Ralph DeBerardinis

Ralph J. DeBerardinis
Awards	Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research; Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine
Scientific career
Fields	Cancer; Metabolism
Thesis	[ProQuest 304449466 Retrotransposition and evolution of L1 sequences in mammalian genomes] (1998)
Doctoral advisor	Haig H. Kazazian Jr
Other academic advisors	Craig Thompson
Website	https://cri.utsw.edu/scientists/ralph-deberardinis-laboratory/

Ralph J. DeBerardinis is an American physician-scientist, the chief of the Division of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern and a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. DeBerardinis became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2018.[1] DeBerardinis was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.[2] DeBerardinis is known for his contributions to research on cancer and pediatric inborn errors of metabolism.

Biography

DeBerardinis was born and raised in the Philadelphia area.[3] DeBerardinis received a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from St. Joseph’s University and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.[4][5] DeBerardinis completed his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Haig H. Kazazian Jr.[6] DeBerardinis was an inaugural trainee of the combined Pediatrics/Genetics Residency program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).[4] DeBerardinis has achieved board certifications in clinical biochemical genetics, medical genetics, and pediatrics.[5] DeBerardinis performed his postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Craig Thompson while he was at the Penn Cancer Center.[7] After completing his postdoctoral work, DeBerardinis opened his own research laboratory in 2008 at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.[4][3]

DeBerardinis has been on the Scientific Advisory Boards of several companies, including Agios Pharmaceuticals, Peloton Therapeutics, and Vida Ventures.[3][8] As of April 2022, DeBerardinis has authored over 350 publications and has an h-index of 94.[9]

Scientific contributions

DeBerardinis is well known for his use of isotope-tracing metabolomics to identify how tumors utilize different nutrients. Using genomics and metabolomics approaches, DeBerardinis also has worked to identify novel mutations that affect the activity of metabolic enzymes.[1][10]

Selected awards and honors

• 2017 Outstanding Investigator Award, National Cancer Institute[11]
• 2018 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator[1]
• 2019 TAMEST Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine[12]
• 2020 National Academy of Medicine[2]
• 2021 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research[7]

Selected publications

• Mullen, Andrew R.; Wheaton, William W.; Jin, Eunsook S.; Chen, Pei-Hsuan; Sullivan, Lucas B.; Cheng, Tzuling; Yang, Youfeng; Linehan, W. Marston; Chandel, Navdeep S.; DeBerardinis, Ralph J. (January 2012). "Reductive carboxylation supports growth in tumour cells with defective mitochondria". Nature. 481 (7381): 385–388. Bibcode:2012Natur.481..385M. doi:10.1038/nature10642. PMC 3262117. PMID 22101431.
• Marin-Valencia, Isaac; Yang, Chendong; Mashimo, Tomoyuki; Cho, Steve; Baek, Hyeonman; Yang, Xiao-Li; Rajagopalan, Kartik N.; Maddie, Melissa; Vemireddy, Vamsidhara; Zhao, Zhenze; Cai, Ling; Good, Levi; Tu, Benjamin P.; Hatanpaa, Kimmo J.; Mickey, Bruce E.; Matés, José M.; Pascual, Juan M.; Maher, Elizabeth A.; Malloy, Craig R.; DeBerardinis, Ralph J.; Bachoo, Robert M. (June 2012). "Analysis of Tumor Metabolism Reveals Mitochondrial Glucose Oxidation in Genetically Diverse Human Glioblastomas in the Mouse Brain In Vivo". Cell Metabolism. 15 (6): 827–837. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2012.05.001. PMC 3372870. PMID 22682223.
• Tasdogan, Alpaslan; Faubert, Brandon; Ramesh, Vijayashree; Ubellacker, Jessalyn M.; Shen, Bo; Solmonson, Ashley; Murphy, Malea M.; Gu, Zhimin; Gu, Wen; Martin, Misty; Kasitinon, Stacy Y.; Vandergriff, Travis; Mathews, Thomas P.; Zhao, Zhiyu; Schadendorf, Dirk; DeBerardinis, Ralph J.; Morrison, Sean J. (2 January 2020). "Metabolic heterogeneity confers differences in melanoma metastatic potential". Nature. 577 (7788): 115–120. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1847-2. PMC 6930341. PMID 31853067.
• Hensley, Christopher T.; Faubert, Brandon; Yuan, Qing; Lev-Cohain, Naama; Jin, Eunsook; Kim, Jiyeon; Jiang, Lei; Ko, Bookyung; Skelton, Rachael; Loudat, Laurin; Wodzak, Michelle; Klimko, Claire; McMillan, Elizabeth; Butt, Yasmeen; Ni, Min; Oliver, Dwight; Torrealba, Jose; Malloy, Craig R.; Kernstine, Kemp; Lenkinski, Robert E.; DeBerardinis, Ralph J. (February 2016). "Metabolic Heterogeneity in Human Lung Tumors". Cell. 164 (4): 681–694. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.12.034. PMC 4752889. PMID 26853473.
• Faubert, Brandon; Li, Kevin Y.; Cai, Ling; Hensley, Christopher T.; Kim, Jiyeon; Zacharias, Lauren G.; Yang, Chendong; Do, Quyen N.; Doucette, Sarah; Burguete, Daniel; Li, Hong; Huet, Giselle; Yuan, Qing; Wigal, Trevor; Butt, Yasmeen; Ni, Min; Torrealba, Jose; Oliver, Dwight; Lenkinski, Robert E.; Malloy, Craig R.; Wachsmann, Jason W.; Young, Jamey D.; Kernstine, Kemp; DeBerardinis, Ralph J. (October 2017). "Lactate Metabolism in Human Lung Tumors". Cell. 171 (2): 358–371.e9. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2017.09.019. PMC 5684706. PMID 28985563.

References

1. "Ralph J. DeBerardinis". HHMI. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
2. "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". National Academy of Medicine. 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
3. "Ralph DeBerardinis - Scientific Advisory Board Member at Vida Ventures". THE ORG. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
4. "Ralph DeBerardinis Laboratory | Children's Research Institute | Dallas TX". Children's Research Institute | Dallas Texas. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
5. children's health. "Biography: Ralph John DeBerardinis, MD". Retrieved 2022-04-23.
6. DeBerardinis, Ralph John (1998). Retrotransposition and evolution of L1 sequences in mammalian genomes (Thesis). OCLC 187477554. ProQuest 304449466.^[page needed]^[non-primary source needed]
7. "Meet Ralph DeBerardinis, a Recipient of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center". www.mskcc.org. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
8. "Leadership". Agios. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
9. "Ralph DeBerardinis". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
10. "Ralph DeBerardinis, MD, PhD". HHMI. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
11. "2017 Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA) Recipients - National Cancer Institute". www.cancer.gov. 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
12. "2019 O'Donnell Awards Recipients - TAMEST". TAMEST The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas. Retrieved 2022-04-24.