Z. Dave Sharp, Ph.D.

Dr. Z. Dave Sharp's lab explores novel strategies to prevent diseases while mitigating morbidities associated with aging, thereby reducing suffering and looming economic burden. 

They study how chronic mTOR inhibition prevents, delays, and/or reduces the severity of cancer while mitigating other negative effects of aging. 

Their experiments show this is possible with a novel enteric formulation of rapamycin, eRapa. Their current research goals aim to understand the mechanism of action of eRapa in the prevention of colon cancer using mouse models combined with genetic, epigenetic and protein synthesis profiling technologies.

• Professional Background

  Education

  • 1981 - PhD - Cell Biology and Human Anatomy - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  • 1975 - BS - Biology - University of Arkansas
  • 1968 - BA - BBA in Accounting - University of Arkansas
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship - Depts. of Biology and Biochemistry - Rice University

  Appointments

  • 9/2011 - Member - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, CTRC
  • 9/2008 - Professor - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Molecular Medicine, San Antonio

• Instruction & Training

  • 12/2018 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, UTHSA
  • 7/2018 - Present, Adv Molecular Cell Bio, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 9/2017 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, UT Health San Antonio
  • 1/2017 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, GSBS
  • 5/2016 - Present, Post-Doctoral Student Supervision, UTHSCSA
  • 10/2012 - Present, CSAT 6048 Biology of Aging, UTHSCSA
  • 9/2012 - Present, Membership on Supervising Committee, UTHSCSA
  • 8/2011 - Present, Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center

• Research & Grants

  Cancer Prevention, Gastrointestinal Cancer, mTOR Pathway

  Delaying and/or preventing intestinal cancer in mice using rapamycin and genetic mouse models.

  Population Science and Prevention Program

  Research profile

  Grants

  Federal

  Funding Agency NCI Title Delaying Intestinal Cancer Status Active Period 12/2015 - 11/2020 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail

  Private

  Funding Agency Glenn Foundation Title Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Status Complete Period 9/2010 - Present Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail

   

  Funding Agency Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies Title Role of SLC38a1 neutral amino acid transporter in mTOR regulation Status Active Period - Present Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail

• Publications

  Book Chapter

  Sharp ZD. mTOR, Aging and Cancer: Prospects for Pharmacological Interventions. In: Sharp ZD. Anti-aging drugs: from basic research to clinical practice. England: Royal Society of Chemistry; 2017. Sharp ZD
  Hasty, P. mTOR, Aging and Cancer: A dangerous link. In: Editors: Monica Mita, Alain Mita, and Eric K. Rowinsky. mTOR Inhibition for Cancer Therapy. Verlag, France: Springer; 2016. p. 277-292.

  Journal Article

  Tang, H,
  Inoki, K,
  Brooks, SV,
  Okazawa, H,
  Lee, M,
  Wang, J,
  Kim, M,
  Kennedy, CL,
  Macpherson, PCD,
  Ji, X,
  Van Roekel, S,
  Fraga, DA,
  Wang, K,
  Zhu, J,
  Wang, Y,
  Sharp, ZD,
  Miller, RA,
  Rando, TA,
  Goldman, D,
  Guan, K-L,
  Shrager, JB. mTORC1 underlies age-related muscle fiber damage and loss by inducing oxidative stress and catabolism Aging Cell 2019 Mar;. Svatek, R. S., Ji, N., de Leon, E., Mukherjee, N. Z., Kabra, A., Hurez, V., Nicolas, M., Michalek, J. E., Javors, M., Wheeler, K., Sharp, Z. D., Livi, C. B., Shu, Z. J., Henkes, D., and Curiel, T. J. Rapamycin Prevents Surgery-Induced Immune Dysfunction in Patients with Bladder Cancer Cancer Immunol Res 2019 Jan;:466-475. Liss, MA
  Rickborn, L
  DiGiovanni, J
  Bacicha, D
  DeGraffenried, LA
  Parihar, M
  Thompson, IM
  Sharp ZD. mTOR inhibitors for treatment of low-risk prostate cancer Medical Hypotheses 2018 Feb;117:63-68. Dodds SG, Livi CB, Parihar M, Hsu HK, Benavides AD, Morris J, Javors M, Strong R, Christy B, Hasty P, Sharp ZD. Adaptations to chronic rapamycin in mice Pathobiol Aging Age Relat Dis 2016 Jan;6:31688-31688. Christy B, Demaria M, Campisi J, Huang J, Jones D, Dodds SG, Williams C, Hubbard G, Livi CB, Gao X, Weintraub S, Curiel T, Sharp ZD, Hasty P. p53 and rapamycin are additive Oncotarget 2015 Jun;6(18):15802-15813. Calhoun, C, Shivshankar, P, Saker, M, Sloane, LB, Livi, CB, Sharp ZD, Orihuela CJ, Adnot, S, White, E, Richardson AG, Le Saux CJ. Senescent cells contribute to the physiological remodeling of aged lungs Journal of Gerontology- Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2015 Jan;70(1):1-9. Rodriguez KA, Dodds SG, Strong R, Galvan V, Sharp ZD, Buffenstein R. Divergent tissue and sex effects of rapamycin on the proteasome-chaperone network of old mice Front Mol Neurosci 2014 Nov;7:83-83. Miller RA, Harrison DE, Astle CM, Fernandez E, Flurkey K, Han M, Javors MA, Li X, Nadon NL, Nelson JF, Pletcher S, Salmon AB, Z. Dave Sharp, Van Roekel S, Winkleman L, Strong R. Rapamycin-mediated lifespan increase in mice is dose and sex-dependent and metabolically distinct from dietary restriction Aging Cell 2014 Jan;13(3):468-477.

  Not Specified

  Aashish Kabra
  Essel Marie de Leon
  Carolina Livi
  Martin Javors
  Marlo Nicolas
  David Henkes
  Z.Dave Sharp
  Tyler Curiel
  Robert Svatek. A PHARMACODYNAMIC PHASE 0/I STUDY OF ORAL RAPAMYCIN IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING RADICAL CYSTECTOMY FOR BLADDER CANCER THE JOURNAL OF UROLOGY 2015 May;193(4s):e810-e810.

  Review Article

  Paul Hasty
  Judith Campisi
  Z. Dave Sharp. Do p53 stress responses impact organismal aging? Translational Cancer Research 2016 Jan;5(685-6).