Srividya Swaminathan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology
Research Area
Immune profiling of normal and malignant lymphopoiesis
Molecular mechanisms of immune modulation by oncogenes
Development of cell-based and non-cell-based immunotherapies against lymphoid neoplasms
Srividya Swaminathan, Ph.D., is a scholar of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and a former special fellow of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) with 10 years of research experience in hematologyoncology. She obtained her B Tech. degree from the Center for Biotechnology, Anna University in India, followed by a Ph.D. degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She carried out her doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Markus Müschen, M.D., Ph.D., where she studied the cellautonomous processes driving both normal B‐lymphopoiesis and precursor‐B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Subsequently, she trained as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco (Mentor: Dr. Müschen), and Stanford University (Mentor: Dean Felsher, M.D., Ph.D.).
Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Swaminathan served as an instructor in the Department of Oncology at Stanford University, where she delineated the immunobiology of MYC oncogene‐driven lymphomas. Dr. Swaminathan has authored over 20 peer‐reviewed publications. These include senior authorship original research articles in Blood (2021) and STAR Protocols (2021), and lead author research studies in Nature Medicine (2013), Nature Immunology (2015), JITC (2018), and Nature Communications (2020). Dr. Swaminathan and her laboratory in the Department of Systems Biology are identifying and targeted therapies for treating high‐risk B and T cell malignancies by comparing lymphoid cell‐intrinsic processes as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of the immune system during normal and malignant lymphopoiesis. Research in the Swaminathan Lab is currently funded by the prestigious LLS Translational Research Program and competitive awards from ASH, B+ Foundation, and City of Hope.
Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Swaminathan served as an instructor in the Department of Oncology at Stanford University, where she delineated the immunobiology of MYC oncogene‐driven lymphomas. Dr. Swaminathan has authored over 20 peer‐reviewed publications. These include senior authorship original research articles in Blood (2021) and STAR Protocols (2021), and lead author research studies in Nature Medicine (2013), Nature Immunology (2015), JITC (2018), and Nature Communications (2020). Dr. Swaminathan and her laboratory in the Department of Systems Biology are identifying and targeted therapies for treating high‐risk B and T cell malignancies by comparing lymphoid cell‐intrinsic processes as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of the immune system during normal and malignant lymphopoiesis. Research in the Swaminathan Lab is currently funded by the prestigious LLS Translational Research Program and competitive awards from ASH, B+ Foundation, and City of Hope.
2013, Ph.D., Genetic, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
2008, Bachelor of Technology (B Tech.), Industrial Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, India
2015-2018, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Medicine-Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
2013-2015, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2019-present, Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
2018-2019, Instructor, Department of Medicine-Oncology, Stanford University, CA
2021, Translational Research Program Award, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
2021, Scholar Award Supplement, American Society of Hematology
2021, National Cancer Institute, City of Hope Lymphoma SPORE Career Enhancement Program Pilot Award
2021, PhRMA Foundation Research Starter Grant in Drug Discovery
2020, National Cancer Institute, City of Hope Lymphoma SPORE Career Enhancement Program Pilot Award
2020, City of Hope, University of California Riverside Biomedical Research Initiative Award
2019, Junior Investigator Research Development Award, Circle of Service Foundation
2018, Scholar Award, American Society of Hematology
2016, Special Fellow Award, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
2014, American Society of Hematology Abstract Achievement Award
2013, Travel Grant, European Science Foundation Research Conference
2012, American Society of Hematology Abstract Achievement Award
2008, Gold Medal, Bachelor of Technology, Industrial Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, India
2007, Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Research Fellowship
2021, Editorial Board Member, Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine
2017-present, Member, American Society of Hematology
2014-Present, Member, American Association of Cancer Research
2014-2016 Member, American Association of Immunologists
Publications (peer-reviewed)
- Kumar A, Lee SJ, Liu Q, Chan AKN, Pokharel SP, Yu J, Chen C-W, Swaminathan S. Generation and validation of CRISPR-engineered human natural killer cell lines for research and therapeutic applications. STAR Protocols. 2021 Dec 17;2(4):100874.
- Chen K-HE, Ghosh M, Rivera L, Lin S, Kumar A, Swaminathan S, Lorenson MY, Walker AM. Prolactin enhances T regulatory cell promotion of breast cancer through the long form prolactin receptor. Translational Oncology. 2021 Nov 1;14(11):101195. PMID: 34375938.
- Duault C, Kumar A, Taghi Khani A, Lee SJ, Yang L, Huang M, Hurtz C, Manning B, Ghoda L, McDonald T, Lacayo NJ, Sakamoto KM, Carroll M, Tasian SK, Marcucci G, Yu J, Caligiuri MA, Maecker HT, Swaminathan S. Activated natural killer cells predict poor clinical prognosis in high-risk B- and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood. 2021 Oct 21;138(16):1465–1480. PMID: 34077953.
- Liefwalker DF, Ryan M, Wang Z, Pathak KV, Plaisier S, Shah V, Babra B, Dewson GS, Lai IK, Mosley AR, Fueger PT, Casey SC, Jiang L, Pirrotte P, Swaminathan S, Sears RC. Metabolic convergence on lipogenesis in RAS, BCR-ABL, and MYC-driven lymphoid malignancies. Cancer & Metabolism. 2021 Aug 16;9(1):31. PMID: 34399819.
- Hori SS, Tong L, Swaminathan S, Liebersbach M, Wang J, Gambhir SS, Felsher DW. A mathematical model of tumor regression and recurrence after therapeutic oncogene inactivation. Scientific Reports. 2021 Jan 14;11(1):1341. PMID: 33446671.
- Swaminathan S, Hansen AS, Heftdal LD, Dhanasekaran R, Deutzmann A, Fernandez WDM, Liefwalker DF, Horton C, Mosley A, Liebersbach M, Maecker HT, Felsher DW. MYC functions as a switch for natural killer cell‐ mediated immune surveillance of lymphoid malignancies. Nat Commun. Nature Publishing Group; 2020 Jun 5;11(1):2860. PMID: 32503978
- Duy C, Yu JJ, Nahar N, Swaminathan S, Kweon SM, Polo JM, Klemm L, Shojaee S, Cerchietti L, Hurtz C, Ramezani-Rad P, Jack HM, Herzog S, Jumaa H, Koeffler HP, Moreno de Alborán I, Melnick A, Ye BH, Müschen M. BCL6 is critical for the development of a diverse primary B cell repertoire. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2010; 207. PMID: 20498019
- Duy C, Hurtz C, Shojaee S, Cerchietti L, Geng H, Swaminathan S, Klemm L, Kweon SM, Nahar R, Braig M, Park E, Kim YM, Hofmann WK, Herzog S, Jumaa H, Koeffler HP, Yu JJ, Heisterkamp N, Graeber TG, Wu H, Ye BH, Melnick A, Müschen M. BCL6 enables Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells to survive BCR-ABL1 kinase inhibition. Nature. 2011; 473. PMID: 21593872
- Swaminathan S, Huang C, Geng H, Chen Z, Harvey R, Kang H, Ng C, Titz B, Hurtz C, Sadiyah MF, Graeber T, Igarashi K, Carroll W, Willman C, Melnick A, Koeffler HP, Müschen M. BACH2 mediates negative selection and p53-dependent tumor suppression at the pre-B cell receptor checkpoint. Nature Medicine. 2013; 19. PMID: 23852341
- Gang EJ, Hsieh YT, Pham J, Zhao Y, Nguyen C, Huantes S, Park E, Naing K, Klemm L, Swaminathan S, Conway EM, Pelus LM, Crispino J, Mullighan CG, MacMillan M, Müschen M, Kahn M, Kim YM. Small molecule inhibition of CBP/catenin interactions eliminates drug resistant clones in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Oncogene. 2014; 33. PMID: 23728349
- Masouleh BK, Geng H, Hurtz C, Chan LN, Logan AC, Chang M, Huang C, Swaminathan S, Sun H, Paeitta E, Melnick A, Koeffler HP, Müschen M. A mechanistic rationale for targeting the unfolded protein response in pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2014; 111. PMID: 24821775
- Swaminathan S, Klemm L, Park E, Papaemmanuil E, Ford A, Kweon S-M, Trageser D, Hasselfeld B, Henke N, Mooster J, Geng H, Schwarz K, Kogan S, Casellas R, Schatz D, Lieber M, Greaves M, Müschen M. Mechanisms of clonal evolution in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nature Immunology. 2015; 16. PMID: 25985233.
- Shojaee S, Caeser R, Buchner M, Park E, Swaminathan S, Hurtz C, Geng H, Chan LN, Klemm L, Hofmann W-K, Qiu YH, Zhang N, Coombes KR, Paietta E, Molkentin J, Koeffler HP, Willman CL, Hunger SP, Melnick A, Kornblau SM, Müschen M. Erk negative feedback control enables pre-B cell transformation and represents a therapeutic target in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Cell. 2015; 28. PMID: 26073130
- Lai I, Swaminathan S, Baylot V, Mosley A, Dhanasekaran R, Gabay M, Felsher DW. Lipid Nanoparticles that Deliver IL-12 Messenger RNA can Suppress Tumorigenesis in MYC Oncogene-Driven Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40425-018-0431-x.
Publications (review articles)
- Kumar A, Taghi Khani A, Swaminathan S. Type I Interferons: One Stone to Concurrently Kill Two Birds, Viral Infections and Cancers. Current Research in Virological Science. 2021. In press.
- Swaminathan S, Duy C, Müschen M. BACH2-BCL6 balance regulates selection at the pre-B cell receptor checkpoint. Trends in Immunology. 2014; 35. PMID: 24332591
- Swaminathan S, Müschen M. Follicular lymphoma: too many reminders for a memory B cell. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2014; 124. PMID: 25384212
- Buchner M, Swaminathan S, Chen Z, Müschen M. Mechanisms of pre-B cell receptor checkpoint control and its subversion in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Immunological Reviews. 2014; 263. PMID: 25510278
- Swaminathan S, Müschen M. Infectious origins of childhood leukemia. Oncotarget. 2015; 6. PMID: 26196452
Patents
- Swaminathan S, Felsher DW, Maecker HT. Profiling and treatment of MYC‐associated cancers. U.S. Patent Application No.: 16/771,617. Filing Date: Dec 12, 2018.