John A. Ligon
University of Florida, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, University of Texas Southwestern, National Cancer Institute
Research areas: Medicine · Oncology · Immunotherapy and Immune Responses · Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers · CAR-T cell therapy research
0000-0001-5513-1233
About
Despite advances in immune-based therapies for other types of cancer, this approach thus far has been ineffective for many pediatric cancers, especially solid tumors. My research focus lies in understanding the adoptive resistance mechanisms that enable tumor immune evasion in pediatric cancer, and rationally investigating how we can overcome these challenges with targeted immunotherapy.
With an interest in harnessing the immune system to continue to improve outcomes for patients whose disease has not been cured with available treatment modalities, during my pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at the joint Johns Hopkin/NCI program I sought out a project to understand the principles of the tumor microenvironment. Under the mentorship of Dr. Drew Pardoll and Dr. Nicolas Llosa, my research elucidated immunosuppressive mechanisms present within the tumor microenvironment which prevent metastatic osteosarcoma from being recognized and destroyed by the immune system. Through this process, I gained expertise in a wide array of basic science techniques, including tumor processing, immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis, laser-capture microdissection, RNA extraction from tumor tissue, RNA seq, transcriptomic analysis, multiparameter flow cytometry, and intracellular cytokine secretion assays, amongst other methodologies. To solidify my expertise in the management of patients with sarcomas, I undertook a senior fellowship in Pediatric Sarcoma from 2018-2020 at Johns Hopkins. This experience complemented my research interests and enabled me to understand the complexity of patients with relapsed/refractory solid tumors who may present for immunotherapy-based clinical trials.
To consolidate my interest in translational research, I shifted gears to work on clinical implementation of laboratory efforts. Thus, I pursued a senior Pediatric Immunotherapy fellowship at the National Cancer Institute under the mentorship of John Glod and Nirali Shah. I am gaining experience in clinical trial design and toxicity management of novel immunotherapies, with a specific focus on cell therapy. My laboratory-based experiences have further prepared me well to incorporate meaningful bench-to-bedside, and bedside-to-bench correlative studies into these trials. I am the Lead Associate Investigator (LAI) for an upcoming phase 1/2 CAR T cell trial, which should open in 2021.
Employment
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University of Florida Assistant Professor2022 - Present
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Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Research fellow2016 - Present
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National Cancer Institute Clinical fellow2016 - 2022
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Children's Health Children's Medical Center Dallas Resident physician2013 - 2016
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Trinity University Teaching assistant2007 - 2007
Education
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Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and National Institutes of Health Fellow in pediatric oncology2016 - 2019
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University of Texas Southwestern Residency in pediatrics2013 - 2016
- 2009 - 2013
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Trinity University BS, biochemistry and molecular biology. Magna cum laude2005 - 2009
Projects & Funding
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Laboratory Research Fellowship Training in Pediatric Oncology/Hematology NIH/NCI2016 - 2020
Publications (39)
- Data from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Role of race and ethnicity in survival among children/young adults with relapsed ALL: a Children’s Oncology Group report Save
- Supplementary Appendix S1 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Supplementary Table S2 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Gene-edited CAR T cells: going the distance in B-ALL Save
- Access to CARe: A Narrative of Real‐World Medical Decision‐Making to Access Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T‐Cell Therapy in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Save
- Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy and Potential for Impact on Fertility: A Need for Evidence-Based Guidance Save
- INSPIRED Symposium Part 4B: Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Correlative Studies—Established Findings and Future Priorities Save
- Data from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Supplementary Appendix S1 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Supplementary Appendix S1 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Supplementary Table S2 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Supplementary Table S2 from A Phase II Trial of Guadecitabine in Children and Adults with SDH-Deficient GIST, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and HLRCC-Associated Renal Cell Carcinoma Save
- Data from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Data from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Supplementary Data from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Supplementary Data from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Supplementary Figures from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Supplementary Figures from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save
- Supplementary figures description from The Immunosuppressive Niche of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas is Sustained by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Characterized by Intratumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Save