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Rebecca Dodd, PhD

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine-Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Introduction

The Dodd lab studies soft-tissue sarcomas, a type of cancer that develops in connective tissue such as muscle, nerves, fat, or tendons. Our research program designs and utilizes powerful in vivo model systems to directly address critical questions in tumor biology. Specific areas of research include 1) the genetics of sarcoma, 2) the tumor microenvironment, 3) preclinical platform applications, and 4) novel genome editing tools.

Current Positions

  • Associate Professor of Internal Medicine-Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
  • PhD, Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Graduate Program Affiliations

Center, Program and Institute Affiliations

Selected Publications

  • Dravillas CE, Coleman SS 4th, Hoyd R, Caryotakis G, Denko L, Chan CHF, Churchman ML, Denko N, Dodd RD, Eljilany I, Hardikar S, Husain M, Ikeguchi AP, Jin N, Ma Q, McCarter MD, Osman AEG, Robinson LA, Singer EA, Tinoco G, Ulrich CM, Zakharia Y, Spakowicz D, Tarhini AA, Tan AC; exORIEN Consortium. The Tumor Microbiome as a Predictor of Outcomes in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Aug 1;4(8):1978-1990. DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0170. PMID: 39015091; PMCID: PMC11307144.
  • Benej M, Hoyd R, Kreamer M, Wheeler CE, Grencewicz DJ, Choueiry F, Chan CHF, Zakharia Y, Ma Q, Dodd RD, Ulrich CM, Hardikar S, Churchman ML, Tarhini AA, Robinson LA, Singer EA, Ikeguchi AP, McCarter MD, Tinoco G, Husain M, Jin N, Tan AC, Osman AEG, Eljilany I, Riedlinger G, Schneider BP, Benejova K, Kery M, Papandreou I, Zhu J, Denko N, Spakowicz D; exORIEN Consortium. The Tumor Microbiome Reacts to Hypoxia and Can Influence Response to Radiation Treatment in Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Jul 1;4(7):1690-1701. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0367. PMID: 38904265; PMCID: PMC11234499.
  • Swier VJ, White KA, Negrão de Assis PL, Johnson TB, Leppert HG, Rechtzigel MJ, Meyerholz DK, Dodd RD, Quelle DE, Khanna R, Rogers CS, Weimer JM. NF1+/ex42del miniswine model the cellular disruptions and behavioral presentations of NF1-associated cognitive and motor impairment. Clin Transl Sci. 2024 Jun;17(6):e13858. doi: 10.1111/cts.13858. PMID: 38932491; PMCID: PMC11208292.
  • Brockman QR, Rytlewski JD, Milhem M, Monga V, Dodd RD. Integrated Epigenetic and Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies Interleukin 17 DNA Methylation Signature of Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor Progression and Metastasis. JCO Precis Oncol. 2024 May;8:e2300325. doi: 10.1200/PO.23.00325. PMID: 38820476; PMCID: PMC11552688.
  • Zaher A, Mapuskar KA, Petronek MS, Tanas MR, Isaacson AL, Dodd RD, Milhem M, Furqan M, Spitz DR, Miller BJ, Beardsley RA, Allen BG. Superoxide Dismutase Mimetic Avasopasem Manganese Enhances Radiation Therapy Effectiveness in Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Accelerates Wound Healing. Antioxidants (Basel). 2024 May 10;13(5):587. doi: 10.3390/antiox13050587. PMID: 38790692; PMCID: PMC11117842.
  • Wang C, Ma A, Li Y, McNutt ME, Zhang S, Zhu J, Hoyd R, Wheeler CE, Robinson LA, Chan CHF, Zakharia Y, Dodd RD, Ulrich CM, Hardikar S, Churchman ML, Tarhini AA, Singer EA, Ikeguchi AP, McCarter MD, Denko N, Tinoco G, Husain M, Jin N, Osman AEG, Eljilany I, Tan AC, Coleman SS, Denko L, Riedlinger G, Schneider BP, Spakowicz D, Ma Q; exORIEN Consortium. A Bioinformatics Tool for Identifying Intratumoral Microbes from the ORIEN Dataset. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Feb 5;4(2):293-302. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0213. PMID: 38259095; PMCID: PMC10840455. 
  • Paudel SN, Hutzen BJ, Miller KE, Garfinkle EAR, Chen CY, Wang PY, Glaspell AM, Currier MA, Ringwalt EM, Boon L, Mardis ER, Cairo MS, Ratner N, Dodd RD, Cassady KA, Cripe TP. Myelomodulatory treatments augment the therapeutic benefit of oncolytic viroimmunotherapy in murine models of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Front Immunol. 2024 Jun 25;15:1384623. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1384623. PMID: 39044819; PMCID: PMC11263800. My independent laboratory assisted with model characterization and data generation
  • Brockman QR, Rytlewski J, Milhem M, Monga V, Dodd RD. Integrated Epigenetic and Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies Interleukin 17 DNA Methylation Signature of MPNST Progression and Metastasis. JCO Precision Oncology, April 2024 All data generated from my independent laboratory PMID: 38820476 PMCID: PMC11552688 DOI: 10.1200/PO.23.00325
  • Wang C, Ma A, Li Y, McNutt ME, Zhang S, Zhu J, Hoyd R, Wheeler CE, Robinson LA, Chan C, Zakharia Y, Dodd RD, Ulrich CM, Hardikar S, Churchman ML, Tarhini AA, Singer EA, Ikeguchi AP, McCarter MD, Denko N, Tinoco G, Husain M, Jin N, Osman A, Eljilany I, Tan AC, Coleman SS, Denko L, Riedlinger G, Schneider BP, Spakowicz D, Ma Q, and the exORIEN Consortium. A Bioinformatics Tool for Identifying updates Intratumoral Microbes from the ORIEN Dataset. Cancer Research Communications (2024) 4 (2): 293–302. PMID: 38259095 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0213 PMCID: PMC10840455 Contributed sarcoma data and expertise