Biography
Eric R. Fearon, M.D., Ph.D. - Dr. Fearon received his undergraduate, medical, and PhD degrees from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Michigan, he was a faculty member at Yale University School of Medicine. Since 1995, Dr. Fearon has served as the Emanuel N. Maisel Professor of Oncology, and he was appointed as Director of the UMCCC in 2016. The UMCCC was renamed the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center in 2018. Dr. Fearon has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and more than 60 review/editorial articles and book chapters. He has pursed research in the cancer genetics field, particularly investigations of gene defects that underlie colon and rectal tumor development and progression to advanced stages.
Research Interests
Molecular analysis of cancer pathogenesis; β-catenin-dependent Wnt signaling; transgenic and knockout mouse models of colon cancer; miRNAs and cancer; Sox9 gene function;
colon tissue stem cells; clonal evolution and clonal competition/cooperation in metastasis
The research in the Fearon laboratory seeks to address the means by which oncogene and tumor suppressor gene defects contribute to the development and metastatic spread of colon and other cancers, as well as efforts to develop novel strategies for early detection and treatment of benign and malignant colorectal tumors.
Honors and Awards
1983 Phi Beta Kappa (Johns Hopkins University)
1983 Martin G. Larrabee undergraduate prize for research in biophysics, Johns
Hopkins University
1990 Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine)
1990 David Israel Macht Prize for Basic Science Research (Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine)
1990 Wilson S. Stone Award, UT, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
1992-1995 McDonnell Fellow in Molecular Medicine in Cancer Research, James S.
McDonnell Fund
1994 Ruppert B. Turnbull Memorial Lectureship, Visiting Professor,
Department of Surgery, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis and Washington
University School of Medicine
1996 Louis J. Cole Lecture, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
1998 American Society for Clinical Investigation
2000 Lynch Lectureship, University of Notre Dame, Department of Biology, Molecular
Biosciences Program
2003 Association of American Physicians
2005 Third Annual DSR Sarma Lectureship in Oncologic Pathology, University of
Toronto
2007 Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars
2012 Shapiro Lecture, Division of Gastroenterology, Perelman School of Medicine at
the University of Pennsylvania
2013 National Academy of Medicine
2014 University of Michigan Medical School League of Research Excellence
2015 Harrison Society/Riven Lectureship, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
2015 University of Michigan Medical School Distinguished Faculty Lectureship in
Biomedical Research
2017 Ronald B Herberman, MD Lectureship, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
2018 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Publications
Ulintz PJ, Greenson JK, Wu R, Fearon ER, Hardiman KM. Lymph node metastases in colon cancer are polyclonal. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Dec 4 [Epub]. 2018 May 1;24(9):2214-2224. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432. CCR-17-1425. PMID: 29203589. PMCID: PMC5932232
Wang Y, Sessine MS, Zhai Y, Tipton C, McCool K, Kuick R, Connolly DC, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Lineage tracing suggests that ovarian endosalpingiosis does not result from escape of oviductal epithelium. J Pathol 2019, 249: 206-214. PMID: 31131879.
Laudisi F, Di Grazia A, De Simone V, Cherubini F, Colantoni A, Ortenzi A, Franzè E, Dinallo V, Di Fusco D, Monteleone I, Fearon ER, Monteleone G, Stolfi C. Induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibition of colon carcinogenesis by the anti-helmintic drug rafoxanide. Cancer Lett 2019, 10:462:1-11. PMID: 31351087
Frydrych LM, Ulintz P, Bankhead A, Sifuentes C, Greenson J, Maguire L, Irwin R, Fearon ER, Hardiman KM. Rectal cancer sub-clones respond differentially to neoadjuvant therapy. Neoplasia 2019, 21:1051-1062. PMID: 31521947. PMCID: PMC6745489.
Bell HN, Rebernick RJ, Goyert J, Singhal R, Kuljanin M, Kerk SA, Huang W, Das NK, Andren A, Solanki S, Miller SL, Todd PK, Fearon ER, Lyssiotis A, Gygi SP, Mancias JD, Shah YM. Reuterin in the healthy gut microbiome suppresses colorectal cancer growth through altering redox balance. Cancer Cell 2022, 40:185-200. PMID:34951957
Sun D, Wang W, Guo F, Pitter MR, Du W, Wei S, Grove S, Vatan L, Chen Y, Kryczek I, Fearon ER, Fang JY, Zou W. DOT1L affects colorectal carcinogenesis via altering T cell subsets and oncogenic pathways. Oncoimunology 2022, 11:2052640. Doi 10.1080/2162402X.2022.2052640. PMCID: PMC8928792.
Hou X, Zhai Y, Hu K, Liu CJ, Udager A, Pearce CL, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Aging accelerates while multiparity delays tumorigenesis in mouse models of high-grade serous carcinoma. Gynecol Oncol 2022, 2022 Apr 9;S0090-8258(22)00212-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2022.03.030. PMID 35414426