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Ioannis Zervantonakis, PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering
  • Member of the Cancer Biology Program, Hillman Cancer Center

Ioannis Zervantonakis is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh and at the Hillman Cancer Center UPMC. From 2017-9, he was an Instructor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and a postdoctoral fellow (2014-7) in the lab of Prof. J. Brugge. He received his Ph.D. (2012) from MIT in Mechanical Engineering under the direction of Prof. R. Kamm, his M.S. (2006) from the Technical University of Munich and his B.S. (2005) from the National Technical University in Athens. Ioannis is a recipient of a 2014 Department of Defense Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellowship and a 2017 NCI Pathway to Independence K99/R00 award.

Representative Publications

  1. I.K. Zervantonakis, C. Iavarone, H. Chen, L. Selfors, S. Palakurthi, J. Leverson, R. Drapkin, U. Matulonis , D. Sampath, G.B. MIlls and J. S. Brugge (2017). "Systems analysis of apoptotic priming in ovarian cancer identifies vulnerabilities and predictors of drug response."  Nature Communications 8(1) 365. PMCID: PMC5573720
  2. S. Palakurthi, Q. Zeng, S. Zhou, E. Ivanova, W. Huang, I.K. Zervantonakis, L.M. Selfors, Y. Shen, C. Pritchard, M. Zheng, V Adleff, E. Papp, H. Piao, M. Novak, S. Fotheringham, G. Wulf, J. English, P.T. Kirschmeier, V. Velculescu, C. Paweletz, G.B. Mills, D.M. Livingston, J.S. Brugge, U.A. Matulonis, R. Drapkin, J.F. Liu, (2017). “Establishment of patient-derived tumor xenograft models of epithelial ovarian cancer for pre-clinical evaluation of novel therapeutics”, Clinical Cancer Research 23(5), 1263-1273 , PMCID: PMC5332350
  3. I.K. Zervantonakis and C.D. Arvanitis (2016). "Controlled Drug Release and Chemotherapy Response in A Novel Acoustofluidic 3D Tumor Platform." Small 12 (19), 2616-2626. PMCID: PMC4889337
  4. M.P. Iwanicki, H.Y. Chen, C. Iavarone, I.K. Zervantonakis, T. Muranen, M. Novak, T.A. Ince, R. Drapkin and J.S. Brugge (2016). "Mutant p53 regulates ovarian cancer transformed phenotypes through autocrine matrix deposition." JCI Insight 1 (10). PMCID: PMC4963159
  5. I.K. Zervantonakis, S. K. Alford-Hughes, J. L. Charest, F. B. Gertler, J. C. Condeelis and R. D. Kamm (2012). "Three-dimensional microfluidic tumor-vascular interface model: Tumor cell intravasation and endothelial barrier function." PNAS, 109 (34), 13515-13520. PMCID: PMC3427099

Research Interests

  • Systems biology approaches to cancer drug resistance and metastasis in breast and ovarian cancer
  • Microfluidic and microfabricated assays to model the tumor microenvironment
  • Tumor heterogeneity: single cell phenotypic decisions
  • Localized drug release and gradients within the tumor microenvironment
  • Endothelial permeability regulation and cell invasion: Role of immune microenvironment and cell-cell interactions

Research Grants

Funding track-records:
Ongoing
A. R00CA222554           Zervantonakis (University of Pittsburgh)                                     09/05/19 – 08/30/2022
NIH                                                                                          
Analysis of tumor-stroma signaling that mediates HER2-therapy resistance in breast cancer
Role: PI
 
B.                                 Zervantonakis (University of Pittsburgh)             1 year award (start date pending)
Pardee Foundation                                                                                           
Elucidating the role of macrophages in ovarian cancer invasion and survival in metastatic microenvironments
Role: PI
 
Completed
A. K99CA222554           Zervantonakis (Harvard Medical School)                                                 9/20/17 – 8/31/19
NIH                                                                                          
Analysis of tumor-stroma signaling that mediates HER2-therapy resistance in breast cancer
Role: PI / Mentors: J.S. Brugge
 
B. W81XWH-14-1-0222               Zervantonakis (Harvard Medical School)                                     9/30/14 – 9/30/17
DOD                                                                                        
Elucidating the Role of Stromal Factors in HER2 Therapy Resistance in Breast Cancer
Role: PI / Mentors: J.S. Brugge, D. Sgroi