Ellen Langer, Ph.D. (she/her)

  • Assistant Professor of Division of Oncological Sciences, School of Medicine
  • Assistant Professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics, School of Medicine
  • Member, CEDAR, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Langer received her Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from Washington University in St. Louis under the mentorship of Dr. Greg Longmore, and she completed postdoctoral training with Dr. Ken Murphy, Dr. Mario Capecchi, and Dr. Rosalie Sears. Throughout her career, Dr. Langer has sought to understand how physiologic processes that occur during development or in response to injury are corrupted to contribute to tumor development and progression. Her early research focused on the transcriptional regulators that control epithelial to mesenchymal transitions (EMT) in developmental systems including Xenopus neural crest development and embryonic stem cell differentiation. During her postdoc, Dr. Langer interrogated mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in breast cancer cells to understand how extrinsic stressors such as low nutrients or therapeutic treatments mediate changes in tumor cell phenotypes. She also co-led an effort to develop manipulable, heterotypic, 3D bioprinted tumor models to support investigations of how tumor-stromal crosstalk affects tumor phenotype and response to treatment.

Dr. Langer’s research is focused on interrogating mechanisms of cellular plasticity in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic cells in order to understand how interactions between these populations impact tumor development and progression. Current work in her group utilizes 2-dimensional tissue culture, 3-dimensional bioprinted tissues, and mouse models in order to identify and target mechanisms of crosstalk between tumor cells and stromal cells in breast and pancreatic cancer.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 2001, University of Notre Dame
    • Ph.D., 2007, Washington University in St. Louis

Memberships and associations:

  • American Association of Cancer Research

Publications

Publications

  • Ongoing replication stress tolerance and clonal T cell responses distinguish liver and lung recurrence and outcomes in pancreatic cancer

    Nature Cancer
    1. Jason M. Link
    2. Jennifer R. Eng
    3. Carl Pelz
    4. Kevin MacPherson-Hawthorne
    5. Patrick J. Worth
    6. Shamaline Sivagnanam
    7. Dove J. Keith
    8. Sydney Owen
    9. Ellen M. Langer
    10. Alison Grossblatt-Wait
    11. Gustavo Salgado-Garza
    12. Allison L. Creason
    13. Sara Protzek
    14. Julian Egger
    15. Hannah Holly
    16. Michael B. Heskett
    17. Koei Chin
    18. Nell Kirchberger
    19. Konjit Betre
    20. Elmar Bucher
    21. David Kilburn
    22. Zhi Hu
    23. Michael W. Munks
    24. Isabel A. English
    25. Motoyuki Tsuda
    26. Jeremy Goecks
    27. Emek Demir
    28. Andrew C. Adey
    29. Adel Kardosh
    30. Charles D. Lopez
    31. Brett C. Sheppard
    32. Alex Guimaraes
    33. Brian Brinkerhoff
    34. Terry K. Morgan
    35. Gordon B. Mills
    36. Lisa M. Coussens
    37. Jonathan R. Brody
    38. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Micelle-Formulated Juglone Effectively Targets Pancreatic Cancer and Remodels the Tumor Microenvironment

    Pharmaceutics
    1. Vidhi M. Shah
    2. Syed Rizvi
    3. Alexander Smith
    4. Motoyuki Tsuda
    5. Madeline Krieger
    6. Carl Pelz
    7. Kevin MacPherson
    8. Jenny Eng
    9. Koei Chin
    10. Michael W. Munks
    11. Colin J. Daniel
    12. Adel Al-Fatease
    13. Galip Gürkan Yardimci
    14. Ellen M. Langer
    15. Jonathan R. Brody
    16. Brett C. Sheppard
    17. Adam W.G. Alani
    18. Rosalie C. Sears

  • MYC Deregulation and PTEN Loss Model Tumor and Stromal Heterogeneity of Aggressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

    Nature communications
    1. Zinab O. Doha
    2. Xiaoyan Wang
    3. Nicholas L. Calistri
    4. Jennifer Eng
    5. Colin J. Daniel
    6. Luke Ternes
    7. Eun Na Kim
    8. Carl Pelz
    9. Michael Munks
    10. Courtney Betts
    11. Sunjong Kwon
    12. Elmar Bucher
    13. Xi Li
    14. Trent Waugh
    15. Zuzana Tatarova
    16. Dylan Blumberg
    17. Aaron Ko
    18. Nell Kirchberger
    19. Jennifer A. Pietenpol
    20. Melinda E. Sanders
    21. Ellen M. Langer
    22. Mu Shui Dai
    23. Gordon Mills
    24. Koei Chin
    25. Young Hwan Chang
    26. Lisa M. Coussens
    27. Joe W. Gray
    28. Laura M. Heiser
    29. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Sulfopin is a covalent inhibitor of Pin1 that blocks Myc-driven tumors in vivo

    Nature Chemical Biology
    1. Christian Dubiella
    2. Benika J. Pinch
    3. Kazuhiro Koikawa
    4. Daniel Zaidman
    5. Evon Poon
    6. Theresa D. Manz
    7. Behnam Nabet
    8. Shuning He
    9. Efrat Resnick
    10. Adi Rogel
    11. Ellen M. Langer
    12. Colin J. Daniel
    13. Hyuk Soo Seo
    14. Ying Chen
    15. Guillaume Adelmant
    16. Shabnam Sharifzadeh
    17. Scott B. Ficarro
    18. Yann Jamin
    19. Barbara Martins da Costa
    20. Mark W. Zimmerman
    21. Xiaolan Lian
    22. Shin Kibe
    23. Shingo Kozono
    24. Zainab M. Doctor
    25. Christopher M. Browne
    26. Annan Yang
    27. Liat Stoler-Barak
    28. Richa B. Shah
    29. Nicholas E. Vangos
    30. Ezekiel A. Geffken
    31. Roni Oren
    32. Eriko Koide
    33. Samuel Sidi
    34. Ziv Shulman
    35. Chu Wang
    36. Jarrod A. Marto
    37. Sirano Dhe-Paganon
    38. Thomas Look
    39. Xiao Zhen Zhou
    40. Kun Ping Lu
    41. Rosalie C. Sears
    42. Louis Chesler
    43. Nathanael S. Gray
    44. Nir London

  • Altering MYC phosphorylation in the epidermis increases the stem cell population and contributes to the development, progression, and metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma

    Oncogenesis
    1. Xiaoyan Wang
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. Colin J. Daniel
    4. Mahnaz Janghorban
    5. Vivian Wu
    6. Xiao Jing Wang
    7. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Deregulating MYC in a model of HER2+ breast cancer mimics human intertumoral heterogeneity

    Journal of Clinical Investigation
    1. Tyler Risom
    2. Xiaoyan Wang
    3. Juan Liang
    4. Xiaoli Zhang
    5. Carl Pelz
    6. Lydia G. Campbell
    7. Jenny Eng
    8. Koei Chin
    9. Caroline Farrington
    10. Goutham Narla
    11. Ellen M. Langer
    12. Xiao Xin Sun
    13. Yulong Su
    14. Colin J. Daniel
    15. Mu Shui Dai
    16. Christiane V. Löhr
    17. Rosalie C. Sears

  • PIN1 Provides Dynamic Control of MYC in Response to Extrinsic Signals

    Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
    1. Gabriel M. Cohn
    2. Daniel F. Liefwalker
    3. Ellen M. Langer
    4. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Modeling differentiation-state transitions linked to therapeutic escape in triple-negative breast cancer

    PLoS computational biology
    1. Margaret P. Chapman
    2. Tyler Risom
    3. Anil J. Aswani
    4. Ellen M. Langer
    5. Rosalie C. Sears
    6. Claire J. Tomlin

  • Modeling Tumor Phenotypes In Vitro with Three-Dimensional Bioprinting

    Cell Reports
    1. Ellen M. Langer
    2. Brittany L. Allen-Petersen
    3. Shelby M. King
    4. Nicholas D. Kendsersky
    5. Megan A. Turnidge
    6. Genevra M. Kuziel
    7. Rachelle Riggers
    8. Ravi Samatham
    9. Taylor S. Amery
    10. Steven Jacques
    11. Brett C. Sheppard
    12. James E. Korkola
    13. John L. Muschler
    14. Guillaume Thibault
    15. Young Hwan Chang
    16. Joe W. Gray
    17. Sharon C. Presnell
    18. Deborah G. Nguyen
    19. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Differentiation-state plasticity is a targetable resistance mechanism in basal-like breast cancer

    Nature communications
    1. Tyler Risom
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. Margaret P. Chapman
    4. Juha Rantala
    5. Andrew J. Fields
    6. Christopher Boniface
    7. Mariano J. Alvarez
    8. Nicholas D. Kendsersky
    9. Carl R. Pelz
    10. Katherine Johnson-Camacho
    11. Lacey E. Dobrolecki
    12. Koei Chin
    13. Anil J. Aswani
    14. Nicholas J. Wang
    15. Andrea Califano
    16. Michael T. Lewis
    17. Claire J. Tomlin
    18. Paul T. Spellman
    19. Andrew Adey
    20. Joe W. Gray
    21. Rosalie C. Sears

  • ZEB1-repressed microRNAs inhibit autocrine signaling that promotes vascular mimicry of breast cancer cells

    Oncogene
    1. E. M. Langer
    2. N. D. Kendsersky
    3. C. J. Daniel
    4. G. M. Kuziel
    5. C. Pelz
    6. K. M. Murphy
    7. M. R. Capecchi
    8. R. C. Sears

  • The tumor suppressor phosphatase PP2A-B56α regulates stemness and promotes the initiation of malignancies in a novel murine model

    PloS one
    1. Mahnaz Janghorban
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. Xiaoyan Wang
    4. Derek Zachman
    5. Colin J. Daniel
    6. Jody Hooper
    7. William H. Fleming
    8. Anupriya Agarwal
    9. Rosalie C. Sears

  • The impact of chromosomal translocation locus and fusion oncogene coding sequence in synovial sarcomagenesis

    Oncogene
    1. K. B. Jones
    2. J. J. Barrott
    3. M. Xie
    4. M. Haldar
    5. H. Jin
    6. J. F. Zhu
    7. M. J. Monument
    8. T. L. Mosbruger
    9. E. M. Langer
    10. R. L. Randall
    11. R. K. Wilson
    12. B. R. Cairns
    13. L. Ding
    14. M. R. Capecchi

  • Targeting c-MYC by antagonizing PP2A inhibitors in breast cancer

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. Mahnaz Janghorban
    2. Amy S. Farrell
    3. Brittany L. Allen-Petersen
    4. Carl Pelz
    5. Colin J. Daniel
    6. Jessica Oddo
    7. Ellen M. Langer
    8. Dale J. Christensen
    9. Rosalie C. Sears

  • Dual actions of Meis1 inhibit erythroid progenitor development and sustain general hematopoietic cell proliferation

    Blood
    1. Mi Cai
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. Jennifer G. Gill
    4. Ansuman T. Satpathy
    5. Jörn C. Albring
    6. Wumesh Kc
    7. Theresa L. Murphy
    8. Kenneth M. Murphy

  • Snail promotes the cell-autonomous generation of Flk1 + endothelial cells through the repression of the microRNA-200 family

    Stem Cells and Development
    1. Jennifer G. Gill
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. R. Coleman Lindsley
    4. Mi Cai
    5. Theresa L. Murphy
    6. Kenneth M. Murphy

  • Snail and the microRNA-200 family act in opposition to regulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and germ layer fate restriction in differentiating ESCs

    Stem Cells
    1. Jennifer G. Gill
    2. Ellen M. Langer
    3. R. Coleman Lindsley
    4. Mi Cai
    5. Theresa L. Murphy
    6. Michael Kyba
    7. Kenneth M. Murphy

  • Ajuba LIM proteins are snail/slug corepressors required for neural crest development in Xenopus.

    Developmental Cell
    1. Ellen M. Langer
    2. Yunfeng Feng
    3. Hou Zhaoyuan
    4. Frank J. Rauscher
    5. Kristen L. Kroll
    6. Gregory D. Longmore

  • Mesp1 coordinately regulates cardiovascular fate restriction and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in differentiating ESCs

    Cell Stem Cell
    1. R. Coleman Lindsley
    2. Jennifer G. Gill
    3. Theresa L. Murphy
    4. Ellen M. Langer
    5. Mi Cai
    6. Mona Mashayekhi
    7. Wei Wang
    8. Noriko Niwa
    9. Jeanne M. Nerbonne
    10. Michael Kyba
    11. Kenneth M. Murphy

  • The LIM protein AJUBA recruits protein arginine methyltransferase 5 to mediate SNAIL-dependent transcriptional repression

    Molecular and cellular biology
    1. Zhaoyuan Hou
    2. Hongzhuang Peng
    3. Kasirajan Ayyanathan
    4. Kai Ping Yan
    5. Ellen M. Langer
    6. Gregory D. Longmore
    7. Frank J. Rauscher

  • The Ajuba LIM domain protein is a corepressor for SNAG domain-mediated repression and participates in nucleocytoplasmic shuttling

    Cancer Research
    1. Kasirajan Ayyanathan
    2. Hongzhuang Peng
    3. Zhaoyuan Hou
    4. William J. Fredericks
    5. Rakesh K. Goyal
    6. Ellen M. Langer
    7. Gregory D. Longmore
    8. Frank J. Rauscher

  • Bcl-xL deamidation is a critical switch in the regulation of the response to DNA damage

    Cell
    1. Benjamin E. Deverman
    2. Brian L. Cook
    3. Scott R. Manson
    4. Robert A. Niederhoff
    5. Ellen M. Langer
    6. Ivana Rosová
    7. Laura A. Kulans
    8. Xiaoyun Fu
    9. Justin S. Weinberg
    10. Jay W. Heinecke
    11. Kevin A. Roth
    12. Steven J. Weintraub