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Heather Tillman, DVM, PhD, DACVP
Heather S. Tillman, DVM, PhD, DACVP

Heather S. Tillman, DVM, PhD, DACVP

Associate Member, St. Jude Faculty

Departments

Education

BSA – University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Athens, GA
DVM – University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, GA
Residency – Michigan State University, Diagnostic Center for Population & Animal Health, Lansing, MI
PhD – NIH CBSTP & Michigan State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lansing, MI

Honors & Awards

  • 2013 ACVP Young Investigator Award, Experimental Pathology Specialty Group, ACVP/ASVCP annual meeting
  • 2009 ACVP Young Investigator Award, Diagnostic Pathology Specialty Group, ACVP/ASVCP annual meeting
  • 2008 Morrow B. Thomas Award in Veterinary Clinical Pathology, University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine

Research Interests

  • Comparative pathology

Selected Publications

Smith KS, Bihannic L, Gudenas BL, Haldipur P, Tao R, Gao Q, Li Y, Aldinger KA, Iskusnykh IY, Chizhikov VV, Scoggins M, Zhang S, Edwards A, Deng M, Glass IA, Overman LM, Millman J, Sjoboen AH, Hadley J, Golser J, Mankad K, Sheppard H, Onar-Thomas A, Gajjar A, Robinson GW, Hovestadt V, Orr BA, Patay Z, Millen KJ, Northcott PA. Unified rhombic lip origins of group 3 and group 4 medulloblastoma. Nature Sep 2022.

Machado ER, van de Vlekkert D, Sheppard HS, Perry S, Downing SM, Laxton J, Ashmun R, Finkelstein DB, Neale GA, Hu H, Harwood FC, Koo SC, Grosveld GC, d'Azzo A. Haploinsufficiency of the lysosomal sialidase NEU1 results in a model of pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in mice. Commun Biol 5(1):992, 2022.

Zubair A, Chapple RH, Natarajan S, Wright WC, Pan M, Lee HM, Tillman H, Easton J, Geeleher P. Cell type identification in spatial transcriptomics data can be improved by leveraging cell-type-informative paired tissue images using a Bayesian probabilistic model. Nucleic Acids Res 50(14):e80, 2022.

Patel AG, Chen X, Huang X, Clay MR, Komorova N, Krasin MJ, Pappo A, Tillman H, Orr BA, McEvoy J, Gordon B, Blankenship K, Reilly C, Zhou X, Norrie JL, Karlstrom A, Yu J, Wodarz D, Stewart E, Dyer MA. The myogenesis program drives clonal selection and drug resistance in rhabdomyosarcoma. Dev Cell 57(10):1226-1240.e8, 2022.

Vu LD, Phan ATQ, Hijano DR, Siefker DT, Tillman H, Cormier SA. IL-1? promotes expansion of IL-33(+) lung epithelial stem cells after respiratory syncytial virus infection during infancy. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 66(3):312-322, 2022.

Kiger L, Keith J, Freiwan A, Fernandez AG, Tillman H, Isakson BE, Weiss MJ, Lechauve C. Redox-regulation of ?-globin in vascular physiology. Antioxidants (Basel) 11(1):159, 2022.

Newby GA, Yen JS, Woodard KJ, Mayuranathan T, Lazzarotto CR, Li Y, Sheppard-Tillman H, Porter SN, Yao Y, Mayberry K, Everette KA, Jang Y, Podracky CJ, Thaman E, Lechauve C, Sharma A, Henderson JM, Richter MF, Zhao KT, Miller SM, Wang T, Koblan LW, McCaffrey AP, Tisdale JF, Kalfa TA, Pruett-Miller SM, Tsai SQ, Weiss MJ, Liu DR. Base editing of haematopoietic stem cells rescues sickle cell disease in mice. Nature 595(7866):295-302, 2021.

Talbot LJ, Chabot A, Funk A, Nguyen P, Wagner J, Ross A, Tillman H, Davidoff A, Gottschalk S, DeRenzo C. A novel orthotopic implantation technique for osteosarcoma produces spontaneous metastases and illustrates dose-dependent efficacy of B7-H3-CAR T cells. Front Immunol 12:691741, 2021.

Singh S, Abu-Zaid A, Lin W, Low J, Abdolvahabi A, Jin H, Wu Q, Cooke B, Fang J, Bowling J, Vaithiyalingam S, Currier D, Yun MK, Fernando DM, Maier J, Tillman H, Bulsara P, Lu Z, Das S, Shelat A, Li Z, Young B, Lee R, Rankovic Z, Murphy AJ, White SW, Davidoff AM, Chen T, Yang J. 17-DMAG dually inhibits Hsp90 and histone lysine demethylases in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. iScience 24(1):101996, 2021.

Wagner J, Wickman E, Shaw TI, Anido AA, Langfitt D, Zhang J, Porter SN, Pruett-Miller SM, Tillman H, Krenciute G, Gottschalk S. Antitumor effects of CAR T cells redirected to the EDB splice variant of fibronectin. Cancer Immunol Res 9(3):279-290, 2021.

Janke LJ, Imai DM, Tillman H, Doty R, Hoenerhoff MJ, Xu JJ, Freeman ZT, Allen P, Fowlkes NW, Iacobucci I, Dickerson K, Mullighan CG, Vogel P, Rehg JE. Development of mast cell and eosinophil hyperplasia and HLH/MAS-like disease in NSG-SGM3 mice receiving human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells or patient-derived leukemia xenografts. Vet Pathol 58(1):18-204, 2020.

Chen H, Victor AK, Klein J, Tacer KF, Tai DJ, de Esch C, Nuttle A, Temirov J, Burnett LC, Rosenbaum M, Zhang Y, Ding L, Moresco JJ, Diedrich JK, Yates JR 3rd, Tillman HS, Leibel RL, Talkowski ME, Billadeau DD, Reiter LT, Potts PR. Loss of MAGEL2 in Prader-Willi syndrome leads to decreased secretory granule and neuropeptide production. JCI Insight 5(17), 2020.

Tillman H, Vogel P, Rogers T, Akers W, Rehg JE. Spectrum of posttransplant lymphoproliferations in NSG mice and their association with EBV infection after engraftment of pediatric solid tumors. Vet Pathol 57(3):445-456, 2020.

Koirala S, Klein J, Zheng Y, Glenn NO, Eisemann T, Fon Tacer K, Miller DJ, Kulak O, Lu M, Finkelstein DB, Neale G, Tillman H, Vogel P, Strand DW, Lum L, Brautigam CA, Pascal JM, Clements WK, Potts PR. Tissue-specific regulation of the Wnt/?-catenin pathway by PAGE4 inhibition of tankyrase. Cell Rep 32(3):107922, 2020.

Meyer L, Verbist KC, Albeituni S, Scull BP, Bassett R, Stroh AN, Tillman H, Allen CE, Hermiston M, Nichols KE. JAK/STAT pathway inhibition sensitizes CD8 T cells to dexamethasone-induced apoptosis in hyperinflammation. Blood 136(6):657-668, 2020.

Yang SW, Li L, Connelly JP, Porter SN, Kodali K, Gan H, Park JM, Tacer KF, Tillman H, Peng J, Pruett-Miller SM, Li W, Potts PR.  A cancer-specific ubiquitin ligase drives mRNA alternative polyadenylation by ubiquitinating the mRNA 3' end processing complex. Mol Cell 77(6):1206-1221.e7, 2020.

Tillman H, Janke LJ, Funk A, Vogel P, Rehg JE. Morphologic and immunohistochemical characterization of spontaneous lymphoma/leukemia in NSG mice. Vet Pathol 57(1):160-17, 2020.

Lechauve C, Keith J, Khandros E, Fowler S, Mayberry K, Freiwan A, Thom CS, Delbini P, Romero EB, Zhang J, Motta I, Tillman H, Cappellini MD, Kundu M, Weiss MJ. The autophagy-activating kinase ULK1 mediates clearance of free α-globin in β-thalassemia.  Sci Transl Med 11, 2019.

Wang H, Diaz AK, Shaw TI, Li Y, Niu M, Cho JH, Paugh BS, Zhang Y, Sifford J, Bai B, Wu Z, Tan H, Zhou S, Hover LD, Tillman HS, Shirinifard A, Thiagarajan S, Sablauer A, Pagala V, High AA, Wang X, Li C, Baker SJ, Peng J. Deep multiomics profiling of brain tumors identifies signaling networks downstream of cancer driver genes. Nat Commun 10:3718, 2019.

Annunziata I, van de Vlekkert D, Wolf E, Finkelstein D, Neale G, Machado E, Mosca R, Campos Y, Tillman H, Roussel MF, Weesner AJ, Fremuth LE, Qiu X, Han MJ, Grosveld GC, d'Azzo A. MYC competes with MiT/TFE in regulating lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy through an epigenetic rheostat. Nat Commun 10:3623, 2019.

Albeituni S, Verbist KC, Tedrick PE, Tillman H, Picarsic J, Bassett R, Nichols KE. Mechanisms of action of ruxolitinib in murine models of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Blood 134:147-159, 2019.

Butch ER, Mead PE, Amador Diaz V, Tillman H, Stewart E, Mishra JK, Kim J, Bahrami A, Dearling JLJ, Packard AB, Stoddard SV, Vavere AL, Han Y, Shulkin BL, Snyder SE. Positron emission tomography detects in vivo expression of disialoganglioside GD2 in mouse models of primary and metastatic osteosarcoma. Cancer Res 79:3112-3124, 2019.

Fon Tacer K, Montoya MC, Oatley MJ, Lord T, Oatley JM, Klein J, Ravichandran R, Tillman H, Kim M, Connelly JP, Pruett-Miller SM, Bookout AL, Binshtock E, Kaminski MM, Potts PR. MAGE cancer-testis antigens protect the mammalian germline under environmental stress. Sci Adv 5:eaav4832, 2019.

Kuriakose J, Redecke V, Guy C, Zhou J, Wu R, Ippagunta SK, Tillman H, Walker PD, Vogel P, Hacker H. Patrolling monocytes promote the pathogenesis of early lupus-like glomerulonephritis. J Clin Invest 130:2251-2265, 2019.

Talleur AC, Metais JY, Li Y, Throm RE, Tillman H, Rooney B, Moustaki A, Leung W. Allogeneic CD27-depleted cells in adoptive cell therapy. Adv Cell Gene Ther 2:e45, 2019.

van Oosterwijk JG, Tillman H, Sherr CJ. Sexually dimorphic tumor suppression by small mitochondrial Arf. Oncotarget 10:1235-1237, 2019.

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Lechauve C, Butcher JT, Freiwan A, Biwer LA, Keith JM, Good ME, Ackerman H, Tillman HS, Kiger L, Isakson BE, Weiss MJ. Endothelial cell α-globin and its molecular chaperone α-hemoglobin-stabilizing protein regulate arteriolar contractility. J Clin Invest 128:5073-5082, 2018.

Hijano DR, Siefker DT, Shrestha B, Jaligama S, Vu LD, Tillman H, Finkelstein D, Saravia J, You D, Cormier SA. Type I interferon potentiates IgA immunity to respiratory syncytial virus infection during infancy. Sci Rep 8:11034, 2018.

Feng H, Tillman H, Wu G, Davidoff AM, Yang J. Frequent epigenetic alterations in polycomb repressive complex 2 in osteosarcoma cell lines. Oncotarget 9:27087-27091, 2018.

Kanneganti A, Malireddi RKS, Saavedra PHV, Vande Walle L, Van Gorp H, Kambara H, Tillman H, Vogel P, Luo HR, Xavier RJ, Chi H, Lamkanfi M. GSDMD is critical for autoinflammatory pathology in a mouse model of Familial Mediterranean Fever. J Exp Med 215:1519-1529, 2018.

Ward Y, Lake R, Faraji F, Sperger J, Martin P, Gilliard C, Ku KP, Rodems T, Niles D, Tillman H, Yin J, Hunter K, Sowalsky AG, Lang J, Kelly K.  Platelets Promote Metastasis via Binding Tumor CD97 Leading to Bidirectional Signaling that Coordinates Transendothelial Migration. Cell Reports 23: 808-822, 2018.

Badders NM, Korff A, Miranda HC, Vuppala PK, Smith RB, Winborn BJ, Quemin ER, Sopher BL, Dearman J, Messing J, Kim NC, Moore J, Freibaum BD, Kanagaraj AP, Fan B, Tillman H, Chen PC, Wang Y, Freeman BB III, Li Y, Kim HJ, La Spada AR, Taylor JP. Selective modulation of the androgen receptor AF2 domain rescues degeneration in spinal bulbar muscular atrophy. Nat Med 24:427-437, 2018.

Ponnusamy S, Sullivan RD, Thiyagarajan T, Tillman H, Getzenberg RH, Narayanan R. Tissue selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) increase pelvic floor muscle mass in ovariectomized mice. J Cell Biochem 118:640-646, 2017.

Afasizheva A, Devine A, Tillman H, Fung KL, Vieira WD, Blehm BH, Kotobuki Y, Busby B, Chen EI, Tanner K. Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling causes malignant melanoma cells to differentially alter extracellular matrix biosynthesis to promote cell survival. BMC Cancer 16:186, 2016.

Agarwal S, Hynes PG, Tillman HS, Lake R, Abou-Kheir WG, Fang L, Casey OM, Ameri AH, Martin PL, Yin JJ, Iaquinta PJ, Karthaus WR, Clevers HC, Sawyers CL, Kelly K. Identification of Different Classes of Luminal Progenitor Cells within Prostate Tumors. Cell Reports 13:2147-2158, 2015

Liu YN, Yin JJ, Barrett B, Tillman HS, Li DM, Casey O, Fang L, Hynes P, Ameri A, Kelly K. Loss of Androgen Regulated miR-1 Activates SRC and Promotes Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis. Mol Cell Biol 35(11):1940-1951, 2015

Liu YN*, J J Yin*, Tillman HS*, Barrett B, Hewitt S, Ylaya K, Fang L, Lake R, Corey E, Morrissey C, Vessella R, Kelly K. The AR-regulated TWEAK-FN14Pathway Promotes Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis. Cancer Res 74(16):4306-17, 2014.  *Equally contributed to this work.

Liu YN, J J Yin, Abou-Kheir W, Hynes PG, Casey OM, Fang L, Yi M, Stephens RM, Seng V, Tillman HS, Martin P, Kelly K. MiR-1 and miR-200 inhibit EMT via Slug-dependent and tumorigenesis via Slug-independent mechanisms. Oncogene 32(3):296-306, 2013.

Casey OM, Fang L, Hynes PG, Abou-Kheir WG, Martin PL, Tillman HS, Petrovics G, Awwad HO, Ward Y, Lake R, Zhang L, Kelly K. TMPRSS2- Driven ERG Expression In Vivo Increases Self-Renewal and Maintains Expression in a Castration Resistant Subpopulation. PLoS ONE 7(7):e41668, 2012.

Liu YN, Abou-Kheir W, Yin JJ, Fang L, Hynes PG, Casey OM, Hub D, Wanb Y, Seng V, Tillman HS, Martin P, Kelly K. Critical and Reciprocal Regulation of KLF4 and SLUG in Transforming Growth Factor β-Initiated Prostate Cancer Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition. Mol Cell Biol 32(5):941-953, 2012.

Wei BR, Edwards JB, Hoover SB, Tillman HS, Reed LT, Sills RC, Simpson RM. Altered β-Catenin Accumulation in Hepatocellular Carcinomas of Diethylnitrosamine-Exposed Rhesus Macaques. Toxicol Pathol 36:972-980, 2008.

LeRoy B, Painter A, Sheppard H, Popiolek L, Samuel-Foo M, Andacht TM.  Protein expression profiling of normal and neoplastic canine prostate and bladder tissue. Vet Comp Oncol 5: 119-130, 2007.

Last update: October 2022

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