Willy Hugo, PhD

Dr. Willy Hugo earned his Ph.D. in Computational Biology from the National University of Singapore in 2011. For his postdoctoral training, he worked under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Lo, focusing on analyzing the genome, transcriptome, methylome, regulome and proteome of patient and melanoma models (murine, patient-derived xenografts, cell lines). His research aims to study genes and pathways affecting melanoma's sensitivity/resistance toward targeted- and immunotherapies at single-cell level and translate such knowledge to improve patient treatment outcomes.

Song C, Piva M, Sun L, Hong A, Moriceau G, Kong X, Zhang H, Lomeli S, Qian J, Yu CC, Damoiseaux R, Kelley MC, Dahlman KB, Scumpia PO, Sosman JA, Johnson DB, Ribas A, Hugo W, Lo RS. Recurrent Tumor Cell-Intrinsic and -Extrinsic Alterations during MAPKi-Induced Melanoma Regression and Early Adaptation. Cancer Discov. 2017 Sep 1. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-0401. [Epub ahead of print]

Hugo W, Zaretsky JM, Sun L, Song C, Moreno BH, Hu-Lieskovan S, Berent-Maoz B, Pang J, Chmielowski B, Cherry G, Seja E, Lomeli S, Kong X, Kelley MC, Sosman JA, Johnson DB, Ribas A, Lo RS. Genomic and Transcriptomic Features of Response to Anti-PD-1 Therapy in Metastatic Melanoma. Cell. 2016 Mar 24;165(1):35-44. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.02.065. Epub 2016 Mar 17. Erratum in: Cell. 2017 Jan 26;168(3):542.

Moriceau G, Hugo W, Hong A, Shi H, Kong X, Yu CC, Koya RC, Samatar AA, Khanlou N, Braun J, Ruchalski K, Seifert H, Larkin J, Dahlman KB, Johnson DB, Algazi A, Sosman JA, Ribas A, Lo RS. Tunable-combinatorial mechanisms of acquired resistance limit the efficacy of BRAF/MEK cotargeting but result in melanoma drug addiction. Cancer Cell. 2015 Feb 9;27(2):240-56. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2014.11.018. Epub 2015 Jan 15.

Hugo W, Shi H, Sun L, Piva M, Song C, Kong X, Moriceau G, Hong A, Dahlman KB, Johnson DB, Sosman JA, Ribas A, Lo RS. Non-genomic and Immune Evolution of Melanoma Acquiring MAPKi Resistance. Cell. 2015 Sep 10;162(6):1271-85. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.061.

Shi H, Hugo W, Kong X, Hong A, Koya RC, Moriceau G, Chodon T, Guo R, Johnson DB, Dahlman KB, Kelley MC, Kefford RF, Chmielowski B, Glaspy JA, Sosman JA, van Baren N, Long GV, Ribas A, Lo RS. Acquired resistance and clonal evolution in melanoma during BRAF inhibitor therapy. Cancer Discov. 2014 Jan;4(1):80-93. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0642. Epub 2013 Nov 21.