Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development; Director, Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program (CRI) Professor & Director Endowed Title Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for the Study of Human Growth and Development; Philip O'Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D., Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology; Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research Schools Medical School | Graduate School Departments Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development | Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern | Pediatrics Graduate Programs Cancer Biology, Genetics, Development and Disease You have reached the Academic Profile. For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile. Biography Download Curriculum Vitae Ralph DeBerardinis earned a B.S. in biology from St. Joseph's University and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He performed his Ph.D. research on mammalian retrotransposons with Haig H. Kazazian, Jr. Dr. DeBerardinis was the first trainee in the combined residency program in pediatrics and medical genetics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and received several awards for teaching and clinical care. He ultimately achieved board certification in pediatrics, medical genetics, and clinical biochemical genetics. Dr. DeBerardinis performed postdoctoral research in Craig Thompson's laboratory at the Penn Cancer Center from 2004 to 2007. He joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2008 and joined Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) in 2011, where he is Director of CRI's Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program. In 2024, Dr. DeBerardinis was appointed Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development at UT Southwestern. Dr. DeBerardinis received Outstanding Investigator Awards from the National Cancer Institute in 2017 and 2023, and he was named an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2018. He received the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas in 2019 and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research in 2021. Dr. DeBerardinis holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for the Study of Human Growth and Development, the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D., Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, and is a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research. In 2020, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. The DeBerardinis Lab is interested in the role of altered metabolic states in human diseases, particularly pediatric inborn errors of metabolism and cancer. This research is tightly integrated with clinical activities in medical genetics, oncology, and radiology, providing seamless opportunities to examine the relevance of findings in patients. Education Medical School University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2000) Residency Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2005), Pediatrics & Medical Genetics Research Interest Cancer Genetic disorders in children Inborn errors of metabolism Metabolism Publications ZNF395 Is a Hypoxia-Responsive Regulator of Mitochondrial Glutaminolysis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Koh J, Liao C, Ng MS, Hong JH, Heng HL, Gui DY, Wang Z, Chua BY, Li Z, Sobota RM, Lee LS, Iqbal J, Lim KJ, Bezwada D, DeBerardinis RJ, Steger G, Ching J, Tan P, Teh BT, Zhang Q, Yao X Cancer research 2026 Apr 86 1676-1689 LINE-1 Locus Transcription Nucleates Oncogenic Chromatin Architecture Lee M, Zhang Y, Lim JY, Dai T, Ye J, Cervantes MB, Sondhi V, Zheng S, Kim YJ, Chen B, Deberardinis RJ, Xu J Cancer discovery 2026 Apr 16 800-821 Stable isotope tracing in human plasma-like medium reveals metabolic and immune modulation of the glioblastoma microenvironment Savani MR, El Shami M, Miki K, Gattie LC, Smith BC, Hicks WH, Weiss JO, Oken SS, Katta LN, Shipman T, Ghoche MT, Zacharias LG, Martin-Sandoval MS, Montgomery EY, Xiao Y, Shi DD, Rich JN, Richardson TE, Zinn PO, Lega BC, Mathews TP, DeBerardinis RJ, Abdullah KG, McBrayer SK Neuro-oncology 2026 Feb 28 415-429 A recurrent ACAA2 variant causes a dominant syndrome of lipodystrophy, lipomatosis, infantile steatohepatitis, and hypoglycemia Simha V, LoPiccolo MK, Platt A, Brown RJ, Johnson X, Carere DA, Donnelly C, Snyder MT, Xing C, Mathews TP, Gopal P, Ward SC, Tomchick DR, Agarwal AK, DeBerardinis RJ, Garg A The Journal of clinical investigation 2026 Jan 136 TMPRSS11B promotes an acidified microenvironment and immune suppression in squamous lung cancer Sunil HS, Clemenceau JR, Grichuk A, Barnfather I, Nakkireddy SR, Izzo L, Feng Q, Hartnett W, Evers BM, Thomas L, Subramaniyan I, Li L, Putnam WC, Hepensteil S, Zhu J, Updegraff B, Minna JD, DeBerardinis RJ, Hwang TH, Gao J, Oliver TG, O’Donnell KA EMBO Reports 2025 Dec 26 6346-6379 NUDT5 regulates purine metabolism and thiopurine sensitivity by interacting with PPAT Wu Z, Nguyen PT, Sondhi V, Yao RW, Lu Z, Dai T, Chiang JC, Cai F, Williams IM, Blatt EB, Shang Z, Cai L, Zhang J, Moore MD, Alshamleh I, Li X, Ogu T, Zacharias LG, Winston R, Patricio JS, Johnson X, Chen WM, Cong Q, Mathews TP, Zhang Y, Zhang L, DeBerardinis RJ Science 2025 Dec 390 1134-1142 BBOX1 restrains TBK1-mTORC1 oncogenic signaling in clear cell renal cell carcinoma Liao C, Hu L, Jia L, Zhou J, Wang T, Kim K, Zhong H, Yao H, Dong L, Guo L, Liang Q, Zhang C, Zhao F, Fang J, Liu H, Li S, Xu L, Simon JM, Malladi S, Kapur P, Brugarolas J, DeBerardinis RJ, Zhang Q Nature communications 2025 Dec 16 Cancer Metabolism: Historical Landmarks, New Concepts, and Opportunities Chandel NS, Vousden KH, Deberardinis RJ Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine 2025 Dec 15 Cancer Metabolism: Aspirations for the Coming Decade DeBerardinis RJ, Vousden KH, Chandel NS Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine 2025 Oct 15 Glycosaminoglycan-driven lipoprotein uptake protects tumours from ferroptosis Calhoon D, Sang L, Ji F, Bezwada D, Hsu SC, Cai F, Kim N, Basu A, Wu R, Pimentel A, Brooks B, La K, Paulina Serrano A, Cassidy DL, Cai L, Toffessi-Tcheuyap V, Moussa ME, Uritboonthai W, Hoang LT, Kolli M, Jackson B, Margulis V, Siuzdak G, Brugarolas J, Corbin I, Pratt DA, Weiss RJ, DeBerardinis RJ, Birsoy K, Garcia-Bermudez J Nature 2025 Aug 644 799-808 Results 1-10 of 313 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Honors & Awards Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research (2021) National Academy of Medicine (2020) Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine (2019) Best Pediatric Specialists/Doctors in DallasD Magazine (2016) (2018) Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (2018) Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar (2017) NCI Outstanding Investigator (2017) Robert L. Moody, Sr. Faculty Scholar (2017) Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Award (2011) President's Research Council Distinguished Young Researcher Award (2008) Soc. for Inherited Metabolic Disorders Neil Buist Award (2008) Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research (2008) William K. Bowes, Jr. Award in Medical Genetics (2008) CHOP Pediatric Scholars Program & Faculty Honor Roll (2007) American Society for Clinical Investigation Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for Cancer Research American Society for Clinical Investigation (2013) American Society of Human Genetics Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (2012) Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2018) National Academy of Medicine (2020) Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders Society for Pediatrics Research
