11 17
1 15 15 11 3a
19 19 49 19 19 18

30 Constantinos Koumenis, PhD

1 19 19 31 19 65 19 19 49 31 31 19 19 19 19 19 45
3b
19 19 19 1 1 1 1 2d
97 Constantinos Koumenis photo 2f
50

Richard H. Chamberlain Professor of Radiation Oncology

18

74 Department: Radiation Oncology

11 39

Graduate Group Affiliations

11 13
7
1 1 5
1 18
e
25

Contact Information

c

5c University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
29 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Bldg 421
3c Smilow Center for Translational Research, Room 8-124
60
Philadelphia, PA 19104-5156 fe
Office: 215-898-0076
Lab Phone: 215-898-0078
Fax: 215-898-0090
Email: costas.koumenis@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

13
5 e
1e

Publications

a7

Pubmed Link

b
9 e 9 12
1b

Education

d
    1d
  • 3b BS (Pharmacy with honors) 66
    Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1989
    • 1d
  • 34 PhD (Biochemistry) 61
    University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 1994
    • 1a
b
b
1 5
1 1 1 2b

Description of Research Expertise

15

KEYWORDS:
6d Tumor Microenvironment, Tumor Metabolism, Integrated Stress Response, drug screens, radiosensitizers.
8
11a RESEARCH INTERESTS: Develop novel, more physiologically relevant animal models of incidental radiation damage and employing novel radiation delivery technologies (such as FLASH RT) in order to develop biomarkers of response to RT and to improve the therapeutic window of RT.
8
9
42 My laboratory is primarily interested in two broad areas:
8
1fc 1. To understand the mechanisms by which components of the microenvironment (e.g. hypoxia, low nutrient availability) interact with cellular survival/apoptotic pathways to produce a more resistant tumor phenotype. Once we understand the regulation and function of these survival pathways, we then design cell-based and assays to screen small molecule libraries for compounds that inhibit these processes and test them alone or in combination with genotoxic agents in several animal tumor models.
8
16e 2. To increase the therapeutic effectiveness of ionizing radiation (IR) by either employing existing compounds with relatively safe toxicity profiles or employ screening strategies to identify novel and potent radiation sensitizers. We are also interested in developing novel delivery approaches for such compounds, such as biocompatible nanoparticles.
8
8
1c ROTATION PROJECTS:
3f Currently the lab is accepting 2 new rotation students.
8
8
5

1 1 1 1 1f

Selected Publications

5
    5
  • 168 Ni H, Reitman ZJ, Zou W, Akhtar MN, Paul R, Huang M, Zhang D, Zheng H, Zhang R, Ma R, Ngo G, Zhang L, Diffenderfer ES, Motlagh SAO, Kim MM, Minn AJ, Dorsey JF, Foster JB, Metz J, Koumenis C, Kirsch DG, Gong Y, Fan Y. : FLASH radiation reprograms lipid metabolism and macrophage immunity and sensitizes medulloblastoma to CAR-T cell therapy 47 Nat Cancer. : 10.1038/s43018-025-00905-6, Feb 2025
    • 5
  • d4 Verginadis II, Citrin DE, Ky B, Feigenberg SJ, Georgakilas AG, Hill-Kayser CE, Koumenis C, Maity A, Bradley JD, Lin A. : Radiotherapy toxicities: mechanisms, management, and future directions 32 Lancet 405 : 338-352, Jan 2025
    • 5
  • 127 Amit U, Uslu U, Verginadis II, Kim MM, Motlagh SAO, Diffenderfer ES, Assenmacher CA, Bicher S, Atoche SJ, Ben-Josef E, Young RM, June CH, Koumenis C. : Proton radiation boosts the efficacy of mesothelin-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy in pancreatic cancer 48 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 121 : e2403002121, Jul 2024
    • 5
  • 58 .Chowdhury P, Velalopoulou A, Verginadis II, Morcos G, Loo PE, Kim MM, Motlagh 55 SAO, Shoniyozov K, Diffenderfer ES, Ocampo EA, Putt M, Assenmacher CA, Radaelli E, 57 Lu J, Qin L, Liu H, Leli NM, Girdhani S, Denef N, Vander Stappen F, Cengel KA, Busch 59 TM, Metz JM, Dong L, Lin A, Koumenis C. : Proton FLASH radiotherapy ameliorates 5e radiation-induced salivary gland dysfunction and oral mucositis and increases survival in a 2a mouse model of head and neck cancer 2e Mol Cancer Ther APR 2024
    • 5
  • 5f Leli NM, Koumenis C. : A Novel Ubiquitin Complex Regulates Aneuploid Epithelial 34 Tumors by Moderating an Integrated Stress Response 7 33 Cancer Discov 1(13) March 2023
    • 5
  • 1f9 Verginadis II, Avgousti H, Monslow J, Skoufos G, Chinga F, Kim K, Leli NM, Karagounis IV, Bell BI, Velalopoulou A, Salinas CS, Wu VS, Li Y, Ye J, Scott DA, Osterman AL, Sengupta A, Weljie A, Huang M, Zhang D, Fan Y, Radaelli E, Tobias JW, Rambow F, Karras P, Marine JC, Xu X, Hatzigeorgiou AG, Ryeom S, Diehl JA, Fuchs SY, Puré E, Koumenis C. : . A stromal Integrated Stress Response activates perivascular cancer-associated fibroblasts to drive angiogenesis and tumour progression. 3e Nat Cell Biol. 24(6) : 940-953, June 2022
    • 5
  • 1b2 Tameire Feven, Verginadis Ioannis I, Leli Nektaria Maria, Polte Christine, Conn Crystal S, Ojha Rani, Salas Salinas Carlo, Chinga Frank, Monroy Alexandra M, Fu Weixuan, Wang Paul, Kossenkov Andrew, Ye Jiangbin, Amaravadi Ravi K, Ignatova Zoya, Fuchs Serge Y, Diehl J Alan, Ruggero Davide, Koumenis Constantinos : ATF4 couples MYC-dependent translational activity to bioenergetic demands during tumour progression. 3a Nat Cell Bio 21(7) : 889-899, Jul 2019
    • 6
1 1 19 1b
11 15 11 15 25 11 11 11 18
9 13