Dennis Jones, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine.Our research focuses on understanding how tumors impact the functionality of blood vessels, which are essential for immune cells, such as T cells, to infiltrate tumors. Our previous studies have found that tumors can cause the compression and dysfunction of blood vessels, which ultimately limits T cell entry into the tumor. Therefore, our lab aims to develop approaches to improve vascular function within tumors, with the goal of increasing T cell entry. In combination, we will use immunotherapy to enhance the killing ability of T cells. Currently, we are testing this combination therapy in preclinical models. Our ultimate goal is to improve outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Our lab is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of trainees with expertise in cancer biology, immunology, and vascular biology. We employ a range of techniques, including in vitro and in vivo experiments, imaging, and molecular and cellular biology assays, to better understand the complex mechanisms underlying tumor-induced vascular dysfunction and immune suppression.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
As a scientist from a historically underrepresented minority group, promoting diversity and inclusion within biomedical research is a deeply ingrained part of my values and mission.
My efforts to expose other underrepresented persons to research began during my graduate studies. Over three years, I co-coordinated an NIH-funded summer research program that was designed to provide research experiences for historically underrepresented minorities. I managed research experiences for 35 of the 70 undergraduates who participated, and 93% of these students went on to graduate from college, with nearly one-quarter pursuing PhD and MD/PhD programs. As a postdoctoral fellow, I spent three summers working with high school and college students enrolled in the NCI’s CURE program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As a faculty member at Boston University, I have continued my commitment to increasing diversity and inclusion by hosting historically underrepresented students in my laboratory through BU STaRS Program, PREP Program, and through the Medical Sciences and Education Department's partnership with local public high schools.
I believe in the importance of Black representation in academia to inspire confidence among trainees of color, and I intentionally maintain visibility through profile features and speaking engagements. I strive to create a more inclusive research culture by fostering a welcoming and encouraging space in my own laboratory where all individuals, including those from historically underrepresented groups, can do great science. While my race adds to the diversity in science, my primary focus and passion is to achieve significant breakthroughs in breast cancer treatment. I hope that my scientific productivity and commitment to diversity and inclusion will inspire other historically underrepresented scientists in their academic pursuits.
Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Member
Boston University
BU-BMC Cancer Center
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This tab shows grant data from BU Sponsored Research. It includes:
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- Project period and this person’s role on the grant
- PI name, if this person is not the PI (the name will link if PI has a BU Profile)
- Funding source(s). An arrow indicates the flow of funding if multiple sponsors.
- Some grants will show an agency award/project number, and may be a link.
- Data is sorted by project end date, and updated monthly.
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- Grant title
- Project period and this person’s role on the grant
- PI name, if this person is not the PI (the name will link if PI has a BU Profile)
- Funding source(s). An arrow indicates the flow of funding if multiple sponsors.
- Some grants will show an agency award/project number, and may be a link.
- Data is sorted by project end date, and updated monthly.
This tab shows grant data from the Boston VA. We are only showing grant title, and only for people in the role of PI.
Enhancing immunity by protecting lymphatic muscle cells from MRSA-Induced dysfunction07/02/2024 - 06/30/2029 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases1R01AR084505-01
Improving anti-tumor immunity in advanced breast cancer by targeting solid stress06/01/2024 - 05/31/2029 (PI)
NIH/National Cancer Institute1R01CA284133-01A1
Enhancing Lymphatic Function with Transplanted Muscle Cells after Bacterial Infection03/15/2024 - 03/14/2026 (PI)
Department of Defense/Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity
Improving anti-breast cancer immunity by targeting solid stress07/01/2022 - 06/30/2024 (Subcontract PI)
American Association for Cancer Research Breast Cancer ResFdn
Targeting breast cancer plasticity and immunosuppression in metastatic lymph nodes07/07/2021 - 07/06/2023 (PI)
METAvivor
Understanding the mechanisms of immune suppression in lymph node metastases09/30/2018 - 08/31/2022 (PI)
NIH/National Cancer Institute5K22CA230315-03
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Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other
sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can
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Arroyo-Ataz G, Jones D. Overview of Lymphatic Muscle Cells in Development, Physiology, and Disease. Microcirculation. 2024 Sep 27; e12887. PMID: 39329178; DOI: 10.1111/micc.12887;
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Jana S, Li W, Lei PJ, Wang Z, Kibara S, Huang P, Jones D. Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Mammary Adenocarcinoma, MCa-P1362, with Hormone Receptor Expression, Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Positivity, and Enrichment in Cancer and Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Am J Pathol. 2024 Jun; 194(6):1137-1153.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38749609; PMCID: PMC11156160; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2024.02.013;
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Lei PJ, Ruscic KJ, Roh K, Rajotte JJ, O'Melia MJ, Bouta EM, Marquez M, Pereira ER, Kumar AS, Arroyo-Ataz G, Razavi MS, Zhou H, Menzel L, Kumra H, Duquette M, Huang P, Baish JW, Munn LL, Ubellacker JM, Jones D, Padera TP. Lymphatic muscle cells are unique cells that undergo aging induced changes. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov 19. PMID: 38014141; PMCID: PMC10680808; DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.18.567621;
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Lei PJ, Pereira ER, Andersson P, Amoozgar Z, Van Wijnbergen JW, O'Melia MJ, Zhou H, Chatterjee S, Ho WW, Posada JM, Kumar AS, Morita S, Menzel L, Chung C, Ergin I, Jones D, Huang P, Beyaz S, Padera TP. Cancer cell plasticity and MHC-II-mediated immune tolerance promote breast cancer metastasis to lymph nodes. J Exp Med. 2023 Sep 04; 220(9). PMID: 37341991; PMCID: PMC10286805; DOI: 10.1084/jem.20221847;
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Jana S, Li W, Lei PJ, Wang Z, Huang P, Jones D. "Isolation and characterization of a novel hormone receptor positive mammary adenocarcinoma MCa-P1362 with stromal drivers of tumor growth, metastasis, and drug resistance". bioRxiv. 2023 Jun 06.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37333242; PMCID: PMC10274631; DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.02.543434;
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Showing 10 of 36 results.
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Jones D, Wang Z, Chen IX, Zhang S, Banerji R, Lei PJ, Zhou H, Xiao V, Kwong C, van Wijnbergen JWM, Pereira ER, Vakoc BJ, Huang P, Nia HT, Padera TP. Solid stress impairs lymphocyte infiltration into lymph-node metastases. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 12; 5(12):1426-1436.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34282290; PMCID: PMC8678215; DOI: 10.1038/s41551-021-00766-1;
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Saeboe AM, Nikiforov AY, Toufanian R, Kays JC, Chern M, Casas JP, Han K, Piryatinski A, Jones D, Dennis AM. Extending the Near-Infrared Emission Range of Indium Phosphide Quantum Dots for Multiplexed In Vivo Imaging. Nano Lett. 2021 04 14; 21(7):3271-3279.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33755481; PMCID: PMC8243857; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00600;
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Jones D. Parallels of Resistance between Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis Inhibition in Cancer Therapy. Cells. 2020 03 20; 9(3). PMID: 32244922; PMCID: PMC7140636; DOI: 10.3390/cells9030762;
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Liu T, Li Y, Su H, Zhang H, Jones D, Zhou HJ, Ji W, Min W. Nuclear localization of the tyrosine kinase BMX mediates VEGFR2 expression. J Cell Mol Med. 2020 01; 24(1):126-138. PMID: 31642192; PMCID: PMC6933376; DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.14663;
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Zhao Y, Cao J, Melamed A, Worley M, Gockley A, Jones D, Nia HT, Zhang Y, Stylianopoulos T, Kumar AS, Mpekris F, Datta M, Sun Y, Wu L, Gao X, Yeku O, Del Carmen MG, Spriggs DR, Jain RK, Xu L. Losartan treatment enhances chemotherapy efficacy and reduces ascites in ovarian cancer models by normalizing the tumor stroma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 02 05; 116(6):2210-2219.View Related Profiles. PMID: 30659155; PMCID: PMC6369817; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818357116;
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Liao S, Bouta EM, Morris LM, Jones D, Jain RK, Padera TP. Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and CD11b+Gr1+ Cells Impair Lymphatic Contraction of Tumor-Draining Lymphatic Vessels. Lymphat Res Biol. 2019 06; 17(3):294-300. PMID: 30358484; PMCID: PMC6589499; DOI: 10.1089/lrb.2018.0013;
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Pereira ER, Kedrin D, Seano G, Gautier O, Meijer EFJ, Jones D, Chin SM, Kitahara S, Bouta EM, Chang J, Beech E, Jeong HS, Carroll MC, Taghian AG, Padera TP. Lymph node metastases can invade local blood vessels, exit the node, and colonize distant organs in mice. Science. 2018 03 23; 359(6382):1403-1407. PMID: 29567713; PMCID: PMC6002772; DOI: 10.1126/science.aal3622;
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Jones D, Meijer EFJ, Blatter C, Liao S, Pereira ER, Bouta EM, Jung K, Chin SM, Huang P, Munn LL, Vakoc BJ, Otto M, Padera TP. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus causes sustained collecting lymphatic vessel dysfunction. Sci Transl Med. 2018 01 17; 10(424). PMID: 29343625; PMCID: PMC5953194; DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aam7964;
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Meijer EFJ, Blatter C, Chen IX, Bouta E, Jones D, Pereira ER, Jung K, Vakoc BJ, Baish JW, Padera TP. Lymph node effective vascular permeability and chemotherapy uptake. Microcirculation. 2017 08; 24(6). PMID: 28510992; PMCID: PMC5706450; DOI: 10.1111/micc.12381;
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Nia HT, Liu H, Seano G, Datta M, Jones D, Rahbari N, Incio J, Chauhan VP, Jung K, Martin JD, Askoxylakis V, Padera TP, Fukumura D, Boucher Y, Hornicek FJ, Grodzinsky AJ, Baish JW, Munn LL, Jain RK. Solid stress and elastic energy as measures of tumour mechanopathology. Nat Biomed Eng. 2016; 1.View Related Profiles. PMID: 28966873; PMCID: PMC5621647; DOI: 10.1038/s41551-016-0004;
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Blatter C, Meijer EF, Nam AS, Jones D, Bouma BE, Padera TP, Vakoc BJ. In vivo label-free measurement of lymph flow velocity and volumetric flow rates using Doppler optical coherence tomography. Sci Rep. 2016 07 05; 6:29035. PMID: 27377852; PMCID: PMC4932526; DOI: 10.1038/srep29035;
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Jeong HS, Jones D, Liao S, Wattson DA, Cui CH, Duda DG, Willett CG, Jain RK, Padera TP. Investigation of the Lack of Angiogenesis in the Formation of Lymph Node Metastases. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015 Sep; 107(9). PMID: 26063793; PMCID: PMC4651102; DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djv155;
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Pereira ER, Jones D, Jung K, Padera TP. The lymph node microenvironment and its role in the progression of metastatic cancer. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2015 Feb; 38:98-105. PMID: 25620792; PMCID: PMC4397158; DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2015.01.008;
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Liao S, Jones D, Cheng G, Padera TP. Method for the quantitative measurement of collecting lymphatic vessel contraction in mice. J Biol Methods. 2014; 1(2). PMID: 25512945; PMCID: PMC4264607; DOI: 10.14440/jbm.2014.26;
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Holopainen T, López-Alpuche V, Zheng W, Heljasvaara R, Jones D, He Y, Tvorogov D, D'Amico G, Wiener Z, Andersson LC, Pihlajaniemi T, Min W, Alitalo K. Deletion of the endothelial Bmx tyrosine kinase decreases tumor angiogenesis and growth. Cancer Res. 2012 Jul 15; 72(14):3512-21. PMID: 22593188; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-1070;
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Truman LA, Bentley KL, Smith EC, Massaro SA, Gonzalez DG, Haberman AM, Hill M, Jones D, Min W, Krause DS, Ruddle NH. ProxTom lymphatic vessel reporter mice reveal Prox1 expression in the adrenal medulla, megakaryocytes, and platelets. Am J Pathol. 2012 Apr; 180(4):1715-25. PMID: 22310467; PMCID: PMC3349900; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2011.12.026;
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Jones D, Li Y, He Y, Xu Z, Chen H, Min W. Mirtron microRNA-1236 inhibits VEGFR-3 signaling during inflammatory lymphangiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012 Mar; 32(3):633-42. PMID: 22223733; PMCID: PMC3288963; DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.111.243576;
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Jones D, Min W. An overview of lymphatic vessels and their emerging role in cardiovascular disease. J Cardiovasc Dis Res. 2011 Jul; 2(3):141-52. PMID: 22022141; PMCID: PMC3195192; DOI: 10.4103/0975-3583.85260;
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Jones D. Genetic engineering of a mouse: Dr. Frank Ruddle and somatic cell genetics. Yale J Biol Med. 2011 Jun; 84(2):117-24. PMID: 21698043; PMCID: PMC3117405
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Jones D, Xu Z, Zhang H, He Y, Kluger MS, Chen H, Min W. Functional analyses of the bone marrow kinase in the X chromosome in vascular endothelial growth factor-induced lymphangiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Dec; 30(12):2553-61. PMID: 20864667; PMCID: PMC3106279; DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.110.214999;
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Luo Y, Xu Z, Wan T, He Y, Jones D, Zhang H, Min W. Endothelial-specific transgenesis of TNFR2 promotes adaptive arteriogenesis and angiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Jul; 30(7):1307-14. PMID: 20395596; PMCID: PMC2889154; DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.110.204222;
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Dai S, He Y, Zhang H, Yu L, Wan T, Xu Z, Jones D, Chen H, Min W. Endothelial-specific expression of mitochondrial thioredoxin promotes ischemia-mediated arteriogenesis and angiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2009 Apr; 29(4):495-502. PMID: 19150880; PMCID: PMC2734510; DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.108.180349;
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Zhang H, He Y, Dai S, Xu Z, Luo Y, Wan T, Luo D, Jones D, Tang S, Chen H, Sessa WC, Min W. AIP1 functions as an endogenous inhibitor of VEGFR2-mediated signaling and inflammatory angiogenesis in mice. J Clin Invest. 2008 Dec; 118(12):3904-16. PMID: 19033661; PMCID: PMC2575835; DOI: 10.1172/JCI36168;
This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown,
or last author.
Year | Publications |
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2008 | 1 |
2009 | 1 |
2010 | 2 |
2011 | 2 |
2012 | 3 |
2014 | 1 |
2015 | 2 |
2016 | 2 |
2017 | 1 |
2018 | 4 |
2019 | 2 |
2020 | 2 |
2021 | 3 |
2022 | 1 |
2023 | 5 |
2024 | 4 |
2018 Gordon Research Conference (Lymphatics) Poster Award
2018 Massachusetts General Hospital Outstanding Research Award
2018 NIH Transition Career Development Award (K22)
2017 NIH Future Research Leader
2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Rising Star in Biomedical
2015 NIH National Research Service Award (F32) Postdoctoral Fellow
2014 UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Fellow
2014 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Fellow
2012 NIH Institutional Training Grant (T32) Fellow
2008 NIH National Research Service Award (F31) Predoctoral Fellow
2005 Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar
2004 Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Fellow