Robert Yarchoan
Retroviral Diseases Section
The Center for Cancer Research
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Robert Yarchoan received his B.A. from Amherst College with a major in biophysics and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota and Immunology in the Metabolism Branch, NCI. He then joined the laboratory of Dr. Samuel Broder, where he played a major role in the development of the first effective therapies for HIV infection, including zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), and zalcitabine (ddC). In particular, he led the first clinical trials of these drugs, was a co-inventor of didanosine and zalcitabine as AIDS therapies, and led initial studies of combination anti-HIV therapy. He was a Section Chief in the Medicine Branch from 1991 to 1996 and was named chief of the newly formed HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch in 1996. Since that time, he has focused much of his research on AIDS-related malignancies, especially tumors caused by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Among other honors, he has been awarded the Assistant Secretary for Health Award and the U.S. Public Health Service Outstanding Service Medal, has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. In December, 2006, he was a recipient of the first NIH World AIDS Day Award, and in November, 2007, he received the NCI HIV/AIDS Research Excellence Award along with Drs. Samuel Broder, Robert C. Gallo, and Hiroaki Mitsuya. Recent honors and awards include: 2013, an honorary degree (Doctor of Science) from Amherst College; 2014, the Abbott Award in Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology by the American Society for Microbiology; 2016, elected into the Association of American Physicians; 2017, elected into the American Academy of Microbiology. In December 2007, Dr. Yarchoan also was appointed as the first Director of the NCI Office of HIV and AIDS Malignancy (OHAM). This office, which is in the Office of the Director, NCI, coordinates and prioritizes the HIV/AIDS and AIDS malignancy research portfolio throughout the NCI.
Research Interest
Cancer Biology, Clinical Research, Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Virology
Publications
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Induction of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus-Encoded Viral Interleukin-6 by X-Box Binding Protein 1. Hu D, Wang V, Yang M, Abdullah S, Davis DA, Uldrick TS, Polizzotto MN, Veeranna RP, Pittaluga S, Tosato G, Yarchoan R. J Virol. 90(1): 368-78, 2015.
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Pomalidomide for Symptomatic Kaposi's Sarcoma in People With and Without HIV Infection: A Phase I/II Study. Polizzotto MN, Uldrick TS, Wyvill KM, Aleman K, Peer CJ, Bevans M, Sereti I, Maldarelli F, Whitby D, Marshall V, Goncalves PH, Khetani V, Figg WD, Steinberg SM, Zeldis JB, Yarchoan R J Clin Oncol. 34(34): 4125-4131, 2016.
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RNA sequencing reveals that Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection mimics hypoxia gene expression signature. Viollet C, Davis DA, Tekeste SS, Reczko M, Ziegelbauer JM, Pezzella F, Ragoussis J, Yarchoan R. PLoS Pathogens. in press, 2017.
