Position Title

Associate Professor
Basic Science

Office Location

Karmanos Cancer Institute
4100 John R
Mail Code: HW08AO
Detroit, MI 48201

Office Phone

313-576-8351

Education Training

Education
(2000)  Ph.D Tumor Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
(1996)  M.S. Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
(1993)  B.Sc. Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Postgraduate Training
(2000-2005)  Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Microbiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Professional Experience

Faculty Appointments

(2016-Present)  Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
(2010-2016)  Assistant Professor, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
(2008-Present)  Graduate Faculty Member, Cancer Biology Program, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
(2005-2012)  Assistant Professor, Joint Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
(2005-2010)  Assistant Professor, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 

Hospital and Other Professional Appointments

(2013-Present)  Director, Biobanking and Correlative Sciences Core, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI
(2012-Present)  Scientific Member, Molecular Therapeutics Program, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI
(2008-2012)   Scientific Member, Breast Cancer Biology Program, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI
(2005-2008)  Member, Breast Cancer Biology Program, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI

Major Professional Societies

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for Cancer Research
Women in Cancer Research

Honors and Awards

(2015)  School of Medicine College Teaching Award,  Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

(2011)  School of Medicine College Teaching Award, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

(2002-2003)  AACR Scholar-in-Training Award, Travel award to attend the annual meeting for  the American Association for Cancer Research in San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C., respectively

(1999)Brigid Leventhol Scholar, Travel award to attend the annual meeting for the American Association for Cancer Research in Philadelphia, PA 

Research Interests

My laboratory is interested in identifying novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.  Triple-negative breast cancer lacks hormone receptors and HER2, thereby abrogating the use of tamoxifen or Herceptin.  One molecule highly expressed in triple-negative breast cancer is epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).   However, breast cancer do not respond to EGFR inhibitors in the clinic.  Therefore, we have been studying the mechanisms of EGFR kinase-independent signaling in breast cancers and the role it plays in de novo resistance to EGFR inhibitors. Specifically, we are interested in identifying crosstalk between EGFR and other tyrosine kinases that mediate EGFR kinase-independent signaling.

Publications

PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Publications
1. Thakur MK, Heilbrun L, Dobson K, Boerner J, Stark K, Li J, Smith D, Heath E, Fontana J, Vaishampayan U (2018) Phase I Trial of the Combination of Docetaxel, Prednisone, and Pasireotide in Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Clin Genitourin Cancer 16 (3):e695-e703. doi:10.1016/j.clgc.2018.01.019
2. Shah S, Brock EJ, Jackson RM, Ji K, Boerner JL, Sloane BF, Mattingly RR (2018) Downregulation of Rap1Gap: A Switch from DCIS to Invasive Breast Carcinoma via ERK/MAPK Activation. Neoplasia 20 (9):951-963. doi:10.1016/j.neo.2018.07.002
3. Vaishampayan UN, Podgorski I, Heilbrun LK, Lawhorn-Crews JM, Dobson KC, Boerner J, Stark K, Smith DW, Heath EI, Fontana JA, Shields AF. Biomarkers and Bone Imaging Dynamics Associated with Clinical Outcomes of Oral Cabozantinib Therapy in Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 15;25(2):652-662. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-1473. Epub 2018 Oct 16. PubMed PMID: 30327304; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6335157
4. Gadgeel SM, Pennell NA, Fidler MJ, Halmos B, Bonomi P, Stevenson J, Schneider B, Sukari A, Ventimiglia J, Chen W, Galasso C, Wozniak A, Boerner J, Kalemkerian GP (2018) Phase II Study of Maintenance Pembrolizumab in Patients with Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). J Thorac Oncol 13 (9):1393-1399. doi:10.1016/j.jtho.2018.05.002
5. Sanai N, Li J, Boerner J, Stark K, Wu J, Kim S, Derogatis A, Mehta S, Dhruv HD, Heilbrun LK, Berens ME, LoRusso PM (2018) Phase 0 Trial of AZD1775 in First-Recurrence Glioblastoma Patients. Clin Cancer Res 24 (16):3820-3828. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-17-3348
6. Colacino JA, Azizi E, Brooks MD, Harouaka R, Fouladdel S, McDermott SP, Lee M, Hill D, Madden J, Boerner J, Cote ML, Sartor MA, Rozek LS, Wicha MS (2018) Heterogeneity of Human Breast Stem and Progenitor Cells as Revealed by Transcriptional Profiling. Stem Cell Reports 10 (5):1596-1609. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.03.001
7. Bao B, Mitrea C, Wijesinghe P, Marchetti L, Girsch E, Farr RL, Boerner JL, Mohammad R, Dyson G, Terlecky SR, Bollig-Fischer A. (2017). Treating triple negative breast cancer cells with erlotinib plus a select antioxidant overcomes drug resistance by targeting cancer cell heterogeneity. Sci Rep. Mar 10;7:44125. PMID: 28281569
8. Linklater ES, Tovar EA, Essenburg CJ, Turner L, Madaj Z, Winn ME, Melnik MK, Korkaya H, Maroun CR, Christensen JG, Steensma MR, Boerner JL, Graveel CR (2016). Targeting MET and EGFR crosstalk signaling in triple-negative breast cancers. Oncotarget. Sep 16. PMID: 27655711. My laboratory performed and analyzed immunoblot data for this manuscript.
9. Zoratti GL, Tanabe LM, Hyland TE, Duhaime MJ, Colombo É, Leduc R, Marsault E, Johnson MD, Lin CY, Boerner J, Lang JE, List K. (2016). Matriptase regulates c-Met mediated proliferation and invasion in inflammatory breast cancer. Oncotarget. Sep 6;7(36):58162-58173. PMID: 27528224. My laboratory consulted in the selection of the antibodies and models for this manuscript.
10. LoRusso PM, Li J, Burger A, Heilbrun LK, Sausville EA, Boerner SA, Smith D, Pilat MJ, Zhang J, Tolaney SM, Cleary JM, Chen AP, Rubinstein L, Boerner JL, Bowditch A, Cai D, Bell T, Wolanski A, Marrero AM, Zhang Y, Ji J, Ferry-Galow K, Kinders RJ, Parchment RE, Shapiro GI.(2016). Phase I Safety, Pharmacokinetic, and Pharmacodynamic Study of the Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase (PARP) Inhibitor Veliparib (ABT-888) in Combination with Irinotecan in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. Jul 1;22(13):3227-37. PMID: 26842236. My laboratory performed the preliminary data that was need to conduct this clinical trial.
11. Joiakim A, Mathieu PA, Shelp C, Boerner J, Reiners JJ Jr. (2016). Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Kinase Inhibitors Synergize with TCDD to Induce CYP1A1/1A2 in Human Breast Epithelial MCF10A Cells. Drug Metab Dispos. May;44(5):665-71. PMID: 26953171. My laboratory conducted the EGFR immunoblots and some of the drug studies in this manuscript.
12. Zoratti GL, Tanabe LM, Varela FA, Murray AS, Bergum C, Colombo É, Lang JE, Molinolo AA, Leduc R, Marsault E, Boerner J, List K. (2015) Targeting matriptase in breast cancer abrogates tumour progression via impairment of stromal-epithelial growth factor signalling. Nat Commun. Apr 15;6:6776. PMID: 25873032 Journal Impact Factor: 10.742. I assisted with the cell culture experiments in this publication.
13. Boerner JL, Nechiporchik N, Mueller KL, Polin L, Heilbrun L, Boerner SA, Zoratti GL, Stark K, LoRusso PM, Burger A. (2015) Protein Expression of DNA Damage Repair Proteins Dictates Response to Topoisomerase and PARP Inhibitors in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. PLoS One Mar 16;10(3):e0119614.PMID: 25774912 Journal Impact Factor: 3.534. This was work that started in the laboratory of Dr. Burger before she passed away. I finished the project to publication. *GL Zoratti is a post-doctoral fellow in my laboratory.
14. Madden JM1, Mueller KL, Bollig-Fischer A, Stemmer P, Mattingly RR, Boerner JL.(2014) Abrogating phosphorylation of eIF4B is required for EGFR and mTOR inhibitor synergy in triple-negative breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 147(2):283-93. Journal Impact Factor: 4.198. * J Madden was a graduate student in my laboratory.
15. Kim EM, Mueller K, Gartner E, Boerner J. (2013) Dasatinib is synergistic with cetuximab and cisplatin in triple-negative breast cancer cells. Journal of Surgical Research 185(1): 231-9. This concept for this work and the data for this manuscript were generated in my laboratory.
16. Xu J, Xu Z, Zhou JY, Zhuang Z, Wang E, Boerner J, Wu GS. (2013) Regulation of the Src-PP2A interaction in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 288(46):33263-71. Journal Impact Factor: 7.251; Citations 4. My role was assisting Dr. Wu in the interpretation of the data and the writing of the manuscript.
17. Giordano, CR, Mueller, KL, Terlecky, LJ, Krentz, KA, Bollig-Fischer, A, Terlecky, SR and Boerner, JL (2012): A Targeted Enzyme Approach to Sensitization of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor-Resistant Breast Cancer Cells. Experimental Cell Research 318(16):2014-21. Journal Impact Factor: 3.609; Citations 5
18. Mueller, KL, Madden, J, Zoratti, G, Kupewasser, C, List, K, Boerner, JL (2012): Fibroblast secreted hepatocyte growth factor mediates epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance in triple negative breast cancers through paracrine activation of Met. Breast Cancer Research 14(4):R104 Journal Impact Factor: 4.371; Citations 27 ** J Madden is a graduate student in my laboratory
19. Hou, J, Wu, J, Dombkowski, A, Zhang, K, Boerner, JL, and Yang, Z-Q: (2012) Genomic amplification and drug-resistance roles of KDM5A histone demethylase in breast cancer. American Journal of Translational Research 4(3):247-56 Journal Impact Factor: 3.089; Citations 19. My role was assisting Dr. Yang with the EGFR drug resistance studies.
20. Mueller, KL, Powell, K, Madden, JM, Eblen, ST, and Boerner, JL (2012) EGFR tyrosine 845 phosphorylation dependent proliferation and transformation of breast cancer cells requires activation of p38MAPK. Translational Oncology 5(5):327-34. Journal Impact Factor:2.558 ;Citations 17 ** K Powell was a rotation student and JM Madden is a graduate student in my laboratory
21. Irwin ME, Bohin N, Boerner JL (2011). Src family kinases mediate epidermal growth factor receptors signaling from lipid rafts in breast cancer cells. Cancer Biology & Therapy 12: 12(8):718- 726. Journal Impact Factor: 2.907; Citations: 23** ME Irwin was my graduate student and NBohin was a summer student
22. Bergum C, Zoratti G, Boerner J, List K (2011) Strong expression association between matriptase and its substrate prostasin in breast cancer. J Cell Physiol. 227 (4) 1604-1609. Journal Impact Factor: 3.986; Citations 16.I assisted in performing the immunoblots in this manuscript.
23. Irwin ME, Mueller KL, Bohin N, Ge Y, Boerner JL. (2011) Lipid raft localization of EGFR alters the response of cancer cells to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib. J of Cell Physiol. 226 (9): 2316-2328. Journal Impact Factor: 3.986; Citations: 58 ** ME Irwin was my graduate student and N Bohin was a summer student
24. Mueller KL, Yang ZQ, Haddad R, Ethier SP, Boerner JL (2010) EGFR/Met association regulates EGFR TKI resistance in breast cancer. J Mol Signal 5(8) Journal Impact Factor: 2.32; Citations: 34
25. Demory, ML, Boerner, JL, Davidson, R, Faust, W, Miyake, T, Lee, I, Huttemann, M, Douglas, R, Haddad, G, and Parsons, SJ (2009) Epidermal growth factor receptor translocation to the mitochondria Journal of Biological Chemistry 284: 36592-36604. Journal Impact Factor: 5.581; Citations: 63. My role was in performing the biochemical CoxII assays in collaboration with Maik Huttemann here are WSU and in the development of the project
26. Edwards, H, Xie, C, LaFiura, KM, Dombkowski, A, Buck, SA, Boerner, JL, Taub, JW, Matherly, LH, and Ge, Y.(2009) RUNX1 regulates phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT pathway: role in chemotherapy sensitivity in acute megakaryocytic leukemia Blood 114 (13): 2744-2752. Journal Impact Factor: 10.896; Citations: 32. My role was as consultant on the cellular signaling aspect of the project
27. Mueller, KL, Hunter, LM, Ethier, SP, Boerner, JL (2008) Met and c-Src cooperate for loss of EGFR kinase activity in breast cancer cells. Cancer Research 68(9): 3314-3322. Journal Impact Factor: 7.672; Citations: 96 ** LM Hunter was an undergraduate summer student in my laboratory
28. Streicher, KL, Willmarth, NE, Garcia, J, Boerner, JL, Dewey, TG, Ethier, SP (2007) Activation of an NF-kB/IL-1 positive feedback loop by amphiregulin in human breast cancer cells. Molecular Cancer Research 5:847-861. Journal Impact Factor: 4.317; Citations: 48. My role was providing the MCF7 inducible cell lines and as scientific consultant on the project.
29. Boerner, JL, Biscardi, J, Silva, CM and Parsons, SJ. (2005) Transactivating agonists of the EGF receptor require Tyr 845 phosphorylation for induction of DNA synthesis. Molecular Carcinogenesis 44:262-273. Journal Impact Factor: 3.265; Citations: 66
30. Boerner, JL, Gibson, MA, Posner, ED, Laughlin, KK, Parsons, SJ, Silva, CM, and Shupnik, MA. (2005) Estrogen negatively regulates EGF-mediated STAT5 signaling in HER family receptor overexpressing breast cancer cells. Molecular Endocrinology 19:2660-2670. Journal Impact Factor:5.337; Citations: 33
31. Boerner, JL, Demory, ML, Silva, CM and Parsons, SJ. (2004) Phosphorylation of Y845 on the EGFR mediates binding to the mitochondrial protein cytochrome c oxidase subunit II. Molecular and Cellular Biology 24:7059-7071. Journal Impact Factor: 6.42; Citations: 151
32. Rich, T, Innominato, PF, Boerner, JL, Mormont, MC, Iacobelli, S, Jasmin, C, Baron, B, Jasmin, C, and Lévi, F (2005) Elevated serum cytokines correlated with altered behaviour, serum cortisol rhythm, and dampened 24 hour rest-activity patterns in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 11:1757-1764. Journal Impact Factor: 6.25; Citations: 194. My role on the project was in the preclinical experiments identifying TGF alpha as the biomarker to measure in this set of patients, as well as in processing an analyzing the patient samples for TGF alpha expression.
33. Boerner, JL*, Danielsen, A*, Wang, Z, Juneja, S, Faupel-Badger, J, Darcy, J, and Maihle, NJ (2003) A Ras-independent requirement for Grb2 in ligand-independent EGF receptor-mediated oncogenesis. Oncogene 22:6679-6689. Journal Impact Factor: 6.44; Citations: 15
34. Kloth, M. T., Laughlin, K. K., Biscardi, J. S., Boerner, JL., Parsons, S. J., and Silva, C. M. (2003). STAT5b, a mediator of synergism between c-Src and the EGF receptor. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278: 1671-1679. Journal Impact Factor: 5.581; Citations: 160. My role on the project was performing some of the experiments and in the scientific development of the project.
35. Boerner, JL., McManus, M.J., and Maihle, N.J. (2001) Activation of RhoA is required for ligand-independent oncogenic signaling by a mutant EGF receptor. Journal of Biological Chemistry 276: 3691-3695. Journal Impact Factor: 5.581; Citations: 23
36. McManus, M.J., Boerner, JL., Danielsen, A.J., Wang, Z., Matsumura, F., and Maihle, N.J. (2000) An oncogenic EGF receptor signals via a p21-activated kinase-caldesmon-myosin phosphotyrosine complex. Journal of Biological Chemistry 275:35328-35334. Journal Impact Factor: 5.581; Citations: 34. My role on the project was performing some of the experiments and in the scientific development of the project.
37. Boerner, JL. and Maihle, N.J. (1999) Ras-independent oncogenic transformation by an EGF-receptor mutant. Journal of Cell Science 113: 935-942. Journal Impact Factor: 6.383; Citations: 15
38. Johnson, J.L., Fenton, S., and Sheffield, L.G. (1996) Prolactin inhibits epidermal growth factor-induced Ras-MAPK signaling in mammary epithelial cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry 271:21574-21578. Journal Impact Factor: 5.581; Citations: 25

Review Articles
Boerner, JL, Danielsen, A, and Maihle, NJ (2003) Ligand-independent Oncogenic Signaling by the EGF Receptor:v ErbB as a Paradigm Experimental Cell Research 284:111-121. Journal Impact Factor: 3.609; Citations: 50

Editorials/Commentaries
Boerner, JL (2009) Role of Src family kinases in acquired resistance to EGFR therapies in cancer. Cancer Biology & Therapy 8 (8): 704-706. Citations 5

Book Authorships, Editorships, and Chapters
1. Boerner, JL, Biscardi, J, and Parsons, SJ Overview of Oncogenesis In The Cancer Handbook. Alison, MR ed. (2002) pp. 25-34. Citations 4

2. Silva, C. M., Boerner, J. L., and Parsons, S. J. Interactions of STATs with Src family kinases. In: P. B. Sehgal, D. E. Levy, and T. Hirano (eds.), Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs): Activation and Biology, pp. 223-236. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Citations 3

PubMed Database Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=julie+boerner

 

Faculty Status

Basic Science

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