John Digiovanni

About

John DiGiovanni, Ph.D., is a Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and the Coulter R. Sublett Chair at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. His research focuses on understanding how cancer develops, with an emphasis on identifying novel targets, mechanisms, and strategies for cancer prevention. His work explores gene-environment interactions involved in cancer, aiming to understand early cellular, biochemical, and molecular changes that transform normal cells into cancer cells. His laboratory investigates cellular signaling pathways disrupted during tumor development, including the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and Stats proteins, particularly Stats1, 3, and 5. A significant aspect of his research involves identifying target cells, such as keratinocyte stem cells, which are major targets for skin tumor initiation, and studying genes that confer susceptibility to environmentally-induced cancers, including mapping susceptibility loci in mice and examining their relevance to human cancers. Recently, his research has expanded to study the impact of obesity on cancer development and progression, including early-life obesity, with a focus on molecular targets and signaling pathways affected by obesity in tissues related to skin, prostate, head and neck, and lymphoma cancers. His work aims to uncover mechanisms underlying increased cancer risk associated with obesity and to develop strategies to mitigate this risk.

Research topics

• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Cancer research
• Chemistry
• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Pharmacology

Selected publications

• Enzyme-mediated depletion of serum <scp>l</scp> -Met abrogates prostate cancer growth via multiple mechanisms without evidence of systemic toxicity

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 54 citations

  Extensive studies in prostate cancer and other malignancies have revealed that l-methionine (l-Met) and its metabolites play a critical role in tumorigenesis. Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that systemic restriction of serum l-Met, either via partial dietary restriction or with bacterial l-Met-degrading enzymes exerts potent antitumor effects. However, administration of bacterial l-Met-degrading enzymes has not proven practical for human therapy because of problems with immun…

  DOI

• Non-canonical role of Hippo tumor suppressor serine/threonine kinase 3 STK3 in prostate cancer

  Molecular Therapy · 2021 · 32 citations

  DOI

• Long-Term Latency of Highly Mutated Cells in Normal Mouse Skin Is Reversed by Exposure to Tumor Promoters and Chronic Tissue Damage

  Cancer Discovery · 2025-03-12 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Historical studies performed nearly a century ago using mouse skin models identified two key steps in cancer evolution: initiation, a likely mutational event, and promotion, driven by inflammation and cell proliferation. Initiation was proposed to be permanent, with promotion as the critical rate-limiting step for cancer development. In this study, we carried out whole-genome sequencing to demonstrate that initiated cells with thousands of mutagen-induced mutations can persist for long periods a…

  PublisherDOI

• Obesity, dietary interventions and microbiome alterations in the development and progression of prostate cancer

  Frontiers in Immunology · 2025-01-07 · 9 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Purpose of review: The role of the microbiome in prostate cancer is an emerging subject of research interest. Certain lifestyle factors, such as obesity and diet, can also impact the microbiome, which has been implicated in many diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. However, this link has yet to be explored in detail in the context of prostate cancer. The purpose of this review is to explore the cross-talk between obesity, dietary interventions, and microbiome alterations in the developm…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Current Efficacy and Safety and Survival Outcomes of Cemiplimab in Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2025-04-02 · 5 citations

  review
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01CA189623

  NIH · $2.9M · 2020

• NIH Grant R01ES016623

  NIH · $1.7M · 2014

• NIH Grant R01CA037111

  NIH · $4.9M · 2012

Frequent coauthors

• Achinto Saha

  The University of Texas at Austin

  110 shared

• Linda Beltrán

  101 shared

• Kaoru Kiguchi

  98 shared

• Jorge Blando

  AstraZeneca (United States)

  98 shared

• Okkyung Rho

  84 shared

• Thomas J. Slaga

  78 shared

• Steve Carbajal

  73 shared

• Ronald G. Harvey

  69 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Phrmacology

  The University of Washington

Similar researchers at University of Texas at Austin

• M Lynn Crismonh-67
• Andrea C Goreh-64
• Sharon DeMorrowh-60