Jussuf T. Kaifi, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., Attending Surgeon

Recent publications (selected out of >150 PubMed-listed articles): 

1. Arciga BM, Walters DM, Kimchi ET, Staveley-O'Carroll KF, Li G, Teixeiro E, Rachagani S, Kaifi JT. Pulsed electric field ablation as a candidate to enhance the anti-tumor immune response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. (Review). Cancer Letters. 2025 
2. Joshi K, Suvilesh KN, Natesh NS, Manjunath Y, Coberly J, Schlink S, Kunin JR, Prather RS, Whitworth K, Nelson B, Bryan JN, Hoffman T, Golzy M, Raju M, Teixeiro E, Telugu BP, Kaifi JT (co-corresponding author), Rachagani S. Characterization of A Bronchoscopically Induced Transgenic Lung Cancer Pig Model for Human Translatability. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 
3. Suvilesh KN, Manjunath Y, Nussbaum YI, Gadelkarim M, Murugesan R, Srivastava A, Li G, Warren WC, Shyu CR, Gao F, Ciorba MA, Mitchem JB, Rachagani S, Kaifi JT. Targeting AKR1B10 by drug repurposing with epalrestat overcomes chemoresistance in non-small cell lung cancer patient-derived tumor organoids. Clinical Cancer Res. 2024 
4. Joshi K, Telugu BP, Prather RS, Bryan JN, Hoffman TJ, Kaifi JT (co-corresponding author), Rachagani S. Benefits and Opportunities of the Transgenic Oncopig Cancer Model. Trends in Cancer. 2024
5. Suvilesh KN, Manjunath Y, Pantel K, Kaifi JT. Preclinical models to study patient-derived circulating tumor cells and metastasis. Trends in Cancer. 2023.
6. Suvilesh KN, Nussbaum YI, Radhakrishnan V, Manjunath Y, Avella DM, Staveley-O’Carroll KF, Kimchi ET, Chaudhuri AA, Shyu CR, Li G, Pantel K, Warren WC, Mitchem JB, Kaifi JT. Tumorigenic circulating tumor cells from xenograft mouse models of non-metastatic NSCLC patients reveal distinct single cell heterogeneity and drug responses. Molecular Cancer. 2022.
7. Manjunath Y, Suvilesh KN, Mitchem JB, Avella DM, Kimchi ET, Staveley-O’Carroll KF, Pantel K, Yi H, Li G, Chaudhuri AA, Kaifi JT. Circulating tumor-macrophage fusion cells and circulating tumor cells complement non-small cell lung cancer screening in subjects with suspicious Lung-RADS4 nodules. JCO Precision Oncology. 2022.
8. Manjunath Y, Mitchem JB, Suvilesh KN, Avella DM, Kimchi ET, Staveley-O’Carroll KF, Deroche CB, Pantel K, Li G, Kaifi JT. Circulating giant tumor-macrophage fusion cells are independent prognosticators in non-small cell lung cancer patients. J Thorac Oncol. 2020. 

Research Funding (as PI):

Department of Veterans Affairs  Merit Clinical Science Research & Development (VA CSR&D) Award (1I01CX002498-01A2); Title: Alveolar epithelial cell type 2 populations and single cell gene expressions in NSCLC progression and drug resistance (04/01/2024-03/31/2028)

Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation; Title: Development of theranostic approaches and next generation Oncopig models for clinical translation to glioblastoma and lung cancer patients

Previous external funding received (PI): American Cancer Society, Commonwealth Research Enhancement (CURE) Program of the State of Pennsylvania, American College of Surgeons (alternate), German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe/Mildred Scheel Stiftung)

Clinical trials (as site-PI):

Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium (LCMC)-4 neoadjuvant screening trial for evaluation of actionable drivers in early stage NSCLC (LEADER)

Nautika1: Multicenter, phase II, neoadjuvant and adjuvant study of multiple therapies in biomarker-selected patients with resectable stages II-III NSCLC 

PI for ongoing translational, observational clinical trials: NCT02838836, NCT03551951

Patent ownership:

Microfluidic device for capture of cells (Kaifi/Kwon; USPTO #62823771)