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
- Genetic and Genomics Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 2020 - 2025
- Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 2020 - 2025
- Viral Oncology Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 1980 - 2024
- A Multi-Parametric low-cost pocket scope to Image and Quantify the Major Axes of Metabolism and the Associated Vasculature in Biological Tissue 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
- Defining the role of the histone methyltransferase G9a in mitigating replication stress in cancer awarded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2020 - 2021
- Par-4 Regulation and Function in Breast Cancer Dormancy and Recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2016 - 2021
- Pathways regulating dormant cell survival and recurrence awarded by American Cancer Society, Inc. 2019 - 2020
- 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
- Pharmacology Industry Internships for Ph.D. Students awarded by American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2017 - 2019
- Awakening the dormant tumor: the role of the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2017 - 2019
- The Role of Epigenetic Plasticity in Breast Cancer Recurrence awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2019
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Lin, Chao-Chieh, Wen-Hsuan Yang, Yi-Tzu Lin, Xiaohu Tang, Po-Han Chen, Chien-Kuang Cornelia Ding, Dan Chen Qu, James V. Alvarez, and Jen-Tsan Chi. “DDR2 upregulation confers ferroptosis susceptibility of recurrent breast tumors through the Hippo pathway.” Oncogene 40, no. 11 (March 2021): 2018–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-021-01676-x.
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  - Mabe, Nathaniel W., Nina Marie G. Garcia, Shayna E. Wolery, Rachel Newcomb, Ryan C. Meingasner, Brittany A. Vilona, Ryan Lupo, Chao-Chieh Lin, Jen-Tsan Chi, and James V. Alvarez. “G9a Promotes Breast Cancer Recurrence through Repression of a Pro-inflammatory Program.” Cell Rep 33, no. 5 (November 3, 2020): 108341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108341.
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  - Walens, Andrea, Jiaxing Lin, Jeffrey S. Damrauer, Brock McKinney, Ryan Lupo, Rachel Newcomb, Douglas B. Fox, et al. “Adaptation and selection shape clonal evolution of tumors during residual disease and recurrence.” Nat Commun 11, no. 1 (October 6, 2020): 5017. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18730-z.
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  - Fox, Douglas B., Nina Marie G. Garcia, Brock J. McKinney, Ryan Lupo, Laura C. Noteware, Rachel Newcomb, Juan Liu, Jason W. Locasale, Matthew D. Hirschey, and James V. Alvarez. “NRF2 activation promotes the recurrence of dormant tumour cells through regulation of redox and nucleotide metabolism.” Nat Metab 2, no. 4 (April 2020): 318–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0191-z.
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  - Madonna, Megan C., Douglas B. Fox, Brian T. Crouch, Jihong Lee, Caigang Zhu, Amy F. Martinez, James V. Alvarez, and Nirmala Ramanujam. “Optical Imaging of Glucose Uptake and Mitochondrial Membrane Potential to Characterize Her2 Breast Tumor Metabolic Phenotypes.” Mol Cancer Res 17, no. 7 (July 2019): 1545–55. https://doi.org/10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-18-0618.
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  - Walens, Andrea, Ashley V. DiMarco, Ryan Lupo, Benjamin R. Kroger, Jeffrey S. Damrauer, and James V. Alvarez. “CCL5 promotes breast cancer recurrence through macrophage recruitment in residual tumors.” Elife 8 (April 16, 2019). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43653.
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  - Lin, Jiaxing, Jeremy Gresham, Tongrong Wang, So Young Kim, James Alvarez, Jeffrey S. Damrauer, Scott Floyd, et al. “bcSeq: an R package for fast sequence mapping in high-throughput shRNA and CRISPR screens.” Bioinformatics 34, no. 20 (October 15, 2018): 3581–83. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/bty402.
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  - Mabe, Nathaniel W., Douglas B. Fox, Ryan Lupo, Amy E. Decker, Stephanie N. Phelps, J Will Thompson, and James V. Alvarez. “Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor Par-4 promotes chemoresistance in recurrent breast cancer.” J Clin Invest 128, no. 10 (October 1, 2018): 4413–28. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI99481.
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  - Damrauer, Jeffrey S., Stephanie N. Phelps, Katie Amuchastegui, Ryan Lupo, Nathaniel W. Mabe, Andrea Walens, Benjamin R. Kroger, and James V. Alvarez. “Foxo-dependent Par-4 Upregulation Prevents Long-term Survival of Residual Cells Following PI3K-Akt Inhibition.” Mol Cancer Res 16, no. 4 (April 2018): 599–609. https://doi.org/10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-17-0492.
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  - Alvarez, James V., George K. Belka, Tien-Chi Pan, Chien-Chung Chen, Eric Blankemeyer, Abass Alavi, Joel S. Karp, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “Oncogene pathway activation in mammary tumors dictates FDG-PET uptake.” Cancer Res 74, no. 24 (December 15, 2014): 7583–98. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-1235.
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  - Feng, Yi, Tien-Chi Pan, Dhruv K. Pant, Kristi R. Chakrabarti, James V. Alvarez, Jason R. Ruth, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “SPSB1 promotes breast cancer recurrence by potentiating c-MET signaling.” Cancer Discov 4, no. 7 (July 2014): 790–803. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0548.
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  - Alvarez, James V., Tien-Chi Pan, Jason Ruth, Yi Feng, Alice Zhou, Dhruv Pant, Joshua S. Grimley, et al. “Par-4 downregulation promotes breast cancer recurrence by preventing multinucleation following targeted therapy.” Cancer Cell 24, no. 1 (July 8, 2013): 30–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2013.05.007.
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  - Chen, Chien-Chung, Douglas B. Stairs, Robert B. Boxer, George K. Belka, Nelson D. Horseman, James V. Alvarez, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “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 Dev 26, no. 19 (October 1, 2012): 2154–68. https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.197343.112.
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  - Alvarez, J. V., E. S. Yeh, Y. Feng, and L. A. Chodosh. “Oncogene addiction: Mouse models and clinical relevance for molecularly targeted therapies,” January 1, 2012, 527–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69805-2_25.
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  - Chen, C. -. C., R. B. Boxer, D. B. Stairs, C. P. Portocarrero, R. H. Horton, J. V. Alvarez, M. J. Birnbaum, and L. A. Chodosh. “Akt is required for Stat5 activation and mammary differentiation.” Breast Cancer Research : Bcr 12, no. 5 (2010): R72. https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr2640.
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  - Chen, Chien-Chung, Robert B. Boxer, Douglas B. Stairs, Carla P. Portocarrero, Rachel H. Horton, James V. Alvarez, Morris J. Birnbaum, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “Akt is required for Stat5 activation and mammary differentiation.” Breast Cancer Res 12, no. 5 (2010): R72. https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr2640.
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  - Liu, Zhandong, Min Wang, James V. Alvarez, Megan E. Bonney, Chien-chung Chen, Celina D’Cruz, Tien-chi Pan, Mahlet G. Tadesse, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “Singular value decomposition-based regression identifies activation of endogenous signaling pathways in vivo.” Genome Biol 9, no. 12 (2008): R180. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2008-9-12-r180.
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  - Alvarez, James V., Denise Perez, and Lewis A. Chodosh. “mILC-ing the mouse mammary gland: A model for invasive lobular carcinoma.” Cancer Cell 10, no. 5 (November 2006): 347–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2006.10.016.
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  - Ishii, Yuki, Andreja Pirkmaier, James V. Alvarez, David A. Frank, Inna Keselman, Diomedes Logothetis, John Mandeli, Matthew J. O’Connell, Samuel Waxman, and Doris Germain. “Cyclin D1 overexpression and response to bortezomib treatment in a breast cancer model.” J Natl Cancer Inst 98, no. 17 (September 6, 2006): 1238–47. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djj334.
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  - Liddle, Forrester J., James V. Alvarez, Valeria Poli, and David A. Frank. “Tyrosine phosphorylation is required for functional activation of disulfide-containing constitutively active STAT mutants.” Biochemistry 45, no. 17 (May 2, 2006): 5599–5605. https://doi.org/10.1021/bi0525674.
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  - Alvarez, James V., Heidi Greulich, William R. Sellers, Matthew Meyerson, and David A. Frank. “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 Res 66, no. 6 (March 15, 2006): 3162–68. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-05-3757.
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  - Greulich, Heidi, Tzu-Hsiu Chen, Whei Feng, Pasi A. Jänne, James V. Alvarez, Mauro Zappaterra, Sara E. Bulmer, et al. “Oncogenic transformation by inhibitor-sensitive and -resistant EGFR mutants.” Plos Med 2, no. 11 (November 2005): e313. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020313.
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  - Alvarez, James V., Phillip G. Febbo, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Massimo Loda, Andrea Richardson, and David A. Frank. “Identification of a genetic signature of activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in human tumors.” Cancer Res 65, no. 12 (June 15, 2005): 5054–62. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-04-4281.
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  - Nelson, Erik A., Sarah R. Walker, James V. Alvarez, and David A. Frank. “Isolation of unique STAT5 targets by chromatin immunoprecipitation-based gene identification.” J Biol Chem 279, no. 52 (December 24, 2004): 54724–30. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M408464200.
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  - Alvarez, James V., and David A. Frank. “Genome-wide analysis of STAT target genes: elucidating the mechanism of STAT-mediated oncogenesis.” Cancer Biol Ther 3, no. 11 (November 2004): 1045–50. https://doi.org/10.4161/cbt.3.11.1172.
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- Conference Papers
  - Madonna, M. C., J. Duer, D. Fox, J. Alvarez, and N. Ramanujam. “In vivo metabolic imaging reveals mitochondrial membrane potential reprogramming following Her2-targeted therapy and dormant disease.” In Optics Infobase Conference Papers, Vol. Part F178-Translational-2020, 2020.
  - Damrauer, Jeffrey, and James V. Alvarez. “Clonal dynamics during breast cancer dormancy and recurrence.” In Cancer Research, 78:27–28. AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH, 2018.
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Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses

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Education, Training, & Certifications

In the News

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Conference Papers

Recent Courses