Xin Cai, M.D., Ph.D.

Xin Cai M.D. Ph.D is an Assistant Professor and Physician-Scientist in the Department of Radiation Oncology.  His lab studies cancer metabolism and signal tranduction.

Xin earned both his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Harvard University majoring in Chemistry and Physics, followed by the M.D./Ph.D. training at UT Southwestern Medical Center through the Medical Scientist Training Program.  He completed his Radiation Oncology residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he also completed a postdoc fellowship studying cancer metabolism.  Xin has earned many awards and honors, including the HHMI Predoctoral Fellowship, ABR Holman Research Pathway Fellow, and NIH/NCI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.

Xin returned to UTSW as faculty in 2023.  In addition to being the principal investigator of the Cai Lab, he also sees patients as part of the central nervous system (CNS) disease-oriented team in the Radiation Oncology clinic. 

Postdoctoral Fellowship

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 2021, Radiation Oncology

Graduate School

Harvard University (2009), Chemistry

Medical School

UT Southwestern Medical School (2016)

Internship

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2017), Radiation Oncology

Residency

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2021), Radiation Oncology

• Metabolism, signal transduction, mitochondria function, cell growth and proliferation, cancer

A tissue injury sensing and repair pathway distinct from host pathogen defense

Liu S, Hur YH, Cai X, Cong Q, Yang Y, Xu C, Bilate AM, Gonzales KA, Parigi SM, Cowley CJ, Hurwitz B, Luo JD, Tseng T, Gur-Cohen S, Sribour M, Omelchenko T, Levorse J, Pasolli HA, Thompson CB, Mucida D, Fuchs E Cell 2023 May 186 2127-2143.e22

Fibroblast pyruvate carboxylase is required for collagen production in the tumour microenvironment

Schwörer S, Pavlova NN, Cimino FV, King B, Cai X, Sizemore GM, Thompson CB Nature Metabolism 2021 Nov 3 1484-1499

Prion-like polymerization in immunity and inflammation

Cai X, Xu H, Chen ZJ Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 2017 Apr 9

Phosphorylation of innate immune adaptor proteins MAVS, STING, and TRIF induces IRF3 activation

Liu S, Cai X, Wu J, Cong Q, Chen X, Li T, Du F, Ren J, Wu YT, Grishin NV, Chen ZJ Science 2015 Mar 347

TLR3 deficiency in herpes simplex encephalitis: High allelic heterogeneity and recurrence risk

Lim HK, Seppänen M, Hautala T, Ciancanelli MJ, Itan Y, Lafaille FG, Dell W, Lorenzo L, Byun M, Pauwels E, Rönnelid Y, Cai X, Boucherit S, Jouanguy E, Paetau A, Lebon P, Rozenberg F, Tardieu M, Abel L, Yildiran A, Vergison A, Roivainen R, Etzioni A, Tienari PJ, Casanova JL, Zhang SY Neurology 2014 Nov 83 1888-1897

Incomplete specialty referral among children in community health centers

Zuckerman KE, Cai X, Perrin JM, Donelan K Journal of Pediatrics 2011 Jan 158 24-30

Enzymatic primer-extension with glycerol-nucleoside triphosphates on DNA templates

Chen JJ, Tsai CH, Cai X, Horhota AT, McLaughlin LW, Szostak JW PloS one 2009 Mar 4

N2′→ P3′ phosphoramidate glycerol nucleic acid as a potential alternative genetic system

Chen JJ, Cai X, Szostak JW Journal of the American Chemical Society 2009 Feb 131 2119-2121

• ABR Holman Research Pathway Fellow
  
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Predoctoral Fellowship
  
• NIH/NCI K99/R00 Pathway to Early Independence Award
  

• American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) (2016)
• New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) (2016)
• Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) (2016)