Anand Kornepati, Ph.D.
M.D./Ph.D.Student
Biography
Anand Kornepati completed his PhD in the lab of Tyler Curiel, MD, MPH in the summer of 2021. As a student in the South Texas Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD Program), Anand has transitioned back to medical school for his final years of clinical training before an anticipated MD graduation of May 2023. Throughout his graduate work, Anand examined novel signaling properties of an immune checkpoint ligand termed PD-L1 with the ultimate goal of improving current cancer immunotherapy approaches. Anand is considering going into either radiation oncology or hematology/oncology as a clinical specialty.
About me
I grew up in Raleigh, NC and attended Duke University for undergrad. I am an avid supporter of the Duke Blue Devils basketball program. Craziest thing I've done thus far was to (somehow) decide that skydiving was a good idea.
Hobbies/Interests
Running, lifting, movies, reading non-fiction, traveling
Research Topic
Cancer Immunotherapy
Why I chose MD/PhD
For the opportunity to improve the human condition by hastening the pace at which we convert basic science discoveries into effective therapies in the clinic.
Why I chose MD/PhD at UT Health San Antonio
For the oustanding mentors, comradery, and family oriented feel
Publications
Murray C, Galvan E, Ontiveros C, Deng Y, Bai H, Padron AS, Hinchee-Rodriguez K, Garcia MG, Kornepati AV, Conejo-Garcia J, Curiel TJ. Pharmacologic Tumor PDL1 Depletion with Cefepime or Ceftazidime Promotes DNA Damage and Sensitivity to DNA-Damaging Agents. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 May 4;23(9):5129. doi: 10.3390/ijms23095129. PMID: 35563520; PMCID: PMC9099860.
Kornepati AV, Boyd JT, Murray CE, Saifetyarova J, de la Peña Avalos B, Rogers CM, Bai H, Padron AS, Liao Y, Ontiveros C, Svatek RS, Hromas R, Li R, Hu Y, Conejo-Garcia JR, Vadlamudi RK, Zhao W, Dray E, Sung P, Curiel TJ. Tumor-intrinsic PD-L1 promotes DNA repair in distinct cancers and suppresses PARP inhibitor-induced synthetic lethality. Cancer Research. 2022 Mar 3:canres.2076.2021. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-2076. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35247877
Kornepati AV, Vadlamudi RK, Curiel TJ. Programmed death ligand 1 signals in cancer cells. Nature Rev Cancer. 2022 Mar;22(3):174-189. doi: 10.1038/s41568-021-00431-4. Epub 2022 Jan 14. PMID: 35031777.
Reyes RM, Deng Y, Zhang D, Ji N, Mukherjee N, Wheeler K, Gupta HB, Padron AS, Kancharla A, Zhang C, Garcia M, Kornepati AV, Boyman O, Conejo-Garcia JR, Svatek RS, Curiel TJ. CD122-directed interleukin-2 treatment mechanisms in bladder cancer differ from αPD-L1 and include tissue-selective γδ T cell activation. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Apr;9(4):e002051. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-002051. PMID: 33849925; PMCID: PMC8051418.
Zhang D, Reyes RM, Osta E, Kari S, Gupta HB, Padron AS, Kornepati AV, Kancharla A, Sun X, Deng Y, Wu B, Vadlamudi R, Li R, Svatek RS, Curiel TJ. Bladder cancer cell-intrinsic PD-L1 promote mTOR and autophagy activation that can be inhibited to improve cytotoxic chemotherapy. Cancer Medicine. 2021 Mar;10(6):2137-2152. doi: 10.1002/cam4.3739. Epub 2021 Feb 24. PMID: 33626233
Hsu DS, Kornepati AV, Glover W, Kennedy EM, Cullen BR. Targeting HPV16 DNA using CRISPR/Cas inhibits anal cancer in vivo. Future Virology. 2018 Jul;13(7):475-482. doi: 10.2217/fvl-2018-0010. Epub 2018 Jun 12. PMID: 30245733, PMCID: PMC6136077
Kennedy EM, Kornepati AV, Bogerd HP, Cullen BR. Partial reconstitution of the RNAi response in human cells using Drosophila gene products. RNA. 2017 Feb;23(2):153-160. doi: 10.1261/rna.059345.116. Epub 2016 Nov 11. PMID: 27837013, PMCID: PMC5238790
Kennedy EM, Bogerd HP, Kornepati AV, Kang D, Ghoshal D, Marshall JB, Poling BC,Tsai K, Gokhale NS, Horner SM, Cullen BR. Posttranscriptional m(6)A Editing of HIV-1 mRNAs Enhances Viral Gene Expression. Cell Host Microbe. 2016 May11;19(5):675-85. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.04.002. Epub 2016 Apr 21. Cell Host Microbe. 2017 Dec 13;22(6):830. PMID: 27117054, PMCID: PMC4867121
Bogerd HP, Kornepati AV, Marshall JB, Kennedy EM, Cullen BR. Specific induction of endogenous viral restriction factors using CRISPR/Cas-derived transcriptional activators. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Dec 29;112(52):E7249-56. doi:10.1073/pnas.1516305112. Epub 2015 Dec 14. PMID: 26668372, PMCID: PMC4703010
Kennedy EM, Whisnant AW, Kornepati AV, Marshall JB, Bogerd HP, Cullen BR. Production of functional small interfering RNAs by an amino-terminal deletion mutant of human Dicer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Dec 15;112(50):E6945-54. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1513421112. Epub 2015 Nov 30. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Oct 18;113(42):E6547. PMID: 26621737, PMCID:PMC4687602
Friedland AE, Baral R, Singhal P, Loveluck K, Shen S, Sanchez M, Marco E, Gotta GM, Maeder ML, Kennedy EM, Kornepati AV, Sousa A, Collins MA, Jayaram H, Cullen BR, Bumcrot D. Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9: a smaller Cas9 for all-in-one adeno-associated virus delivery and paired nickase applications. Genome Biol. 2015 Nov 24;16:257. doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0817-8. PMID: 26596280, PMCID: PMC4657203
Kennedy EM, Kornepati AV, Cullen BR. Targeting hepatitis B virus cccDNA using CRISPR/Cas9. Antiviral Res. 2015 Nov;123:188-92. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2015.10.004. Epub 2015 Oct 22. PMID: 26476375
Kennedy EM, Kornepati AVR, Mefferd AL, Marshall JB, Tsai K, Bogerd HP, Cullen BR. Optimization of a multiplex CRISPR/Cas system for use as an antiviral therapeutic. Methods. 2015 Dec;91:82-86. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2015.08.012. Epub 2015 Aug 17. PMID: 26291065, PMCID: PMC4684739
Mefferd AL, Kornepati AV, Bogerd HP, Kennedy EM, Cullen BR. Expression of CRISPR/Cas single guide RNAs using small tRNA promoters. RNA. 2015 Sep;21(9):1683-9. doi: 10.1261/rna.051631.115. Epub 2015 Jul 17. PMID: 26187160, PMCID: PMC4536327
Kennedy EM, Bassit LC, Mueller H, Kornepati AVR, Bogerd HP, Nie T, Chatterjee P, Javanbakht H, Schinazi RF, Cullen BR. Suppression of hepatitis B virus DNA accumulation in chronically infected cells using a bacterial CRISPR/Cas RNA-guided DNA endonuclease. Virology. 2015 Feb;476:196-205. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2014.12.001. Epub 2014 Dec 29. PMID: 25553515, PMCID: PMC4323668
Kennedy EM, Kornepati AV, Goldstein M, Bogerd HP, Poling BC, Whisnant AW, Kastan MB, Cullen BR. Inactivation of the human papillomavirus E6 or E7 gene in cervical carcinoma cells by using a bacterial CRISPR/Cas RNA-guided endonuclease. J Virol. 2014 Oct;88(20):11965-72. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01879-14. Epub 2014 Aug 6. PMID: 25100830, PMCID: PMC4178730
Patents
Kornepati, A. V., Curiel, T. J , (2021). Methods for diagnosing and treating cancers. U.S. Patent No. 17/200,729 Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Cullen, B. R., Kennedy, E. M, Bogerd, H. P., Kornepati, A.V, Heaton, N., Courtney, D. G (2017). Compositions and methods for enhanced gene expression and viral replication. PCT/US2017/026391. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Cullen, B. R., Schinazi, R.F, Kennedy, E.M, Bogerd, H.P., Kornepati, A. V., Mefferd A.L, (2016). Composition for the inactivation of virus replication and methods of making and using the same. U.S Patent No. 15/119,867. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Education
B.S., Biology, Duke University, 2014
Ph.D., Integrated Biomedical Sciences: Molecular Immunology & Microbiology, UT Health San Antonio, 2021
Dissertation Title: "Mechanistic insights into non-canonical, cell-intrinsic PD-L1 control of DNA damage responses in tumor cells." Defended on July 15, 2021.
Awards
2020-2024 NCI F30 Fellowship: NIH F30CA239390 "Role of cell-intrinsic effects of PD-L1 in carcinogenesis"