Jonathan Villena-Vargas, MD

Research Fellow
The Prasad Adusumilli Lab
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Learn more about the Mesothelioma program at MSK

Jonathan Villena-Vargas, MD

Research Fellow
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Start Year

2011

End Year

2014

Awards

  • Department of Surgery Chairman Award for Excellence in Basic Science
  • NIH T-32 Research Fellowship
  • 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgery “Looking to the Future” Resident Scholarship

Current Employment

  • Assistant Professor, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY

Publications

  • Cherkassky L, Morello A, Villena-Vargas J, Feng Y, Dimitrov DS, Jones DR, Sadelain M, Adusumilli PS. Human CAR T cells with cell-intrinsic PD-1 checkpoint blockade resist tumor-mediated inhibition. J Clin Invest. 2016;126(8):3130-44.
  • Kadota K, Eguchi T, Villena-Vargas J, Woo KM, Sima CS, Jones DR, Travis WD, Adusumilli PS. Nuclear estrogen receptor-alpha expression is an independent predictor of recurrence in male patients with pT1aN0 lung adenocarcinomas, and correlates with regulatory T-cell infiltration. Oncotarget. 2015;6(29):27505-18.
  • Kadota K, Villena-Vargas J, Nitadori J, Sima CS, Jones DR, Travis WD, Adusumilli PS. Tumoral CD10 expression correlates with aggressive histology and prognosis in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Surg Oncol. 2015;22(9):3136-43.
  • Kadota K, Yeh YC, Villena-Vargas J, Cherkassky L, Drill EN, Sima CS, Jones DR, Travis WD, Adusumilli PS. Tumor budding correlates with protumor immune microenvironment and is an independent prognostic factor for recurrence of stage I lung adenocarcinoma. Chest. 2015;148(3):711-721.
  • Kadota K, Buitrago D, Lee MC, Villena-Vargas J, Sima CS, Jones DR, Travis WD, Adusumilli PS. Tumoral CD10 expression correlates with high-grade histology and increases risk of recurrence in patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma. Lung Cancer. 2015;89(3):329-36. 
  • Kadota K, Eguchi T, Villena-Vargas J, Woo KM, Sima CS, Jones DR, Travis WD, Adusumilli PS. Nuclear estrogen receptor-alpha expression is an independent predictor of recurrence in male patients with pT1aN0 lung adenocarcinomas, and correlates with regulatory T-cell infiltration. Oncotarget. 2015;6(29):27505-18.
  • Adusumilli PS, Cherkassky L, Villena-Vargas J, Colovos C, Servais E, Plotkin J, Jones DR, Sadelain M. Regional delivery of mesothelin-targeted CAR T cell therapy generates potent and long-lasting CD4-dependent tumor immunity. Sci Transl Med. 2014;6(261):261ra151.
  • de Biasi AR, Villena-Vargas J, Adusumilli PS. Cisplatin-induced antitumor immunomodulation: a review of oreclinical and clinical evidence. Clin Cancer Res. 2014;20(21):5384-91.
  • Kadota K, Villena-Vargas J, Yoshizawa A, Motoi N, Sima CS, Riely GJ, Rusch VW, Adusumilli PS, Travis WD. Prognostic significance of adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, and nonmucinous lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma of the lung in patients with stage I disease. Am J Surg Pathol. 2014;38(4):448-60.
  • Kachala SS, Bograd AJ, Villena-Vargas J, Suzuki K, Servais EL, Kadota K, Chou J, Sima CS, Vertes E, Rusch VW, Travis WD, Sadelain M, Adusumilli PS. Mesothelin overexpression is a marker of tumor aggressiveness and is associated with reduced recurrence-free and overall survival in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2014;20(4):1020-8.
  • Villena-Vargas J, Adusumilli PS. Mesothelin-targeted immunotherapies for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Thorac Surg. 2012;1(4):466-71.
  • Colovos C, Villena-Vargas J, Adusumilli PS. Safety and stability of retrovirally transduced chimeric antigen receptor T cells. Immunotherapy. 2012;4(9):899-902.