James Valerinano Alvarez

James Valerinano Alvarez
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Basic Science Departments 2014
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers 2013

Contact Information

james.alvarez@duke.edu

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Harvard Medical School 2005
- B.S., Pennsylvania State University 1999
Recognition
In the News
- APR 25, 2019 Duke Health News
  
  Uncovering the Path Breast Cancer Uses to Recur
Research
Selected Grants
- A Portable low-cost, Point of Investigation CapCell Scope to Image and Quantify the Major Axes of Metabolism and the Associated Vasculature in In vitro and In vivo Biological Models awarded by National Institutes of Health 2019 - 2022
- Exploring the role of polyploidy in tumor progression awarded by National Institutes of Health 2019 - 2022
- The role of NRF2 in breast cancer dormancy and recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2019 - 2021
- Awakening the dormant tumor: the role of the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2017 - 2021
- Par-4 Regulation and Function in Breast Cancer Dormancy and Recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2016 - 2021
- The Role of Epigenetic Plasticity in Breast Cancer Recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2021
- Genetics Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 1979 - 2020
- Organization and Function of Cellular Structure awarded by National Institutes of Health 1975 - 2020
- Pharmacological Sciences Training Program awarded by National Institutes of Health 1975 - 2020
- Pathways regulating dormant cell survival and recurrence awarded by American Cancer Society, Inc. 2019
- Pharmacology Industry Internships for Ph.D. Students awarded by American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2017 - 2019
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Walens, A, DiMarco, AV, Lupo, R, Kroger, BR, Damrauer, JS, and Alvarez, JV. "CCL5 promotes breast cancer recurrence through macrophage recruitment in residual tumors." Elife 8 (April 16, 2019). Full Text
  - Lin, J, Gresham, J, Wang, T, Kim, SY, Alvarez, J, Damrauer, JS, Floyd, S, Granek, J, Allen, A, Chan, C, Xie, J, and Owzar, K. "bcSeq: an R package for fast sequence mapping in high-throughput shRNA and CRISPR screens." Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) 34, no. 20 (October 2018): 3581-3583. Full Text
  - Mabe, NW, Fox, DB, Lupo, R, Decker, AE, Phelps, SN, Thompson, JW, and Alvarez, JV. "Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor Par-4 promotes chemoresistance in recurrent breast cancer." The Journal of Clinical Investigation 128, no. 10 (October 2018): 4413-4428. Full Text
  - Damrauer, JS, Phelps, SN, Amuchastegui, K, Lupo, R, Mabe, NW, Walens, A, Kroger, BR, and Alvarez, JV. "Foxo-dependent Par-4 Upregulation Prevents Long-term Survival of Residual Cells Following PI3K-Akt Inhibition." Molecular Cancer Research : Mcr 16, no. 4 (April 2018): 599-609. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Belka, GK, Pan, T-C, Chen, C-C, Blankemeyer, E, Alavi, A, Karp, JS, and Chodosh, LA. "Oncogene pathway activation in mammary tumors dictates FDG-PET uptake." Cancer Research 74, no. 24 (December 2014): 7583-7598. Full Text
  - Feng, Y, Pan, T-C, Pant, DK, Chakrabarti, KR, Alvarez, JV, Ruth, JR, and Chodosh, LA. "SPSB1 promotes breast cancer recurrence by potentiating c-MET signaling." Cancer discovery 4, no. 7 (July 2014): 790-803. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Pan, T-C, Ruth, J, Feng, Y, Zhou, A, Pant, D, Grimley, JS, Wandless, TJ, Demichele, A, I-SPY 1 TRIAL Investigators, , and Chodosh, LA. "Par-4 downregulation promotes breast cancer recurrence by preventing multinucleation following targeted therapy." Cancer cell 24, no. 1 (July 2013): 30-44. Full Text
  - Chen, C-C, Stairs, DB, Boxer, RB, Belka, GK, Horseman, ND, Alvarez, JV, and Chodosh, LA. "Autocrine prolactin induced by the Pten-Akt pathway is required for lactation initiation and provides a direct link between the Akt and Stat5 pathways." Genes & development 26, no. 19 (October 2012): 2154-2168. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Yeh, ES, Feng, Y, and Chodosh, LA. "Oncogene addiction: Mouse models and clinical relevance for molecularly targeted therapies." (January 1, 2012): 527-547. (Chapter) Full Text
  - Chen, C-C, Boxer, RB, Stairs, DB, Portocarrero, CP, Horton, RH, Alvarez, JV, Birnbaum, MJ, and Chodosh, LA. "Akt is required for Stat5 activation and mammary differentiation." Breast Cancer Research : Bcr 12, no. 5 (January 2010): R72-null. Full Text
  - Chen, C-C, Boxer, RB, Stairs, DB, Portocarrero, CP, Horton, RH, Alvarez, JV, Birnbaum, MJ, and Chodosh, LA. "Akt is required for Stat5 activation and mammary differentiation." Breast cancer research : BCR 12, no. 5 (2010): R72-. Full Text
  - Liu, Z, Wang, M, Alvarez, JV, Bonney, ME, Chen, C-C, D'Cruz, C, Pan, T-C, Tadesse, MG, and Chodosh, LA. "Singular value decomposition-based regression identifies activation of endogenous signaling pathways in vivo." Genome biology 9, no. 12 (January 2008): R180-. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Perez, D, and Chodosh, LA. "mILC-ing the mouse mammary gland: A model for invasive lobular carcinoma." Cancer cell 10, no. 5 (November 2006): 347-349. Full Text
  - Ishii, Y, Pirkmaier, A, Alvarez, JV, Frank, DA, Keselman, I, Logothetis, D, Mandeli, J, O'Connell, MJ, Waxman, S, and Germain, D. "Cyclin D1 overexpression and response to bortezomib treatment in a breast cancer model." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 98, no. 17 (September 2006): 1238-1247. Full Text
  - Liddle, FJ, Alvarez, JV, Poli, V, and Frank, DA. "Tyrosine phosphorylation is required for functional activation of disulfide-containing constitutively active STAT mutants." Biochemistry 45, no. 17 (May 2006): 5599-5605. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Greulich, H, Sellers, WR, Meyerson, M, and Frank, DA. "Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 is required for the oncogenic effects of non-small-cell lung cancer-associated mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor." Cancer Research 66, no. 6 (March 2006): 3162-3168. Full Text
  - Greulich, H, Chen, T-H, Feng, W, Jänne, PA, Alvarez, JV, Zappaterra, M, Bulmer, SE, Frank, DA, Hahn, WC, Sellers, WR, and Meyerson, M. "Oncogenic transformation by inhibitor-sensitive and -resistant EGFR mutants." Plos Medicine 2, no. 11 (November 2005): e313-null. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, Febbo, PG, Ramaswamy, S, Loda, M, Richardson, A, and Frank, DA. "Identification of a genetic signature of activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in human tumors." Cancer research 65, no. 12 (June 2005): 5054-5062. Full Text
  - Nelson, EA, Walker, SR, Alvarez, JV, and Frank, DA. "Isolation of unique STAT5 targets by chromatin immunoprecipitation-based gene identification." The Journal of biological chemistry 279, no. 52 (December 2004): 54724-54730. Full Text
  - Alvarez, JV, and Frank, DA. "Genome-wide analysis of STAT target genes: elucidating the mechanism of STAT-mediated oncogenesis." Cancer biology & therapy 3, no. 11 (November 22, 2004): 1045-1050. (Review) Full Text
- Conference Papers
  - Damrauer, J, and Alvarez, JV. "Clonal dynamics during breast cancer dormancy and recurrence." AACR Special Conference on Advances in Modeling Cancer in Mice - Technology, Biology, and Beyond. Orlando, FL. September 24, 2018 - September 27, 2018.: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH, May 1, 2018. Link to Item
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses

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Education, Training, & Certifications

In the News

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Conference Papers

Recent Courses