Nupam Mahajan,PhD, Director of Urologic Research was officially installed as the Urologic Surgery Research Professor on Tuesday, June 4. A gathering of trainees, faculty, department leadership and family celebrated Mahajan’s professorship at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center’s Connor Auditorium.
The professorship honors Mahajan’s auspicious contributions to the field of prostate cancer research. He joined the faculty in 2018 as a cancer researcher and since beginning work in the Division of Urology, his contributions have continued to gain understanding of the epigenetic processes that impair immunity and promote cancer cell survival. His career has hinged on identifying and understanding the pathology of prostate cancers.
Research Focus
According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer has the highest rate of occurrence of all types of cancer for men in 2024, more than doubling lung cancer—the next most common cancer. Over the past decade Mahajan’s research has focused on combatting treatment-averse forms of prostate cancer, including aggressive castration-resistant forms. Recently, his lab identified three new inhibitors, of which (R)-9b is proving to be highly effective in inhibiting cancer growth.
“As a world-leading institution in biomedical research, we look forward to continuing to see the results of Dr. Mahajan’s findings, probing the depths of basic science to put new innovations into practice for the benefit of patients,” says David H. Perlmutter, MD, Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and George and Carol Bauer Dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He further celebrates saying, “Dr. Mahajan’s work on prostate cancer is exemplary of understanding the basic mechanisms and using them to establish new therapeutic targets and move them into clinical application as quickly as possible.”
Training and Career Path
Despite coming from a family of engineers, Mahajan chose the path of medicine after attending the “Oxford of the East,” University of Pune for his bachelor’s degree, subsequently pursuing his PhD at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Mahajan earned his PhD in the study of double-stranded RNA viruses. During his PhD training, Nupam met his partner, Kiran, who was likewise pursuing her PhD. In 1999 the Mahajans relocated to the United States for post-doctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Before being recruited to the Division of Urologic Surgery at Washington University in 2018 by Timothy Eberlein, MD, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and Director of Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Mahajan worked closely with UNC’s cancer center director, Shelton Earp, MD, initially studying breast cancer pathology, but soon changed his focus to develop novel therapeutic approaches for targeting the androgen receptor in prostate cancer. At that time both Nupam and Kiran established their respective research laboratories at the Washington University School of Medicine.
Since starting his research into the prostate cancer-androgen receptor relationship, Mahajan has authored over sixty peer-reviewed manuscripts. His studies identify and probe signaling aspects of the tyrosine kinases and androgen receptor that contribute to the development of prostate and breast cancer, as well as to their progression and drug-resistance.
In 2022 Mahajan’s lab identified an important mechanism of resensitizing immune checkpoint blockade therapy resistant tumors. For his efforts in prostate cancer research, Mahajan’s lab has received millions in NIH funding through several R01 grants, toward continuing work. Recent developments in lab research have been published in Nature Communications, Science Translational Medicine and Cancer Cell, among others.
As a result of his study into nuclear receptors, and the effect they have on immunity and cancer survival, Mahajan has established a medical startup, TechnoGenesys, Inc., which focuses on researching the ACK1 inhibitor as a promising anti-cancer drug.
Clinical Application
In the coming years, findings from studies in the Mahajan lab will be implemented in clinical trials, potentially improving treatment options for people with prostate and breast cancer. His research lab has recently received an R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute and NIH to run a clinical trial, which is expected to begin in 2025.
“Dr. Mahajan’s pioneering research studies in prostate cancer have uncovered fundamental mechanisms of how receptor tyrosine kinases regulate global transcription by the androgen receptor,” says John A. Olson Jr., MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Surgery, William K. Bixby Professor of Surgery. He adds, “Over the past two years that I’ve gotten to know Dr. Mahajan, I find him to be highly accomplished, innovative and collaborative. His research and work ethic are a boon to the research community at our institution and to the countless individuals who will benefit from it in the long run.”
Mahajan’s lab offers opportunities for graduate students from the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences to contribute to research in molecular genetics and genomics, molecular cell biology, and cancer biology, focusing on epigenetic processes related to tyrosine phosphorylation and cancer cell dynamics.
“Prostate cancer are two words no man wants to hear,” says Mahajan. “Work in our lab aims to impact treatment for this disease and change how we look at cancer in general. It is a great honor to be named the Urologic Surgery Research Professor. It truly takes a dedicated team of scientists to make significant progress in cancer research, and our team at WashU is second to none.”