Deepak Nijhawan, M.D., Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Deepak Nijhawan, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. A UT Southwestern Presidential Scholar, he holds the Joseph F. Sambrook, Ph.D., Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science.

Originally from Chicago, Dr. Nijhawan received his undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Northwestern University and earned his medical degree and doctorate in biochemistry at UT Southwestern. He completed internal medicine residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and then obtained advanced training through clinical and research fellowships in medical oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Nijhawan joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2012.

Dr. Nijhawan’s research combines chemistry and biology toward the goal of discovering new cancer therapies. His work is particularly centered on orphan compounds, which are chemicals with anticancer activity but no known mechanism of action. Dr. Nijhawan’s lab uses a combination of genetics, biochemistry, and chemistry to uncover the mechanisms of these compounds. These findings, in some cases, represent new starting points for cancer drug development. Discoveries from his research group have been reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals, have led to new patents, and have identified new targets that are undergoing further development in biotechnology companies.

Personal Note

Dr. Nijhawan’s interests outside medicine include cycling, hiking, travel, and sports.

Education

Other Post Graduate Training: UT Southwestern Medical School (2005)
Graduate School: UT Southwestern Medical School (2005)
Medical School: UT Southwestern Medical School (2005)
Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital (2007), Internal Medicine
Fellowship: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2011), Hematology Oncology

Research Interest

Cancer drug discovery
Chemical target identification
Phenotypic screens

Publications

Thiophenyl Derivatives of Nicotinamide Are Metabolized by the NAD Salvage Pathway into Unnatural NAD Derivatives That Inhibit IMPDH and Are Toxic to Peripheral Nerve Cancers: Theodoropoulos PC, Guo HH, Wang W, Crossley E, Rivera Cancel G, Fang M, Nguyen T, Baniasadi H, Williams NS, Ready JM, De Brabander JK, Nijhawan D ACS chemical biology 2024 Jun 19 1339-1350
Discovery and Optimization of N-Arylated Tetracyclic Dicarboximides That Target Primary Glioma Stem-like Cells: Wang HY, Nguyen TP, Sternisha AC, Carroll CL, Cross B, Morlock L, Williams NS, McBrayer S, Nijhawan D, De Brabander JK Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2024 Jun 67 9277-9301
Anticancer benzoxaboroles block pre-mRNA processing by directly inhibiting CPSF3: Tao Y, Budhipramono A, Huang J, Fang M, Xie S, Kim J, Khivansara V, Dominski Z, Tong L, De Brabander JK, Nijhawan D Cell Chemical Biology 2024 Jan 31 139-149.e14
Inducible mismatch repair streamlines forward genetic approaches to target identification of cytotoxic small molecules: Nguyen TP, Fang M, Kim J, Wang B, Lin E, Khivansara V, Barrows N, Rivera-Cancel G, Goralski M, Cervantes CL, Xie S, Peterson JM, Povedano JM, Antczak MI, Posner BA, Harvey CJ, Naughton BT, McFadden DG, Ready JM, De Brabander JK, Nijhawan D Cell Chemical Biology 2023 Nov 30 1453-1467.e8
Selective and brain-penetrant lanosterol synthase inhibitors target glioma stem-like cells by inducing 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol production: Nguyen TP, Wang W, Sternisha AC, Corley CD, Wang HY, Wang X, Ortiz F, Lim SK, Abdullah KG, Parada LF, Williams NS, McBrayer SK, McDonald JG, De Brabander JK, Nijhawan D Cell Chemical Biology 2023 Feb 30 214-229.e18
An oncogenic JMJD6-DGAT1 axis tunes the epigenetic regulation of lipid droplet formation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma: Zhou J, Simon JM, Liao C, Zhang C, Hu L, Zurlo G, Liu X, Fan C, Hepperla A, Jia L, Tcheuyap VT, Zhong H, Elias R, Ye J, Henne WM, Kapur P, Nijhawan D, Brugarolas J, Zhang Q Molecular cell 2022 Aug 82 3030-3044.e8
MIF is a 3’ flap nuclease that facilitates DNA replication and promotes tumor growth: Wang Y, Chen Y, Wang C, Yang M, Wang Y, Bao L, Wang JE, Kim BW, Chan KY, Xu W, Capota E, Ortega J, Nijhawan D, Li GM, Luo W, Wang Y Nature communications 2021 Dec 12
Targeting the spliceosome through RBM39 degradation results in exceptional responses in high-risk neuroblastoma models: Singh S, Quarni W, Goralski M, Wan S, Jin H, van de Velde LA, Fang J, Wu Q, Abu-Zaid A, Wang T, Singh R, Craft D, Fan Y, Confer T, Johnson M, Akers WJ, Wang R, Murray PJ, Thomas PG, Nijhawan D, Davidoff AM, Yang J Science Advances 2021 Nov 7
Tumor-Activated Benzothiazole Inhibitors of Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase: Williams NS, Gonzales S, Naidoo J, Rivera-Cancel G, Voruganti S, Mallipeddi P, Theodoropoulos PC, Geboers S, Chen H, Ortiz F, Posner B, Nijhawan D, Ready JM Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2020 Sep 63 9773-9786
Biomarkers for RBM39 degradation in acute myeloid leukemia: Hsiehchen D, Goralski M, Kim J, Xie Y, Nijhawan D Leukemia 2020 Jul 34 1924-1928

Honors & Awards

Harrington Scholar Innovator Award
Harrington Discovery Institute (2024)
Joseph F. Sambrook, Ph.D. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science
UT Southwestern (2022)
UT Presidential Scholar
UT Southwestern (2021)
Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research
American Society for Clinical Investigation (2018)
Harrington Scholar Innovator Award
Harrington Discovery Institute (2017)
Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award - Continuation
Damon Runyon Foundation (2016)
Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award
Damon Runyon Foundation (2013)
Disease-Oriented Clinical Scholar Award
UT Southwestern (2013)
Distinguished Researcher Award
Presidents Research Council (2013)
ASCO Young Investigator Award
(2011)
Sass Foundation Award
Sass Foundation (2011)
Merck Research Scholar
Merck (2005)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Association of Cancer Research (2007)
American Society of Clinical Investigation (2018)
Conquer Cancer Foundation (2007)