Ram Mani, Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Ram Mani, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Pathology and Urology, and is a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. He is a recipient of the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award from the National Institutes of Health and a Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Before starting his research laboratory in 2014, he was a Research Investigator (2011-2014) in the Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His postdoctoral training (2007-2011) is in the area of prostate cancer genomics and epigenetics in Prof. Arul Chinnaiyan’s research group, University of Michigan. His doctoral research from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore is in the area of human molecular genetics.

The overall focus of Dr. Mani’s research group is to study the molecular genetic and epigenetic events associated with cancer development, with the underlying aim of translating this knowledge in to novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic strategies. His research team members employ integrative approaches that include cell-based assays, studies using animal models, analysis of human cancer specimens, next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics to identify (1) the DNA damage and repair pathways that mediate cancer-specific recurrent genomic rearrangements and resistance to targeted therapies, and (2) the functional consequences of epigenetic and transcriptional deregulation in cancer development. These studies will serve as the basis for early cancer detection and therapeutic targeting. The Mani research laboratory is located in the seventh floor of the NB building.

Education

Graduate School: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre ASR (2007), Human Molecular Genetics

Research Interest

Epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer progression
ETS gene fusions in prostate cancer
Genomic rearrangements in cancer
Transcriptional regulation in prostate cancer

Publications

Featured Publications

PAX2 is Transcriptionally Silenced by a Distinct Mechanism of Epigenetic Reprogramming to Initiate Endometrial Carcinogenesis.: Sahoo SS, Ramanand SG, Cuevas IC, Gao Y, Lee S, Abbas A, Zhang X, Kumar A, Koduru P, Roy S, Broaddus RR, Bae-Jump VL, Gladden AB, Lea J, Lucas E, Xing C, Kobayashi A, Mani RS, Castrillon DH, bioRxiv 2024 Dec
ChIPr: accurate prediction of cohesin-mediated 3D genome organization from 2D chromatin features.: Abbas A, Chandratre K, Gao Y, Yuan J, Zhang MQ, Mani RS, Genome Biol 2024 Jan 25 1 15
Prostate cancer transcriptomic regulation by the interplay of germline risk alleles, somatic mutations and 3D-genomic architecture.: Yuan J, Houlahan KE, Ramanand SG, Lee S, Baek G, Yang Y, Chen Y, Strand DW, Zhang MQ, Boutros PC, Mani RS, Cancer Discov 2022 Sep
FOXA2 suppresses endometrial carcinogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by regulating enhancer activity.: Sahoo SS, Ramanand SG, Gao Y, Abbas A, Kumar A, Cuevas IC, Li HD, Aguilar M, Xing C, Mani RS, Castrillon DH, J Clin Invest 2022 Jun 132 12
Targeting radioresistance and replication fork stability in prostate cancer.: Li X, Baek G, Carreira S, Yuan W, Ma S, Hofstad M, Lee S, Gao Y, Bertan C, Fenor de la Maza MLD, Alluri PG, Burma S, Chen BP, Raj GV, de Bono J, Pommier Y, Mani RS, JCI Insight 2022 Mar
The landscape of RNA polymerase II associated chromatin interactions in prostate cancer.: Ramanand SG, Chen Y, Yuan J, Daescu K, Lambros M, Houlahan KE, Carreira S, Yuan W, Baek G, Sharp A, Paschalis A, Kanchwala M, Gao Y, Aslam A, Safdar N, Zhan X, Raj GV, Xing C, Boutros PC, de Bono J, Zhang MQ, Mani RS, J. Clin. Invest. 2020 Apr
BRD4 Promotes DNA Repair and Mediates the Formation of TMPRSS2-ERG Gene Rearrangements in Prostate Cancer.: Li X, Baek G, Ramanand SG, Sharp A, Gao Y, Yuan W, Welti J, Rodrigues DN, Dolling D, Figueiredo I, Sumanasuriya S, Crespo M, Aslam A, Li R, Yin Y, Mukherjee B, Kanchwala M, Hughes AM, Halsey WS, Chiang CM, Xing C, Raj GV, Burma S, de Bono J, Mani RS Cell Rep 2018 Jan 22 3 796-808
Inflammation-Induced Oxidative Stress Mediates Gene Fusion Formation in Prostate Cancer.: Mani RS, Amin MA, Li X, Kalyana-Sundaram S, Veeneman BA, Wang L, Ghosh A, Aslam A, Ramanand SG, Rabquer BJ, Kimura W, Tran M, Cao X, Roychowdhury S, Dhanasekaran SM, Palanisamy N, Sadek HA, Kapur P, Koch AE, Chinnaiyan AM Cell Rep 2016 Dec 17 10 2620-2631
Induced chromosomal proximity and gene fusions in prostate cancer.: Mani RS, Tomlins SA, Callahan K, Ghosh A, Nyati MK, Varambally S, Palanisamy N, Chinnaiyan AM Science 2009 Nov 326 5957 1230
The Germline and Somatic Origins of Prostate Cancer Heterogeneity.: Yamaguchi TN, Houlahan KE, Zhu H, Kurganovs N, Livingstone J, Fox NS, Yuan J, Sietsma Penington J, Jung CH, Schwarz T, Jaratlerdsiri W, van Riet J, Georgeson P, Mangiola S, Taraszka K, Lesurf R, Jiang J, Chow K, Heisler LE, Shiah YJ, Ramanand SG, Clarkson MJ, Nguyen A, Espiritu SMG, Stuchbery R, Jovelin R, Huang V, Bell C, O'Connor E, McCoy PJ, Lalansingh CM, Cmero M, Salcedo A, Chan EKF, Liu LY, Stricker PD, Bhandari V, Bornman RMS, Sendorek DH, Lonie A, Prokopec SD, Fraser M, Peters JS, Foucal A, Mutambirwa SBA, Mcintosh L, Orain M, Wakefield M, Picard V, Park DJ, Hovington H, Kerger M, Bergeron A, Sabelnykova V, Seo JH, Pomerantz MM, Zaitlen N, Waszak SM, Gusev A, Lacombe L, Fradet Y, Ryan A, Kishan AU, Lolkema MP, Weischenfeldt J, Têtu B, Costello AJ, Hayes VM, Hung RJ, He HH, McPherson JD, Pasaniuc B, van der Kwast T, Papenfuss AT, Freedman ML, Pope BJ, Bristow RG, Mani RS, Corcoran NM, Reimand J, Hovens CM, Boutros PC, Cancer Discov 2025 Feb

Honors & Awards

American Cancer Society (ACS-IRG) New Investigator Award in Cancer Research
(2014-2015)
NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00)
(2012-2017)
AACR-Prostate Cancer Foundation Scholar-in-Training Award
(2011)
AACR‑Aflac, Incorporated Scholar-in-Training Award
(2010)
Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
(2010-2013)