John Minna, M.D.
Professor & Director

Dr. Minna is Director of the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He holds the Max L. Thomas Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pulmonary Oncology and the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research (1991-present). He graduated from Stanford Medical School where he did research with Dr. Leonard Herzenberg, was a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Research Associate at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (under Dr. Marshal Nirenberg), Chief of the Section of Somatic Cell Genetics, Chief of the NCI-VA and then NCI-Navy Medical Oncology Branches at the National Cancer Institute (1975-1991).  His work has focused on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of lung cancer and translating this into the clinic.  As part of this he has trained many investigators in lung cancer research.  He has led a joint Lung Cancer NCI Special Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant between UTSW and the MD Anderson Cancer Center and is part of several NCI and State of Texas Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (CPRIT) multi-investigator grants to discover new therapeutic approaches and personalized medicine for lung cancer.  He co-leads the Experimental Therapeutics Program for the UTSW Simmons Cancer Center. Currently he is working with a team of UTSW and MDACC scientists to discover all of the “acquired vulnerabilities” in lung cancer and their associated predictive molecular signatures to provide a new functional classification of lung cancer and rationale therapeutics for all new lung cancer patients. He has served on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute, Scientific Advisory Boards for several Cancer Centers, several cancer research foundation including the V-Foundation, Forbeck Foundation, as well as for the National Cancer Institute, the Board of Directors for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

He has received numerous awards including: PHS  (Commendation Medal (1979), Meritorious Service Medical (1986), Unit Commendation Medal (1991)); Rosenthal Prize for Cancer Research (1984); Milken Foundation Award for Scientific Excellence in Clinical Research (1989); Chester Stock Award, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (1992); Bristol Myers Squibb Award for Lung Cancer Research (1997); Moran Award Univ. Michigan (2000), NCI SPORE Program Award for Leadership (2003), Ochsner Award Smoking Related Research (2004), ASCO Scientific Achievement Award (2005), Pfizer Visiting Professor Oncology (Vanderbilt, 2006), ASCO Statesman Award (2007), Baylor College of Medicine Helis Foundation Award for Lifetime Achievement in Lung Cancer Research (2010), Addario Lung Cancer Foundation Asclepios Award (2012), United Against Lung Cancer (UALC), Caine Halter Hope Now Award for Lung Cancer Research (2013), Giants of Cancer Care (2015), Abbott ISOBM Award (2016).

Medical School

Stanford University Medical Center (1967)

Internship

Massachusetts General Hospital (1968), Medicine

Residency

Massachusetts General Hospital (1969), Medicine

Fellowship

National Institutes of Health (1973), Biochemical Genetics

• Breast Cancer
• Genome wide mRNA, protein, and DNA analysis
• Lung Cancer
• Molecular biomarkers of response to cancer therapy
• Molecular pathogenesis of human cancer

Featured Publications

Circulating mitochondrial DNA as a biomarker for lung cancer screening.

von Itzstein MS, Gerber DE, Minna JD, Transl Lung Cancer Res 2022 Aug 11 8 1522-1525

Longitudinal COVID-19 Vaccination-Induced Antibody Responses and Omicron Neutralization in Patients With Lung Cancer.

Mack PC, Hirsch FR, Bunn PA, Minna JD, J Clin Oncol 2022 Jun JCO2201136

Longitudinal COVID-19-vaccination-induced antibody responses and Omicron neutralization in patients with lung cancer.

Mack PC, Gomez JE, Rodilla AM, Carreño JM, Hsu CY, Rolfo C, Meshulami N, Moore A, Brody RI, King JC, Treatman J, Lee S, Raskin A, Srivastava K, Gleason CR, de Miguel-Perez D, Tcheou J, Bielak D, Acharya R, Gerber DE, Rohs N, Henschke CI, Yankelevitz DF, Simon V, Minna JD, Bunn PA, García-Sastre A, Krammer F, Shyr Y, Hirsch FR, Cancer Cell 2022 Apr

Lung Cancer Cell of Origin: Controversy and Clinical Translational Implications.

Osborne JK, Minna JD, Cancer Res 2022 Mar 82 6 972-973

AP-1 leads the way in lung cancer transformation.

Kim J, Minna JD, Dev Cell 2022 02 57 3 292-294

Comprehensive targeting of resistance to inhibition of RTK signaling pathways by using glucocorticoids.

Gong K, Guo G, Beckley NA, Yang X, Zhang Y, Gerber DE, Minna JD, Burma S, Zhao D, Akbay EA, Habib AA, Nat Commun 2021 12 12 1 7014

Lung Cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection: Identifying important knowledge gaps for investigation.

Rolfo C, Meshulami N, Russo A, Krammer F, Garcia-Sastre A, Mack PC, Gomez JE, Bhardwaj N, Benyounes A, Sirera R, Moore A, Rohs N, Henschke CI, Yankelevitz D, King J, Shyr Y, Bunn PA, Minna JD, Hirsch FR, J Thorac Oncol 2021 Nov

Phosphatidylserine receptors enhance SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Bohan D, Van Ert H, Ruggio N, Rogers KJ, Badreddine M, Aguilar Briseño JA, Elliff JM, Rojas Chavez RA, Gao B, Stokowy T, Christakou E, Kursula P, Micklem D, Gausdal G, Haim H, Minna J, Lorens JB, Maury W, PLoS Pathog 2021 Nov 17 11 e1009743

ASCL1, NKX2-1, and PROX1 co-regulate subtype-specific genes in small-cell lung cancer.

Pozo K, Kollipara RK, Kelenis DP, Rodarte KE, Ullrich MS, Zhang X, Minna JD, Johnson JE, iScience 2021 Sep 24 9 102953

Dual targeting of CTLA-4 and CD47 on T_reg cells promotes immunity against solid tumors.

Zhang A, Ren Z, Tseng KF, Liu X, Li H, Lu C, Cai Y, Minna JD, Fu YX, Sci Transl Med 2021 08 13 605

• ASCO Award
  Statesman (2007)
• ASCO Award
  Lifetime Scientific Achievement (2005)
• Ochsner Award
  Award for Smoking Related Research (2004)
• Bristol Myers Squibb Award
  Award for Lung Cancer Research (1997)
• Rosenthal Prize
  Prize for Cancer Research (1984)

• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• ASBMB, ASCI, AFCR, ASH, IASLC
• Association of American Physicians (AAP)
• Fellow American College of Physicians (FACP)