Ariella Hanker, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Associate Professor Schools Medical School | Graduate School Departments Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center | Internal Medicine Graduate Programs Cancer Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology Biography Ariella Hanker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, which she earned with highest distinction. She then earned her doctorate in genetics and molecular biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she conducted graduate research in the laboratory of Channing Der, Ph.D., focusing on strategies to disrupt membrane binding of the small GTPase Rheb, in an effort to block aberrant Rheb/mTOR signaling in cancer. Dr. Hanker pursued postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Carlos Arteaga, M.D., at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During this time, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program and a career development award (K12 award) from the National Cancer Institute. Her postdoctoral studies used transgenic mouse models and human breast cancer xenografts to study mechanisms of resistance to HER2-targeted therapy in HER2+ breast cancer. More recently, Dr. Hanker identified the HER2 T798I gatekeeper mutation as a mechanism of resistance to HER2-targeted therapy in HER2-mutant breast cancer. Dr. Hanker's current work is focused on 1) therapeutic targeting of breast cancer-associated alterations, and 2) delineating mechanisms of resistance to breast cancer targeted therapies, including HER2 inhibitors, antiestrogens, PI3K/AKT inhibitors, and CDK4/6 inhibitors. Dr. Hanker joined the faculty in 2018. Her research program is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Education Undergraduate University of Virginia - Sfs (2004), Chemistry Graduate School University of N C-Chapel Hill (2009) Research Interest Breast Cancer Targeted Therapy Cancer Biology Cancer Genomics Drug Resistance PI3K Pathway Precision Oncology Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Signal Transduction Publications Featured Publications Shaping CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance: BRCA2 germline alterations bias towards RB1 inactivation. Napolitano F, Hanker AB, Cancer Res 2026 Apr CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment modulate response to endocrine therapy in breast cancer. Napolitano F, Wang Y, Sudhan DR, Gonzalez-Ericsson PI, Formisano L, Unni N, Shakeel S, Zhu JZ, Ahuja K, Guo L, Chica-Parrado MR, Matsunaga Y, Luna P, Lin CA, Uemoto Y, Lee KM, Ma H, Evans NJ, Servetto A, Mendiratta S, Barnes SD, Bianco R, Fang YV, Xu L, Lee J, Wang T, Balko JM, Mills GB, Labrie M, Hanker AB, Arteaga CL, J Clin Invest 2025 Dec A bedside-to-bench translational analysis of NF1 alterations and CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance in hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. Lloyd MR, Chica-Parrado R, Weipert CM, Knepper TC, Podany EL, Napolitano F, Ye D, Lin CC, Uemoto Y, Liao J, Wegrzyn C, Walko CM, Ryan LY, Keenan JC, Medford AJ, Liu SA, Wulf GM, Clifton KK, Ma CX, Han HS, Zhang N, Ellisen LW, Bardia A, Arteaga CL, Hanker AB, Wander SA, EBioMedicine 2025 Jun 118 105828 A CDK4-selective inhibitor puts the brakes on cancer cells. Lin CC, Hanker AB, Cancer Cell 2025 Mar 43 3 335-337 ESR1 Y537S and D538G mutations drive resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Lin CA, Chica-Parrado MR, Unni N, Jaeger E, Fang YV, Guo L, Napolitano F, Luna P, Harris M, Chao C, Xu L, Arteaga CL, Hanker AB, Clin Cancer Res 2025 Feb Acquired secondary HER2 mutations enhance HER2/MAPK signaling and promote resistance to HER2 kinase inhibition in breast cancer. Marin A, Mamun AA, Patel H, Akamatsu H, Ye D, Sudhan DR, Eli L, Marcelain K, Brown BP, Meiler J, Arteaga CL, Hanker AB, Cancer Res 2023 Jul Co-occurring gain-of-function mutations in HER2 and HER3 modulate HER2/HER3 activation, oncogenesis, and HER2 inhibitor sensitivity. Hanker AB, Brown BP, Meiler J, Marín A, Jayanthan HS, Ye D, Lin CC, Akamatsu H, Lee KM, Chatterjee S, Sudhan DR, Servetto A, Brewer MR, Koch JP, Sheehan JH, He J, Lalani AS, Arteaga CL, Cancer Cell 2021 Jun Overcoming Endocrine Resistance in Breast Cancer. Hanker AB, Sudhan DR, Arteaga CL, Cancer Cell 2020 Apr 37 4 496-513 Hyperactivation of TORC1 Drives Resistance to the Pan-HER Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Neratinib in HER2-Mutant Cancers. Sudhan DR, Guerrero-Zotano A, Won H, González Ericsson P, Servetto A, Huerta-Rosario M, Ye D, Lee KM, Formisano L, Guo Y, Liu Q, Kinch LN, Red Brewer M, Dugger T, Koch J, Wick MJ, Cutler RE, Lalani AS, Bryce R, Auerbach A, Hanker AB, Arteaga CL, Cancer Cell 2020 Jan Challenges for the Clinical Development of PI3K Inhibitors: Strategies to Improve Their Impact in Solid Tumors. Hanker AB, Kaklamani V, Arteaga CL Cancer Discov 2019 Mar Results 1-10 of 42 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Books Featured Books The Roles of Ras Family Small GTPases in Breast Cancer. In Handbook of Cell Signaling 2ed Hanker AB, Der CJ (2009). Cambridge, MA, Academic Press Role of R-Ras in Cell Growth. In Handbook of Cell Signaling 2ed Repasky GA, Cox AD, Hanker AB, Mitin N, Der CJ (2009). Cambridge, MA, Academic Press Honors & Awards AACR NextGen Star (2022) Breast Cancer Research Foundation Award - Abemaciclib Research Program (2020-2023) NIH/NCI SPORE in Breast Cancer Career Enhancement Award (2016) AACR-Susan G. Komen Scholar-in-Training Award, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (2014) Vanderbilt Clinical Oncology Research Career Development Award (K12) (2014) AACR-Aflac, Inc. Scholar-in-Training Award (2013) Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2011) Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Predoctoral Traineeship Award (2006) Highest Distinction, University of Virginia Distinguished Majors Project (2004) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for Cancer Research (2009) Cancer Biology graduate program (2022) Cell and Molecular Biology graduate program (2022) Experimental Therapeutics Program, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (2019) Ipatasertib Project Team, National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (NCI CTEP) (2020-2020)
