About

Mariana Katz is an assistant professor of history at UC San Diego, specializing in modern Latin America with a focus on nineteenth-century Paraguay and the broader Río de la Plata region. She is a native of Argentina and began her academic journey at the University of Buenos Aires before earning her PhD in History from Columbia University in 2025. Her research interests include the histories of labor, slavery, indigeneity, and popular politics in Latin America. Her current work involves her first book, tentatively titled The Labor of the State: Unfree Workers and the Making of Paraguay's First Republic (1811-1864), which examines the role of labor coercion in the formation of new republics, with a particular focus on Paraguay. The book explores how state-held enslaved people, tributaries, convicts, soldiers, and drafted peasants contributed to the Paraguayan republic, revealing strategies they used to challenge authority and influence state development. Additionally, she is developing a research project on the history of political movements led by indigenous Guaraní people in the borderlands of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, including a critical edition and translation of Guaraní-language documents and an article on Guaraní struggles for self-rule.

Research topics

• Internal medicine
• Medicine
• Surgery
• Oncology
• Gastroenterology
• Radiology
• Nuclear medicine

Selected publications

• An American College of Surgeons National Quality Improvement Collaborative to Enhance Lung Cancer Surgical Quality

  JAMA Surgery · 2026-04-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Importance: Sampling of at least 3 mediastinal and at least 1 hilar nodal stations during lung cancer resection was adopted by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) as Operative Standard 5.8 to ensure appropriate staging, guide adjuvant systemic therapy, and potentially improve overall survival. Early assessments suggested difficulty with reaching goal hospital-level compliance rates of at least 80%. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare compliance with Standard 5.8 before and after participation in the Lung NODES National Quality Improvement (QI) Collaborative. Design, Setting, and Participants: This quality improvement study reports findings from a prospective national QI collaborative led by the ACS CoC, Lung NODES, which enrolled CoC-accredited programs across the US from March 2024 to December 2024. Programs actively participated in guided root cause analyses, educational webinars, peer-to-peer learning, and the development and implementation of strategies to increase compliance. Data were collected on patients aged 18 years or older undergoing curative intent lung resection. Main Outcomes and Measures: Adjusted multilevel logistic regression models, with hospital as a random effect, investigated variables associated with compliance with Standard 5.8. Differences in hospital-level compliance, at baseline compared to final data collection, were assessed using Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Results: Among 354 participating programs, the number of programs achieving at least 80% compliance with Standard 5.8 increased from 144 (40.7%) at baseline to 238 (67.2%) after participation. Hospital-level median compliance increased from 67.8% (IQR, 42.9%-90.0%) to 90.5% (IQR, 70.0%-100%) (P < .001). All hospital types had an increase in median compliance, with the largest absolute increase, of 37.1%, seen for community programs. On adjusted multilevel analyses, compared to baseline, lung cancer resections performed after participation were associated with increased odds of compliant lymph node assessment (adjusted odds ratio, 2.50; 95% CI, 2.19-2.86). Conclusions and Relevance: Participation in the Lung NODES National QI Collaborative was associated with higher compliance with Standard 5.8 irrespective of hospital characteristics. National QI collaboratives may represent an effective large-scale approach to address gaps in the delivery of high-quality cancer care.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multimedia Articles/Streaming Video Articles: Selective Dissection of the Superior Mesenteric Artery Nerve Plexus in Robotic Pancreatoduodenectomy—Technical and Case-Based Insights

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-09-17 · 2 citations

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  PublisherDOI

• Abstract B049: Molecular Characteristics of <i>KRAS</i> Q61 Mutated Gastrointestinal Malignancies and Clinical Outcomes

  Molecular Cancer Therapeutics · 2025-10-22

  article

  Abstract Background and Aims: KRAS Q61 is rare and not well characterized in cancer patients. Here we investigate the clinical and molecular features of KRAS Q61 mutated gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. Methods: We used the Foundry system to query electronic health records of patients diagnosed with colorectal (CRC), pancreatic (PDAC), appendiceal (AA), cholangiocarcinoma (CC) and gastroesophageal carcinoma and tested for KRASmutations in our institution between 2002-2025. Clinical, molecular, and overall survival (OS) data were analyzed with subsets of PDCA and CRC patients who had bulk RNA sequencing and tumor microenvironment (TME) characterized. Results: KRAS mutation was tested in 13,535 patients with CRC, PDAC, CC, AA, and gastroesophageal carcinoma. KRAS was mutated in 46.4% (n= 4,516) of CRC, 87.1% of PDAC (n=1,357), 18.4% of CC (n=100), 50.3% of AA (n=393), 7.3% of gastroesophageal carcinoma (n=51) and 7.4% of HCC (n=16). KRAS Q61 consisted of 5.3% (n=340) of KRAS mutation (n= 6,433). Frequencies of KRAS Q61 was 2.2% (n=210) for CRC, 6.2% (n=97) for PDAC, 2.4% (n= 13) for CC, 2% (n= 16) for AA and 0.6% (n= 4) for gastroesophageal carcinoma. KRAS Q61H was the most common KRAS Q61 allele. Compared to KRAS wildtype, patients with KRAS mutations had worse OS in PDAC (median OS 19.9 vs 38.7 months, HR=2.2, 95% CI=1.6-3, p&amp;lt;0.001) and CRC (50.8 vs 63.7 months, HR=1.3, 95% CI=1.1-1.5, p=0.01), while KRAS mutated AA had longer OS in AA. Compared to other KRAS mutations, KRAS Q61 had worse OS in PDAC (19.9 vs 24.6 months, HR=1.3, 95%CI=1-1.7, p=0.049). Top genes with KRAS were TP53 (71%) and APC (63%) for CRC, TP53 (76%) and CDKN2A (28%) for PDAC, GNAS (34%) and TP53 (34%) for AA, and TP53 (30%) and ARID1A (19%) for CC. Co-mutated genes showed cancer specificites, such as APC in CRC, CDKN2A and SMAD4 in PDAC, GNAS in AA and BAP1 and IHD1 in CC. KRAS mutated tumors especially KRAS Q61 mutated tumors, had more immunosuppressive, fibrotic TME and enrichment of hypoxia and TGF-β pathway gene expression in PDAC. Conclusion: KRAS Q61 mutations frequency varied from 1% to 5% across different GI malignancies, with highest frequency in PDAC and CC. KRAS Q61 mutations had worse OS in patients with PDAC and more immune suppressive and fibrotic TME. Citation Format: Dan Zhao, Mahmoud Yousef, Sali Albarouki, Ahemed Elhariri, Abdelrahman Yousef, Saikat Chowdhury, Mark Knafl, Paul Roy, Brandon Smaglo, Robert A. Wolff, Shubham Pant, Jason Willis, Ryan Huey, Michael J. Overman, Camila L. Lopez, Anthony B. Chen, Eugene Koay, Ethan B. Ludmir, Mark Hurd, Yang Chen, Haoqiang Ying, Rebecca A. Snyder, Matthew H.G. Katz, Anirban Maitra, John Paul. Shen. Molecular Characteristics of KRAS Q61 Mutated Gastrointestinal Malignancies and Clinical Outcomes [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2025 Oct 22-26; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2025;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B049.

  PublisherDOI

• Robotic Spleen-Preserving Distal Pancreatectomy for Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors in Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-06-18 · 1 citations

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  PublisherDOI

• A spatial atlas of chemoradiation therapy in pancreatic cancer identifies cellular and microenvironmental determinants of persister populations

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-06-25 · 4 citations

  preprintOpen access

  The molecular pathways involved in the response to radiation therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain poorly understood. We aimed to elucidate the adaptive mechanisms and cellular interactions within PDAC to radiation therapy (RT). We constructed a transcriptomic landscape of the cellular subtypes and spatially resolved neighborhoods from 50 patient samples, including 16 longitudinally matched single cell RNA sequencing and 34 spatial transcriptomics specimens. To resolve shortcomings of cell-type mixtures in spatial data, we developed a novel statistical method called SpaCCI (spatially aware analysis of cell-cell interactions) to profile cell-cell interactions and ligand-receptor enrichment. This revealed CXCL12/TGFβ-driven persister cell niches where activated fibroblasts reprogram tumor- associated macrophages and spatially exclude stress-response CD8 T cells after RT. Persister cancer cells displayed transcriptional evidence of recalcitrance to metal-induced cell death pathways of ferroptosis and cuproptosis which were recapitulated in preclinical models. Our study reveals the selective pressures experienced by PDAC following RT that may help provide insight for future multimodal therapeutic strategies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Landmark Series: Neoadjuvant Therapy for Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-07-07 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Stapled Wedge Resection of the Portal Vein/Superior Mesenteric Vein During Robotic Pancreaticoduodenectomy: Feasibility and Short-term Outcomes

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-11-17

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  PublisherDOI

• Robotic Approach to Oncologic Pancreatoduodenectomy in a Case with an Aberrant Hepatic Artery Originating from the Superior Mesenteric Artery

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-06-25

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  PublisherDOI

• 083 The need for inhalers to have dose counters: an observational study in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

  2025-09-01

  articleOpen access

  <h3>Objectives</h3> Inhalers are first-line treatment for many respiratory conditions including asthma and COPD. A crucial feature of inhalers is the dose counter, allowing individuals to track the number of doses of medicine remaining. Yet, while dry powder inhalers (DPIs) typically have dose counters, many commonly used metered dose inhalers (MDIs) do not. Previous studies suggest that the absence of dose counters in MDIs can result in wasted medication or inhalers being used after they have run out of active medication (i.e., only propellant is left). Our objective was to determine if the absence of dose counters in our setting was associated with MDIs being discarded before all doses of active medication were used, or conversely, being used beyond doses of active medication. <h3>Method</h3> Inhalers were collected from May 2024–February 2025 (3 pharmacies) as part of our pilot inhaler recycling program in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We recorded the type of inhaler and doses of active medication remaining in each inhaler. For the inhalers with dose counters, doses remaining was taken from the dose counter; for the inhalers without dose counters, where published weight/dose relationships were available, the inhalers were weighed and doses remaining were calculated. Inhalers were excluded if they had 80% or more doses remaining, as these inhalers likely were not intended to be fully used. We also excluded inhalers with the active medication inserted for each use (e.g., HandiHaler), inhalers with unreadable dose counters, and inhalers without cannisters. Chi-squared analysis was performed. <h3>Results</h3> We collected 460 inhalers (33 different types), 368 met the inclusion criteria. All DPIs (212) had dose counters: 89% had nil doses remaining, 3% had 1–10% of doses remaining, and 8% had 11–80% of doses remaining. Among the MDIs with dose counters (36): 6% had negative doses, 61% had nil doses remaining, 8% had 1–10% of doses remaining, and 25% had 11–80% of doses remaining. Among the MDIs without dose counters and published weight/dose relationships (97): 31% had negative doses remaining, 3% had nil doses remaining, 5% had 1–10% of doses remaining, and 61% had 11–80% doses remaining. The difference in the distributions of doses among these groups of inhalers was statistically significant (P&lt;.01). Additionally, there were 23 MDIs without dose counters and no published weight/dose relationship. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The significant difference in the distribution of doses remaining in inhalers with and without dose counters is concerning. It reinforces previous literature that has consistently shown that dose counters are critical—without dose counters most individuals are either using their MDIs beyond doses of active medication (i.e., only propellant) or discarding them prematurely. These results reinforce the need for regulations that will require MDIs to have dose counters.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-11-09

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21CA218732

  NIH · $377k · 2020

Frequent coauthors

• Jeffrey E. Lee

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  283 shared

• Jason B. Fleming

  Moffitt Cancer Center

  267 shared

• Anirban Maitra

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  259 shared

• Ching‐Wei D. Tzeng

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  238 shared

• Gauri R. Varadhachary

  225 shared

• Michael P. Kim

  207 shared

• Robert A. Wolff

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  176 shared

• Huamin Wang

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  168 shared