr DH, Monti S. In vitro gene expression profiling to predict chemical carcinogenicity. 2017. Boston University Evans Day. Boston, MA.
Stanford-Zulick EA, Novikov O, Wang Z, Quintana F, Kenison-White J, Sherr DH. The AHR as a driver of tumor aggression and as a novel immune checkpoint regulator. 2017. Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
Wang, Z, Novikov O, Stanford-Zulick EA, Kenison-White J., Sherr DH. Tracking an AHR regulatory circuit in cancer with AHR inhibitors and CRISPR/Cas9 knockdown. 2018. National Academy of Sciences, The Promise of Genome Editing to Advance Environmental Health Research Workshop. Washington, D.C.
Kenison-White J, Wang Z., Sherr DH. The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) as a driver of cancer immunousuppression. 2018. American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, Chicago, Il.
Kenison-White, J, Wang, Z, and Sherr, DH. The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) as a Driver of Cancer Immunity. 2018. New England Immunology Conference, Woods Hole, MA.
Conference Speaking Engagements:
2016 Harvard School of Public Health: “The role of an environmental chemical receptor, the AHR, in cancer stem cell production and invasion”, Boston, MA
2016 Boston University Research on Tap: “The method of functional modules for repositioning drugs for breast cancer therapy”, Boston, MA.
2016 Boston University Research on Tap: “The computational genomics models of environmental chemical carcinogenicity ARC”, Boston, MA.
2016 International AHR Conference 2016, “AHR Control of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Migration and Tumorigenesis. University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY.
2016 International AHR Conference 2016, “Conference Summary”. University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY.
2016 Superfund Research Program Conference Symposium 2016, “Building a robust, adaptive infrastructure for Big Data sharing specifically for environmental scientists”
2017 Ribon Pharmaceuticals. “Targeting the AHR for cancer prevention and treatment”. Cambridge, MA
2017 Kyn Pharmaceuticals. “AHR inhibitors in cancer”
2017 Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute-6 th Annual Translational Science Symposium. “Computational genomic models of environmental and chemical carcinogenicity-predicting the bad guys”. Boston, MA.
2017 Northeast Superfund Research Program. “Why environmental scientists should gravitate towards Big Data and its enormous mass”, Boston, MA.
2017 Northeast Superfund Research Program. “The Boston University Superfund research program in perspective”, Boston, MA.
2017 NIEHS symposium on Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
2017 National Cancer Institute, “The AHR in oral cancer”, Bethesda,, MD.
2017 Yale University, “Exploiting Environmental Chemicals as Probes to Reveal a Role for the AHR in Cancer, Immune Checkpoint Regulation, and Neurodegenerative Disease”. New Haven, CN
2017 University of Memphis, “An environmental chemical receptor that controls multiple contributors to cancer aggression”, Memphis, Tn.
2017 Greater Boston Head and Neck Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research. “Simultaneous targeting of cancer stem cells and the immune response via the AHR in OSCC”, Boston, MA
2018 Northeast Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting. “The Boston University Superfund Research Program”, Woods Hole, MA.
2018 National Academy of Sciences “Tracking an AHR regulatory circuit in cancer with AHR inhibitors, CRISPR/Cas9 knockdown, and other tricks”, Washington, D.C.
2018 The Boston University Cancer Center Annual Symposium “The Cancer Interception Program”, Boston, MA.
2018 Massachusetts State House “The environmental causes of breast cancer”, Boston, MA.
2018 National Cancer Institute, “The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and its role as an immune checkpoint regulator” Bethesda, MD.
2018 Find the Cause Breast Cancer Foundation, Thoreau club “Breast cancer and the environment”, Concord, MA.
2018 University of Paris, Descartes. “The AHR as a driver of cancer and cancer immunity (immunosuppression)”. Paris, France
2018 Breast cancer and the environment panel. “Is it biologically plausible that environmental chemicals contribute to breast cancer? Boston University, Boston, MA.
2019 Cambridge Healthcare Institute, Small Molecules for Immuno-oncology therapeutics. “The role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in cancer immuno-metabolism.”, Cambridge, MA.
2019 Dartmouth College. “The aryl hydrocarbon receptor in cancer progression and tumor immunity”. Hanover, NH.
2019 Dana Farber-Boston University Head and Neck Symposium, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
2019 Dioxin 2019 Conference, Kyoto, Japan
Full length, peer-reviewed and funded in part through Find The Cause (2013-2016):
Smith, BW, Rozelle, SS, Leung A, Ubellacker J, Parks A, Nah SK, French D, Gadue P, Monti S, Shui DHK, Steinberg MH, Frelinger AL, Michelson AD, Theberge R, McComb ME, Costello CE, Kotton, DN, Mostoslavsky G, Sherr DH, and Murphy GJ. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor directs hematopoietic progenitor cell expansion and differentiation. 2013. Blood: 122:376-385 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4083512/
Quintana, F and Sherr, DH. 2013. Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Control of Adaptive Immunity. Pharmacological Reviews. 65:1148-1161 http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/65/4/1148
Monti, S and Sherr DH. 2013. The role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in normal and malignant B cell development. Seminars in Immunopathology 35:705-716. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00281-013-0390-8
Parks, A., Pollastri M, Frangs D, Haigh-Molina S, Ashton T, Ubellacker J, Stanford E
Schlezinger JJ, and Sherr DH. 2013. In silico identification of an aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist with biological activity in vitro and in vivo. Mole. Pharmacol. 86:593-608 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201140/
Gusenleitner, D., Auerbach S, Tice R, Sherr DH, and Monti S. 2014. Genomic models of short-term exposure accurately predict long-term chemical carcinogenicity. PLOS One. 9:e102579. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2014/9/science-newapproach/index.htm
Shivanna, S., Kolandaivelu K, Moshe S, Novikov O, Balcells M, Zheng A, Weinberg J, Francis J, Edelman ER, Sherr DH, and VC. Chitalia. 2016. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is a critical regulator of tissue factor stability and is a novel anti-thrombotic target in uremia. J.Am.Soc. Neph. 27:189-201. PMC4696580 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277409811_The_Aryl_Hydrocarbon_Receptor_is_a_Critical_Regulator_of_Tissue_Factor_Stability_and_an_Antithrombotic_Target_in_Uremia
Gross K, Wronski A, Skibinski A, Phillips S, Kuperwasser C: Cell fate decisions during breast cancer development. Developmental Biology 2015, 4:4. http://www.mdpi.com/2221-3759/4/1/4
Stanford E., Wang Z, Novikov O, Mulas F, Landesman-Bolag E., Monti S, Smith B, Muprhy GJ, and Sherr DH. 2016. The role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the development of cells with molecular and functional characteristics of breast cancer stem cells. BMC Biology. 16;14:20. doi: 10.1186/s12915-016-0240-y. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26984638
Stanford, EA, Ramirez-Cardenas, A, Wang, Z., Novikov, Alamoud, K, Koutrakis, P, Mizgerd, JP, Genco, CA, O, Kukuruzinska, MA, Monti, S, Bais, MV, and Sherr, DH. 2016. The role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and its diverse ligands in oral cancer cell migration and tumorigenesis. Molecular Cancer Research, https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/srp/researchbriefs/view.cfm?Brief_ID=262
Novikov O, Wang Z, Stanford EA, Parks AJ, Ramirez-Cardenas A, Gusenleitner D, Li A, Monti S, Manteiga S, Lee K, and Sherr DH. 2016. An aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated positive feedback loop that enforces cell migration in ER –/PR –/Her2 – human breast cancer cells. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27573671
