Ellen J. Beswick, PhD

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Academic Information

Departments: Internal Medicine - Associate Professor, Pathology - Adjunct Associate Professor

Divisions: Gastroenterology, Microbiology and Immunology

Academic Office Information

ellen.beswick@hsc.utah.edu

Research Interests

  • Novel Immune Targets for Cancer Therapy
  • Interaction Between Tumor Cells and the Tumor Microenvironment
  • Interrelationships Between Infection, Inflammation and Cancer

Ellen J. Beswick, PhD is the Associate Director of GI Research and an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Her research interests include novel immune targets for gastrointestinal cancers that can be explored in translational approaches in the hopes of developing new combination therapeutics.

Primary research interests in the Beswick lab include:

1. Uncovering the unrecognized role of G-CSF in the gastrointestinal tumor microenvironment and tumor promoting immune responses

2. Examining the role of MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) in chronic inflammation and tumor-promoting pathways in gastrointestinal cancers

3. Understanding how fibroblasts regulate immune responses in the colon in inflammatory bowel disease and cancer

Click here for a full bibliography.

Education History

Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Texas Medical Branch
Immunology 		Postdoctoral Fellow
Doctoral Training Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry 		Ph.D.
Undergraduate Florida Southern College
Biology 		B.S.

Selected Publications

  1. Egal ESA, Jacenik D, Soares HP, Beswick EJ (2021). Translational challenges in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor immunotherapy. [Review]. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer, 1876(2), 188640.
  2. Zhang W, Karagiannidis I, Van Vliet ES, Yao R, Beswick EJ, Zhou A (2021). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor promotes an aggressive phenotype of colon and breast cancer cells with biochemical changes investigated by single-cell Raman microspectroscopy and machine learning analysis. Analyst, 146(20), 6124-6131.
  3. Karagianadis, I, Jerman, SJ, Jacenik, D, Phinney, B, Prossnitz, ER, and Beswick, EJ (2020). G-CSF and G-CSFR modulate T cell phenotypes to promote colon tumor growth.G-CSF and G-CSFR modulate T cell phenotypes to promote colon tumor growth. Front Immunol.
  4. Middleton EA, He XY, Denorme F, Campbell RA, Ng D, Salvatore SP, Mostyka M, Baxter-Stoltzfus A, Borczuk AC, Loda M, Cody MJ, Manne BK, Portier I, Harris E, Petrey AC, Beswick EJ, Caulin AF, Iovino A, Abegglen LM, Weyrich AS, Rondina MT, Egeblad M, Schiffman JD, Yost CC (2020). Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) Contribute to Immunothrombosis in COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Blood, 136(10), 1169-1179.
  5. Sayed IM, Sahan AZ, Venkova T, Chakraborty A, Mukhopadhyay D, Bimczok D, Beswick EJ, Reyes VE, Pinchuk I, Sahoo D, Ghosh P, Hazra TK, Das S (2020). Helicobacter pylori infection down-regulates the DNA glycosylase NEIL2,  resulting in increased genome damage and inflammation in gastric epithelial cells. J Biol Chem, 295, 11082-11098.
  6. Qeadan F, Bansal P, Hanson JA, Beswick EJ (2020). The MK2 pathway is linked to G-CSF, cytokine production and metastasis in gastric cancer: a novel intercorrelation analysis approach. J Transl Med, 18(1), 137.
  7. Aguirre JE, Beswick EJ, Grim C, Uribe G, Tafoya M, Chacon Palma G, Samedi V, McKee R, Villeger R, Fofanov Y, Cong Y, Yochum G, Koltun W, Powell D, Pinchuk IV (2018). Matrix metalloproteinases cleave membrane-bound PD-L1 on CD90+ (myo-)fibroblasts in Crohn's disease and regulate Th1/Th17 cell responses. Int Immunol, 32(1), 57-68.
  8. Berggren KL, Restrepo Cruz S, Hixon MD, Cowan AT, Keysar SB, Craig S, James J, Barry M, Ozbun MA, Jimeno A, McCance DJ, Beswick EJ, Gan GN (2019). MAPKAPK2 (MK2) inhibition mediates radiation-induced inflammatory cytokine production and tumor growth in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oncogene, 38(48), 7329-7341.
  9. Aguirre, JE, Beswick, EJ, Grim, C Tafoya, M, Palma, GC, Samedi, V, Mckee, R, Uribe, G, Villeger, R, Starkey, JM, Cong, Y, Powell, DW, and IV Pinchuk (2019). Increased matrix metalloproteinases mediate cleavage of membrane bound PD-L1 on myo(fibroblasts): role in regulation of T helper cell responses in Crohn’s Disease. Int Immunol, ePub.
  10. Beswick EJ (2019). MK2 combined therapy to treat cancer.
  11. Beswick EJ (2019). Inhibition of Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor as a sole or combination treatment for solid tumors.
  12. Beswick EJ (2019). Inhibition of the Map kinase activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) as a sole or combination treatment for gastrointestinal cancers.
  13. Lina TT, Gonzalez J, Pinchuk IV, Beswick EJ, Reyes VE (2019). Helicobacter pylori elicits B7H3 expression on gastric epithelial cells: Implications in local T cell regulation and subset development during infection. Clin Oncol Res, 2(5).
  14. Phinney, BB, Ray, AL, Peretti, AS, Grim, C, Pinchuk, IV, and EJ Beswick (2018). MK2 regulates macrophage chemokine activity and recruitment to promote colon tumor growth. Front Immunol.
  15. Beswick EJ, Singh, A, Grim, C, Aguirre, J, Qiu, S, Rogler, G, McKee, R, Ma, TY, Reyes, VE, Powell, DW, and IV Pinchuk CD90 stromal cell mediated PD-L1 signaling is differentially disrupted in Crohns Disease vs Ulcerative Colitis contributing to the dysregulation of T helper cell responses (2018). Expression of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 by Human Colonic CD90+ Stromal Cells Differs Between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease and Determines Their Capacity to Suppress Th1 Cells. Front Immunol, 30(9), 1125.
  16. Ray, AL, Berggren, K, Cruz, SR, Gan, GN, and EJ Beswick (2018). Inhibition of MK2 suppresses IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α-dependent colorectal cancer growth. Int J Cancer, 142(8), 1702-11.
  17. Ray, AL, Castillo, EF, Morris, KT, Nofchissey, RA, Weston, LL, Samedi, VG, Hanson, JA, Pinchuk, IV, and EJ Beswick (2016). Blockade of the MK2 pathway is protective in inflammation-associated colorectal cancer development. Int J Cancer, 138(3), 770-5.
  18. Morris, KT, Castillo, EF, Weston, LL, Nofchissey, RA, Ray, AL, Hanson, JA, Samedi, Hudson, LG and EJ Beswick (2015). Anti-G-CSF treatment induces protective immunity in mouse colon cancer by promoting protective NK cell, macrophage and T cell responses. Oncotarget, 6(26), 22338-47.
  19. Beswick EJ, Saada JI, Johnson JR, Humen M, House J, Dann SM, Qiu S, Powell DW, Reyes VE, and IV Pinchuk (2014). TLR4 activation enhances the PD-L1-mediated tolerogenic capacity of colonic CD90+ stromal cells. J Immunol, 193(5), 2218-29.
  20. Morris, KT, Khan, H, Ahmad, A, Weston, LL, Nofchissey, RA, Pinchuk, IV, and EJ Beswick (2014). G-CSFR is over-expressed in human gastric and colon cancers and promotes carcinoma cell proliferation and migration. Br J Cancer, 110(5), 1211-20.