Stephen Carney

I graduated from Michigan State University in 2015 with two bachelors degrees in Animal Science and Genomics & Molecular Genetics. After college, I participated in the NIH sponsored Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). In Dr. Anthony Wynshaw-Boris laboratory, I studied the differentiation of IPSC-derived neural precursor cells of a neurodegenerative disease called ataxia telangiectasia (AT). I joined Dr. Castro's laboratory in 2016 to study the impact of mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and alpha-thalassemia/mental retardation, X-linked (ATRX) in brain cancer.

My research focuses on understanding how the co-expressed mutations in IDH1 (mIDH1) and ATRX influence chromatin organization and neural lineage in brain cancer. I have performed RNA-seq and ChIP-seq in a patient-derived glioma cell culture following mIDH1 inhibition and ATRX rescue. I have generated a genetically engineered mouse model of mIDH1 glioma using PDGFR-alpha D842V as the driver mutation, where this growth factor receptor is highly expressed in mIDH1 glioma.

RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, intracranial surgery, immunohistochemistry, lentiviral generation and plasmid cloning.

Stephen Carney, Brandon Zhu, Padma Kadiyala, Maria Garcia-Fabiani, Preethi Gorla, Felipe Nunez, Pedro R. Lowenstein and Maria G. Castro. Mutant IDH1 alters epigenetic regulation to promote stemness in low grade glioma: Deciphering signaling pathways altered by mIDH1 inhibition. American Association of Cancer Research, 2020.

Stephen Carney, Felipe J. Núñez, Brandon Zhu, Pedro R. Lowenstein, & Maria G. Castro. Identifying dysregulated lncRNAs and miRNAs in low grade glioma: Uncovering signaling pathways and novel therapeutic targets. American Association of Cancer Research, 2019.

Stephen Carney, Felipe J. Núñez, Pedro R. Lowenstein, & Maria G. Castro. Identifying Dysregulated lncRNAs and miRNAs in a Human Model of Low Grade Glioma. Regulatory and Non-coding RNA Conference. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 2018.

2012 USDA Multicultural Scholar Program Scholarship
2013 College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Alumni Scholarship
2014 DAAD German Academic Exchange Service
2015 NIH-CWRU Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) Fellowship
2016 Rackham Merit Fellowship
2018 Cancer Biology T32 Training Grant
2020 NIH NINDS Minority Research Supplements

Kadiyala, P, S.V. Carney, J.C. Gauss, M.B. Garcia-Fabiani, S. Haase, M.S. Alghamri, F.J. Núñez, Y. Liu, M. Yu, A. Taher, F.M. Nunez, D. Li, M.B. Edwards, C.G. Kleer, H. Appelman, Y. Sun, L. Zhao, J.J. Moon, A. Schwendeman, P.R. Lowenstein, & M.G. Castro. Inhibition of 2-hydroxyglutarate elicits metabolic reprogramming and mutant IDH1 glioma immunity in mice. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 131(4):e139542. (2021). PMCID: PMC7880418

Mendez, F.M., P. Kadiyala, F.J. Núñez, S. Carney, F.M. Nunez, J.C Gauss, R. Ravindran, S. Pawar, M. Edwards, M.B. Garcia-Fabiani, S. Haase, P.R Lowenstein and M.G. Castro. Therapeutic efficacy of immune stimulatory thymidine kinase and fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (TK/Flt3L) gene therapy in a mouse model of high grade brainstem glioma. Clinical Cancer Research. (2020) PMCID: PMC7415674

Núñez, F., F.M. Mendez, P. Kadiyala, M. Alghmari, M. Savelieff, C. Koschmann, A. Calinescu, N. Kamran, R. Patel, S. Carney, M. Guo, M. Garcia-Fabiani, S. Hasse, M. Edwards, M. Ljungman, T. Qin, M. Sartor, R. Tagett, S. Venneti, J. Brosnan-Cashman, A. Meeker, V. Gorbunova, L. Zhao, D. Kremer, L. Zhang, C. Lyssiotis, L. Jones, C. Herting, J. Ross, D. Hambardzumyan, S. Hervey-Jumper, M. Figueroa, P.R. Lowenstein, & M.G. Castro. IDH1R132H acts as a tumor suppressor in glioma via epigenetic upregulation of the DNA damage response. Science Translational Medicine. (2019). PMCID: PMC6400220

• Black or African American
• American Indian or Alaska Native