C. David James PhD

C. David James PhD

Professor of Neurological Surgery

Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Endowed Chair

Associate Director and Principal Investigator, Brain Tumor Research Center


C. David James obtained his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio in 1986. He subsequently trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Montreal, with Webster Cavenee PhD, from 1986 to 1989. During his post-doctoral training he developed an interest in the genetics and molecular biology of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, which have served as the primary focus of his research for 25 years. His first independent position was as a Senior Staff Investigator in the Department of Neurosurgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI, where he was a key contributor in launching the institution’s first program in neuro-oncology research.

In 1991, Dr. James relocated to Emory University as a faculty member in the Department of Neurosurgery, and, as before, helped initiate a program in neuro-oncology research. In 1996 he accepted a faculty position in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where he was promoted to Professor in 2001. During his tenure at Mayo (1996 to 2006), Dr. James’ research leadership was of fundamental importance to establishing neuro-oncology as a premier program in the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Center was awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant from the National Cancer Institute in 2004. In 2006, Dr. James joined the faculty of the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery and Brain Tumor Research Center, where he serves as the Center’s Associate Director.

In addition to his independent as well as programmatic research efforts, which utilize CNS tumor genetic information for testing therapeutic hypotheses in rodent models, Dr. James is a member of the editorial boards for the International Journal of Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and he is a Senior Editor for the journal Neuro-Oncology. Dr. James served as the Basic Science Director for the Society for Neuro-Oncology from 1999-2001, and is a current member of the Scientific Advisory Committees for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and the National Brain Tumor Society. In addition to these activities, he has served on numerous review committees for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including his current membership with the Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors Study Section. Dr. James’ research has been continuously supported by the NIH since 1991, he has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed research publications, among which he is best known for his seminal contributions involving genetic alterations that are associated with CNS tumor development.

Read about Dr. James' current research

Selected Professional Memberships and Appointments

Member, Parent Committee, Specialized Projects of Research Excellence (SPORE), NCI, 2005- present
Member, Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors (CNBT) Study Section, NINDS, 2000-2005
Scientific Advisory Committee, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States, 1997- present
Scientific Advisory Committee, Brain Tumor Society, 2007-present
Senior Editor, Neuro-Oncology, 2006- present
Editorial Board, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 1996-2008
Editorial Board, Clinical Cancer Research, 2000-present
Editorial Academy, International Journal of Oncology, 2006-present

Selected Honors and Awards

2006-present: Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Endowed Chair

Selected Recent Publications

Prasad G, Sottero T, Yang X, Mueller S, James CD, Weiss WA, Polley MY, Ozawa T, Berger MS, Aftab DT, Prados MD, Haas-Kogan DA. Inhibition of PI3K/mTOR pathways in glioblastoma and implications for combination therapy with temozolomide. Neuro Oncol 2011;13(4):384-92.

Fan QW, Cheng C, Hackett C, Feldman M, Houseman BT, Nicolaides T, Haas-Kogan D, James CD, Oakes SA, Debnath J, Shokat KM, Weiss WA. Akt and autophagy cooperate to promote survival of drug-resistant glioma. Sci Signal 2010;3(147):ra81.

Serwer L, Hashizume R, Ozawa T, James CD. Systemic and local drug delivery for treating diseases of the central nervous system in rodent models. J Vis Exp 2010;(42). pii: 1992.

Ozawa T, James CD. Establishing intracranial brain tumor xenografts with subsequent analysis of tumor growth and response to therapy using bioluminescence imaging. J Vis Exp 2010;(41). pii: 1986.

Zhu X, Bidlingmaier S, Hashizume R, James CD, Berger MS, Liu B. Identification of Internalizing Human Single-Chain Antibodies Targeting Brain Tumor Sphere Cells. Mol Cancer Ther 2010;9(7):2131-41.

Ward CS, Venkatesh HS, Chaumeil MM, Brandes AH, Vancriekinge M, Dafni H, Sukumar S, Nelson SJ, Vigneron DB, Kurhanewicz J, James CD, Haas-Kogan DA, Ronen SM. Noninvasive detection of target modulation following phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition using hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Cancer Res 2010;70(4):1296-305.

Verhaak RG, Hoadley KA, Purdom E, Wang V, Qi Y, Wilkerson MD, Miller CR, Ding L, Golub T, Mesirov JP, Alexe G, Lawrence M, O'Kelly M, Tamayo P, Weir BA, Gabriel S, Winckler W, Gupta S, Jakkula L, Feiler HS, Hodgson JG, James CD, Sarkaria JN, Brennan C, Kahn A, Spellman PT, Wilson RK, Speed TP, Gray JW, Meyerson M, Getz G, Perou CM, Hayes DN; Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Integrated genomic analysis identifies clinically relevant subtypes of glioblastoma characterized by abnormalities in PDGFRA, IDH1, EGFR, and NF1. Cancer Cell 2010;17(1):98-110.

Schiffman JD, Hodgson JG, VandenBerg SR, Flaherty P, Polley MY, Yu M, Fisher PG, Rowitch DH, Ford JM, Berger MS, Ji H, Gutmann DH, James CD. Oncogenic BRAF mutation with CDKN2A inactivation is characteristic of a subset of pediatric malignant astrocytomas. Cancer Res 2010;70(2):512-9.

Costa BM, Smith JS, Chen Y, Chen J, Phillips HS, Aldape KD, Zardo G, Nigro J, James CD, Fridlyand J, Reis RM, Costello JF. Reversing HOXA9 oncogene activation by PI3K inhibition: epigenetic mechanism and prognostic significance in human glioblastoma. Cancer Res 2010;70(2):453-62.

Sughrue ME, Yang I, Kane AJ, Rutkowski MJ, Fang S, James CD, Parsa AT. Immunological considerations of modern animal models of malignant primary brain tumors [Review]. J Transl Med 2009;7:84.

Silber J, James CD, Hodgson JG. microRNAs in gliomas: small regulators of a big problem [Review]. Neuromolecular Med 2009;11(3):208-22.

Carlson BL, Grogan PT, Mladek AC, Schroeder MA, Kitange GJ, Decker PA, Giannini C, Wu W, Ballman KA, James CD, Sarkaria JN. Radiosensitizing effects of temozolomide observed in vivo only in a subset of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase methylated glioblastoma multiforme xenografts. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2009;75(1):212-9.

Lu KV, Zhu S, Cvrljevic A, Huang TT, Sarkaria S, Ahkavan D, Dang J, Dinca EB, Plaisier SB, Oderberg I, Lee Y, Chen Z, Caldwell JS, Xie Y, Loo JA, Seligson D, Chakravari A, Lee FY, Weinmann R, Cloughesy TF, Nelson SF, Bergers G, Graeber T, Furnari FB, James CD, Cavenee WK, Johns TG, Mischel PS. Fyn and SRC are effectors of oncogenic epidermal growth factor receptor signaling in glioblastoma patients. Cancer Res 2009;69(17):6889-98.

Hashizume R, Ozawa T, Dinca EB, Banerjee A, Prados MD, James CD, Gupta N. A human brainstem glioma xenograft model enabled for bioluminescence imaging. J Neurooncol 2010;96(2):151-9.

Kadoch C, Dinca EB, Voicu R, Chen L, Nguyen D, Parikh S, Karrim J, Shuman MA, Lowell CA, Treseler PA, James CD, Rubenstein JL. Pathologic correlates of primary central nervous system lymphoma defined in an orthotopic xenograft model. Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(6):1989-97.

Chi JH, Panner A, Cachola K, Crane CA, Murray J, Pieper RO, James CD, Parsa AT. Increased expression of the glioma-associated antigen ARF4L after loss of the tumor suppressor PTEN. J Neurosurg 2008;108(2):299-303.
 
McAvoy S, Ganapathiraju S, Perez DS, James CD, Smith DI. DMD and IL1RAPL1: two large adjacent genes localized within a common fragile site (FRAXC) have reduced expression in cultured brain tumors. Cytogenet Genome Res 2007;119(3-4):196-203.
 
Baia GS, Dinca EB, Ozawa T, Kimura ET, McDermott MW, James CD, Vandenberg SR, Lal A. An Orthotopic Skull Base Model of Malignant Meningioma. Brain Pathol 2007;18(2):172-9.
 
Liu C, Sarkaria JN, Petell CA, Paraskevakou G, Zollman PJ, Schroeder M, Carlson B, Decker PA, Wu W, James CD, Russell SJ, Galanis E. Combination of measles virus virotherapy and radiation therapy has synergistic activity in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. Clin Cancer Res 2007;13(23):7155-65.
 
McAvoy S, Ganapathiraju SC, Ducharme-Smith AL, Pritchett JR, Kosari F, Perez DS, Zhu Y, James CD, Smith DI. Non-random inactivation of large common fragile site genes in different cancers. Cytogenet Genome Res 2007;118(2-4):260-9.
 
Dinca EB, Sarkaria JN, Schroeder MA, Carlson BL, Voicu R, Gupta N, Berger MS, James CD. Bioluminescence monitoring of intracranial glioblastoma xenograft: response to primary and salvage temozolomide therapy. J Neurosurg 2007;107(3):610-6.
 
Pelloski CE, Ballman KV, Furth AF, Zhang L, Lin E, Sulman EP, Bhat K, McDonald JM, Yung WK, Colman H, Woo SY, Heimberger AB, Suki D, Prados MD, Chang SM, Barker FG 2nd, Buckner JC, James CD, Aldape K. Epidermal growth factor receptor variant III status defines clinically distinct subtypes of glioblastoma. J Clin Oncol 2007;25(16):2288-94.
 
Sarkaria JN, Yang L, Grogan PT, Kitange GJ, Carlson BL, Schroeder MA, Galanis E, Giannini C, Wu W, Dinca EB, James CD. Identification of molecular characteristics correlated with glioblastoma sensitivity to EGFR kinase inhibition through use of an intracranial xenograft test panel. Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(3):1167-74.
 
Yung WK, James CD. Mapping the future of Neuro-Oncology. Neuro Oncol 2007;9(1):1-2.
 
Sarkaria JN, Carlson BL, Schroeder MA, Grogan P, Brown PD, Giannini C, Ballman KV, Kitange GJ, Guha A, Pandita A, James CD. Use of an orthotopic xenograft model for assessing the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor amplification on glioblastoma radiation response. Clin Cancer Res 2006;12(7 Pt 1):2264-71.
 
Pollack IF, Hamilton RL, James CD, Finkelstein SD, Burnham J, Yates AJ, Holmes EJ, Zhou T, Finlay JL; Children's Oncology Group. Rarity of PTEN deletions and EGFR amplification in malignant gliomas of childhood: results from the Children's Cancer Group 945 cohort. J Neurosurg 2006;105(5 Suppl):418-24.
 
Paraskevakou G, Allen C, Nakamura T, Zollman P, James CD, Peng KW, Schroeder M, Russell SJ, Galanis E. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-retargeted measles virus strains effectively target EGFR- or EGFRvIII expressing gliomas. Mol Ther 2007;15(4):677-86.
 
Nakamura T, Peng KW, Harvey M, Greiner S, Lorimer IA, James CD, Russell SJ. Rescue and propagation of fully retargeted oncolytic measles viruses. Nat Biotechnol 2005;23(2):209-14.
 
Giannini C, Sarkaria JN, Saito A, Uhm JH, Galanis E, Carlson BL, Schroeder MA, James CD. Patient tumor EGFR and PDGFRA gene amplifications retained in an invasive intracranial xenograft model of glioblastoma multiforme. Neuro-oncol 2005;7(2):164-76.