B.A., University of Kansas (1965); M.D., University of Kansas School of Medicine (1969); Intern Certificate, Internal Medicine, U.C.L.A. Hospital, Los Angeles (1970), CA; Resident Certificate, Internal Medicine, V.A. Hospital, Washington, DC (1976)
Curtis. C. Harris is the head of the Molecular Genetics and Carcinogenesis Section and chief of the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis at the Center for Cancer Research of the National Cancer Institute, NIH.
Harris graduated from University of Kansas with a BA in zoology in 1965, and an MD in 1969.[1] He was an internal medicine intern at UCLA hospital in 1969. He did research and completed his medical oncology training at NCI and Washington Veterans Hospital. Since 1981, he has been head of the Molecular Genetics and Carcinogenesis Section and chief of the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis.[1] He is also a lecturer of medicine and oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He has published more than 700 journal articles and has been awarded 30 patents.[2]
His current research focuses on Precision Medicine of Cancer and Aging.[3] His research career has focused on environmental, genetic and epigenomic causes of human carcinogenesis.
He is also a co-author of the international spy novel High Hand using a pseudonym Curtis J. James.[4][5]
Research
Harris has made many major discoveries in cancer research. One of the most notable is his seminal work describing the first-known molecular link between an environmental carcinogen, aflatoxin B1, and a specific mutation at codon 249 of the p53-encoding TP53 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (Nature 350:427, 1991 and web of science).[6] This discovery was selected by the AACR as a Centennial Landmark in Cancer Research. In addition, his paper on the TP53 mutation spectrum is among the most highly cited in the biomedical research field, with over 9,000 citations and web of science (Science 253:49, 1991).[7] These findings have had, and continue to have, a major impact in cancer risk assessment and biomarker discovery for cancer prevention, diagnosis and prognosis.
Harris's research has investigated mechanistic, translational, and functional links between population and basic science research. When the focus of cancer research was on in human vitro and in vitro animal models, he pioneered investigations of carcinogen metabolism, DNA damage, and DNA repair and mutagenesis in humans and in human tissues (e.g., Science 194:1067, 1976; Cancer Res 44:2855, 1984).[8][9] Many of these studies were among the first to highlight the deleterious effects of tobacco carcinogens and their damage to human health (e.g., Cancer Res. 33: 2842–2848, 1973; Nature 247: 48–49, 1974, Nature 252: 68–69, 1974), providing an evidence base for tobacco control policies. Moreover, he led the development of first-in-kind in vitro models of human bronchial epithelial cells from patient explants (e.g., Cancer Res. 36: 1003–1010, 1976, Nature 252: 68–69, 1974).[10][11] In parallel, he has extensively investigated p53 functions in the regulation of DNA repair, apoptosis, senescence, and tumorigenicity (e.g., Nat Genet. 10:188, 1995; Nat Med. 4:137,1998; Nat Cell Biol 11:1135, 2009; Nat Cell Biol, 12: 1205, 2010)[12] and recently a microbiome – TP53 mutation interaction in human lung cancer, Genome Biology:19: 123–29, 2018.[13]
Decades prior to the recent discovery of mutant TP53 cells in esophageal tissue (Cell Stem Cell 25:321-41, 2019; Science 362:911-17, 2018), Drs. Peter Cerruti and Curtis Harris, using the novel and highly sensitive TP53 mutational load assay, discovered TP53 mutant DNA in non-malignant lung and plasma in tobacco smokers (PNAS 97: 12770–5, 2000; Science 264: 1317–19, 1994; Cancer Res. 66: 8309–17, 2000). In the past decade, Harris has contributed substantially to research on TP53 mutations, as well as TP53 isoforms and their effects on senescence, aging and cancer (Fujita K, et al., Nat Cell Biol 11:1135–41, 2009; Mondal A, et al., J Clin Invest 123:5247-57, 2013; Turnquist C. et al., Cell Death Differ 23: 1515–28,2016; Hirokawa I. et al., Cell Death Differ 24: 1017–28, 2017; Von Muhlinen N., et al., Oncogene 37: 2379–93, 2018; Mondal, AM. et al., Cell Death and Dis 9: 750–804, 2018; Turnquist C. et al., Neuro Oncology 21: 474–85, 2019).
Translational Discoveries in Cancer Biomarkers: Harris's research aims to identify mechanistic and statistically independent biomarkers of cancer risk, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic outcomes, using data from multiple ethnic and geographic cohorts. One mechanistic facet of these studies is chronic inflammation, a feature of the internal exposome (initially described by Chris Wild, Cancer Epi Biomarkers Prev 14: 1847, 2005)[14] and an established cancer risk factor. He reported findings that increased levels of circulating interleukins are predictors of cancer risk, diagnosis, and prognosis of lung cancer patients (JNCI 99:1401, 2007; JNCI 103:1112, 2011).[15] He also identified microRNAs associated with both diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer (Cancer Cell 9:189, 2006; Clin Cancer Res 17: 1875, 2011) and prognosis and therapeutic outcome of colon cancer (JAMA 299:425, 2008). In addition, he reported that combinations of DNA methylation, microRNAs, and proteins (e.g. inflammation-related) produced by human lung, colon, and esophageal carcinomas are robust cancer prognostic classifiers (PNAS 106:12085, 2009; Clin Cancer Res 15:5878, 2009; Clin Cancer Res 15:6192, 2009; Clin Cancer Res 16:5824, 2010; Clin Cancer Res 17:1875, 2011; Int J Cancer 132:2901, 2013; Cancer Res 73:3821, 2013, J of Thoracic Oncology, 10: 1037–1048, 2015). Importantly, these studies identified early-stage lung and colon cancers that have poor prognoses due to the likelihood of undetected micrometastasis.
Over the past ten years, Harris has conducted several novel studies of the human metabolome and how it contributes to cancer risk assessment, cancer diagnosis and the accurate identification of early stage lung cancer patients at high-risk of tumor recurrence (Cancer Res. 74: 3259–3270, 2014; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 25(6); 978–86, 2016).
Accomplishments
Accolades include the Biomarker and Prevention Award, AACR Princess Takamatsu Award, the Oschner Award relating to Smoking and Health from the American College of Physicians, the Deichmann Award from the International Union of Toxicology, the Environment Mutagenesis and Genome Award, and the Distinguished Service Medal—the highest honor of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Harris has been an expert witness at hearings concerning OSHA Regulations on the Identification, Classification and Regulation of Toxic Substances Posing a Potential Occupational Carcinogenic Risk, a member of the technical review committee for the USPHS Surgeon General Report on Harmful Effects of Smokeless Tobacco and was a contributing a to the Surgeon General's 2004 seminal report on the Health Consequences of Smoking. Harris has also been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council at IARC. Moreover, he has demonstrated a steadfast from the 1980s to the present commitment on the Advisory Committee and honored consultant to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima Japan, an organization dedicated to understanding the health consequences of radiation exposure among survivors of atomic bombs. Harris cofounded the Aspen Cancer Conference,[16] a non-profit organization, in 1985 with Dr. Ben Trump where he serves as chairman of the board of directors.
Harris's published research has over 90,000 citations and H-index of over 140.[citation needed] Harris has served as Chairman of the Program Committee of the AACR Annual Meeting; member of the AACR's board of directors, Nominating Committee and many Award Committees; and chairman of the board of directors and Chairman of the Scientific Program Advisory Board for the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is also since 1984 to recent the Editor-in Chief of the journal Carcinogenesis.[citation needed]
List of accolades
NSF Research Participation Awardee and Gifted Student Program, University of Kansas, (1963–1965)
Commendation Medal, USPHS Honor Award, (1979)
Medical Alumni Scholar and lecturer, first to be awarded, University of Kansas School of Medicine, (1982)
NCI Equal Employment Opportunity Special Recognition Award, (1983)
Fellow of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1984)[17]
Keynote Address, Tenth International Toxicology Congress, Finland, (2004)
Keynote Address, Environmental Mutagen Society United Kingdom, Bradford, (2005)
Keynote Address, International Symposium, Chronic Oxidative Stress and Cancer: Mechanisms, Biomarkers and Prevention, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, 2005
Keynote Address and Visiting Professor: Frontiers in Biomedical Research, Hong Kong School of Medicine, Hong Kong, (2005)
Presidential Lecture, International Liver Congress, Shanghai, (2006)
Keynote Address, Microenvironment and Cancer Symposium, Japanese Foundation Cancer Research, Tokyo, (2006)
State of the Art Address, International Liver Cancer Association, Barcelona, (2007)
Keynote Address, International Cell Senescence Association, Athens, Greece (2019)
State-of-the-Art Lecture, 36th Annual Meeting of the Germany Working Community on the Study of Liver (ASL), Mainz, Germany, (2020)
Annual Award Environment Mutagenesis and Genome Society (2020)[23]
Fellow, Academy of AACR (2021)
Related Research Articles
p53, also known as Tumor protein P53, cellular tumor antigen p53, or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins are crucial in vertebrates, where they prevent cancer formation. As such, p53 has been described as "the guardian of the genome" because of its role in conserving stability by preventing genome mutation. Hence TP53 is classified as a tumor suppressor gene.
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Karen Heather Vousden, CBE, FRS, FRSE, FMedSci is a British medical researcher. She is known for her work on the tumour suppressor protein, p53, and in particular her discovery of the important regulatory role of Mdm2, an attractive target for anti-cancer agents. From 2003 to 2016, she was the director of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow, UK, moving back to London in 2016 to take up the role of Chief Scientist at CRUK and Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute.
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↑ Hsu, I., Metcalf, R., Sun, T. et al. Mutational hot spot in the p53 gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas. Nature 350, 427–428 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/350427a0
↑ Harris, C. C.; Autrup, H.; Connor, R.; Barrett, L. A.; McDowell, E. M.; Trump, B. F. (December 3, 1976). "Interindividual variation in binding of benzo[a]pyrene to DNA in cultured human bronchi". Science. 194 (4269): 1067–1069. doi:10.1126/science.982061. PMID982061.
↑ Izumu, I., Mineura, K., Watanabe, K. et al. Characterization and chemosensitivity of two cell lines derived from human glioblastomas. J Neuro-Oncol 17, 111–121 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050213
↑ "Journal"(PDF). cancerres.aacrjournals.org. n.d. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
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