Tanya Ivanova Stoyanova

Associate Professor, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles

Associate Professor, Urology, University of California Los Angeles

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Stoyanova Lab
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Stoyanova lab develops new cancer early detection approaches and therapeutic strategies for late stage cancers. The current research areas of interest are: 1) Targeted cancer therapies. Stoyanova lab utilizes multiple approaches to develop new therapeutic strategies for late-stage cancers, including discovery and testing new therapeutic targets and new small molecule inhibitors. 2) Antibody-based therapies for advanced prostate and other metastatic epithelial cancers. Stoyanova lab develops and tests antibody-based strategies as targeted cancer therapies. 3) Combination therapies for metastatic cancers. We are testing multiple experimental agents in combination with FDA-approved cancer therapies to enhance therapeutic responses. 4) Protein-based biomarkers for cancer early detection. We are interested in the discovery and development of new tissue, blood, and urine-based biomarkers for significant prostate cancer and other epithelial cancers. 5) Imaging modalities for cancer. The lab is interested in developing new positron emission tomography (PET) imaging modalities for epithelial cancers to improve cancer early detection and monitor treatment responses. The ultimate goals of the laboratory are to improve the early diagnosis and prognosis of clinically significant cancers and guide the development of novel and effective therapeutic strategies for metastatic cancers.

Education and Training

University of California, Los AngelesPostdoctoral Fellowship2015Cancer Biology
University of Illinois, ChicagoPhD2009Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of KansasB.S.2003Biology/Genetics
Technical University of VarnaB.S.2001Ecology and Protection of the Environment

Awards and Honors

  • NIH/NCI R37 MERIT Award, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, 2020-2025.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, US Department of Defense, 2012-2014.
  • SIGMA Xi Student Research Forum Award for Graduate and Professional Students, University of Illinois, Chicago, 2008.
  • Lung Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award, US Department of Defense, 2023-2025.
  • K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, 2014-2019.
  • Chancellor's Award for Postdoctoral Research, University of California, Los Angeles, 2014.
  • Sally Frost Mason Outstanding Woman Student in Biological Sciences, University of Kansas, 2003.
  • Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award, US Department of Defense, 2018-2020.
  • Sally K. Frost Mason and Kenneth A. Mason Outstanding Senior, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Kansas, 2003.
  • Young Investigator Award, Society of Basic Urologic Research, 2020.
  • SIGMA Xi Student Research Forum Award for Graduate and Professional Students, University of Illinois, Chicago, 2007.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, 2010-2012.
  • Stanford University School of Medicine McCormick and Gabilan Faculty Award, Stanford University, 2016-2018.
  • Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology Retreat Award, University of California, Los Angeles, 2014.
  • Stewart Rahr Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 2014-2017.
  • Ruben Zadigan Environmental Studies Scholarship, University of Kansas, 2001-2002.

Publications

  1. Guimarães CF, Liu S, Wang J, Purcell E, Ozedirne T, Ren T, Aslan M, Yin Q, Reis RL, Stoyanova T, Demirci U. Co-axial hydrogel spinning for facile biofabrication of prostate cancer-like 3D models.. Biofabrication, 2024.
  2. Liu S, Chai T, Garcia-Marques F, Yin Q, Hsu EC, Shen M, Shaw Toland AM, Bermudez A, Hartono AB, Massey CF, Lee CS, Zheng L, Baron M, Denning CJ, Aslan M, Nguyen HM, Nolley R, Zoubeidi A, Das M, Kunder CA, Howitt BE, Soh HT, Weissman IL, Liss MA, Chin AI, Brooks JD, Corey E, Pitteri SJ, Huang J, Stoyanova T. UCHL1 is a potential molecular indicator and therapeutic target for neuroendocrine carcinomas.. Cell reports. Medicine, 2024.
  3. Liu S, Hawley SJ, Kunder CA, Hsu EC, Shen M, Westphalen L, Auman H, Newcomb LF, Lin DW, Nelson PS, Feng Z, Tretiakova MS, True LD, Vakar-Lopez F, Carroll PR, Simko J, Gleave ME, Troyer DA, McKenney JK, Brooks JD, Liss MA, Stoyanova T. High expression of Trop2 is associated with aggressive localized prostate cancer and is a candidate urinary biomarker.. Scientific reports, 2024.
  4. Bangayan NJ, Wang L, Burton Sojo G, Noguchi M, Cheng D, Ta L, Gunn D, Mao Z, Liu S, Yin Q, Riedinger M, Li K, Wu AM, Stoyanova T, Witte ON. Dual-inhibitory domain iCARs improve the efficiency of the AND-NOT gate CAR T strategy.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023.
  5. Shen M, Liu S, Toland A, Hsu EC, Hartono AB, Alabi BR, Aslan M, Nguyen HM, Sessions CJ, Nolley R, Shi C, Huang J, Brooks JD, Corey E, Stoyanova T. ACAA2 is a novel molecular indicator for cancers with neuroendocrine phenotype.. British journal of cancer, 2023.
  6. Garcia-Marques FJ, Zakrasek E, Bermudez A, Polasko AL, Liu S, Stoyanova T, Brooks JD, Lavelle J, Pitteri SJ. Proteomics analysis of urine and catheter-associated biofilms in spinal cord injury patients.. American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2023.
  7. Wu WE, Chang E, Jin L, Liu S, Huang CH, Kamal R, Liang T, Aissaoui NM, Theruvath AJ, Pisani L, Moseley M, Stoyanova T, Paulmurugan R, Huang J, Mitchell DA, Daldrup-Link HE. Multimodal In Vivo Tracking of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells in Preclinical Glioblastoma Models.. Investigative radiology, 2022.
  8. Alabi BR, Liu S, Stoyanova T. Current and emerging therapies for neuroendocrine prostate cancer.. Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2022.
  9. Wang J, Soto F, Liu S, Zeng Y, Hsu EC, Akin D, Sinclair B, Stoyanova T, Demirci U. . Volbots: Volvox Microalgae-Based Robots for Multimode Precision Imaging and Therapy. Advanced Functional Materials, 2022.
  10. Wang J, Soto F, Ma P, Ahmed R, Yang H, Chen S, Wang J, Liu C, Akin D, Fu K, Cao X, Chen P, Hsu EC, Soh HT, Stoyanova T, Wu JC, Demirci U. Acoustic Fabrication of Living Cardiomyocyte-based Hybrid Biorobots.. ACS nano, 2022.
  11. Liu S, Alabi BR, Yin Q, Stoyanova T. Molecular mechanisms underlying the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer.. Seminars in cancer biology, 2022.
  12. Duan H, Baratto L, Fan RE, Soerensen SJC, Liang T, Chung BI, Thong AEC, Gill H, Kunder C, Stoyanova T, Rusu M, Loening AM, Ghanouni P, Davidzon GA, Moradi F, Sonn GA, Iagaru A. Correlation of 68Ga-RM2 PET with Postsurgery Histopathology Findings in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Intermediate- or High-Risk Prostate Cancer.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2022.
  13. Rice MA, Kumar V, Tailor D, Garcia-Marques FJ, Hsu EC, Liu S, Bermudez A, Kanchustambham V, Shankar V, Inde Z, Alabi BR, Muruganantham A, Shen M, Pandrala M, Nolley R, Aslan M, Ghoochani A, Agarwal A, Buckup M, Kumar M, Going CC, Peehl DM, Dixon SJ, Zare RN, Brooks JD, Pitteri SJ, Malhotra SV, Stoyanova T. SU086, an inhibitor of HSP90, impairs glycolysis and represents a treatment strategy for advanced prostate cancer.. Cell reports. Medicine, 2022.
  14. Garcia-Marques F, Liu S, Totten SM, Bermudez A, Tanimoto C, Hsu EC, Nolley R, Hembree A, Stoyanova T, Brooks JD, Pitteri SJ. Protein signatures to distinguish aggressive from indolent prostate cancer.. The Prostate, 2022.
  15. Liu S, Hsu EC, Shen M, Aslan M, Stoyanova T. Metastasis Model to Test the Role of Notch Signaling in Prostate Cancer.. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2022.
  16. Aslan M, Hsu EC, Garcia-Marques FJ, Bermudez A, Liu S, Shen M, West M, Zhang CA, Rice MA, Brooks JD, West R, Pitteri SJ, Gyorffy B, Stoyanova T. Oncogene-mediated metabolic gene signature predicts breast cancer outcome.. NPJ breast cancer, 2021.
  17. Guimarães CF, Ahmed R, Mataji-Kojouri A, Soto F, Wang J, Liu S, Stoyanova T, Marques AP, Reis RL, Demirci U. Engineering Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogel Photonic Constructs: From Multiscale Detection to the Biofabrication of Living Optical Fibers.. Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), 2021.
  18. Aslan M, Hsu EC, Liu S, Stoyanova T. Quantifying the invasion and migration ability of cancer cells with a 3D Matrigel drop invasion assay.. Biology methods & protocols, 2021.
  19. Hsu EC, Shen M, Aslan M, Liu S, Kumar M, Garcia-Marques F, Nguyen HM, Nolley R, Pitteri SJ, Corey E, Brooks JD, Stoyanova T. MCM2-7 complex is a novel druggable target for neuroendocrine prostate cancer.. Scientific reports, 2021.
  20. Fite BZ, Hinostroza V, States L, Hicks-Nelson A, Baratto L, Kallianos K, Codari M, Yu B, Jha P, Shams M, Stoyanova T, Chapelin FF, Liu A, Rashidi A, Soto F, Quintana Y, Davidzon GA, Marycz K, Gibbs IC, Chonde DB, Patel CB, Daldrup-Link HE. Increasing Diversity in Radiology and Molecular Imaging: Current Challenges.. Molecular imaging and biology, 2021.
  21. Liu S, Garcia-Marques F, Zhang CA, Lee JJ, Nolley R, Shen M, Hsu EC, Aslan M, Koul K, Pitteri SJ, Brooks JD, Stoyanova T. Discovery of CASP8 as a potential biomarker for high-risk prostate cancer through a high-multiplex immunoassay.. Scientific reports, 2021.
  22. Chen YS, Zhao Y, Beinat C, Zlitni A, Hsu EC, Chen DH, Achterberg F, Wang H, Stoyanova T, Dionne J, Gambhir SS. Ultra-high-frequency radio-frequency acoustic molecular imaging with saline nanodroplets in living subjects.. Nature nanotechnology, 2021.
  23. Xie J, Rice MA, Chen Z, Cheng Y, Hsu EC, Chen M, Song G, Cui L, Zhou K, Castillo JB, Zhang CA, Shen B, Chin FT, Kunder CA, Brooks JD, Stoyanova T, Rao J. In Vivo Imaging of Methionine Aminopeptidase II for Prostate Cancer Risk Stratification.. Cancer research, 2021.
  24. Shen M, Liu S, Stoyanova T. The role of Trop2 in prostate cancer: an oncogene, biomarker, and therapeutic target.. American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2021.
  25. Ghoochani A, Hsu EC, Aslan M, Rice MA, Nguyen HM, Brooks JD, Corey E, Paulmurugan R, Stoyanova T. Ferroptosis Inducers Are a Novel Therapeutic Approach for Advanced Prostate Cancer.. Cancer research, 2021.
  26. Liu S, Shen M, Hsu EC, Zhang CA, Garcia-Marques F, Nolley R, Koul K, Rice MA, Aslan M, Pitteri SJ, Massie C, George A, Brooks JD, Gnanapragasam VJ, Stoyanova T. Discovery of PTN as a serum-based biomarker of pro-metastatic prostate cancer.. British journal of cancer, 2020.
  27. Buckup M, Rice MA, Hsu EC, Garcia-Marques F, Liu S, Aslan M, Bermudez A, Huang J, Pitteri SJ, Stoyanova T. Plectin is a regulator of prostate cancer growth and metastasis.. Oncogene, 2020.
  28. Tailor D, Going CC, Resendez A, Kumar V, Nambiar DK, Li Y, Dheeraj A, LaGory EL, Ghoochani A, Birk AM, Stoyanova T, Ye J, Giaccia AJ, Le QT, Singh RP, Sledge GW, Pitteri SJ, Malhotra SV. Novel Aza-podophyllotoxin derivative induces oxidative phosphorylation and cell death via AMPK activation in triple-negative breast cancer.. British journal of cancer, 2020.
  29. Li D, Liu Q, Qi Q, Shi H, Hsu EC, Chen W, Yuan W, Wu Y, Lin S, Zeng Y, Xiao Z, Xu L, Zhang Y, Stoyanova T, Jia W, Cheng Z. Gold Nanoclusters for NIR-II Fluorescence Imaging of Bones.. Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2020.
  30. Hsu EC, Rice MA, Bermudez A, Marques FJG, Aslan M, Liu S, Ghoochani A, Zhang CA, Chen YS, Zlitni A, Kumar S, Nolley R, Habte F, Shen M, Koul K, Peehl DM, Zoubeidi A, Gambhir SS, Kunder CA, Pitteri SJ, Brooks JD, Stoyanova T. Trop2 is a driver of metastatic prostate cancer with neuroendocrine phenotype via PARP1.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020.
  31. Rice MA, Malhotra SV, Stoyanova T. Second-Generation Antiandrogens: From Discovery to Standard of Care in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer.. Frontiers in oncology, 2019.
  32. Rice MA, Hsu EC, Aslan M, Ghoochani A, Su A, Stoyanova T. Loss of Notch1 Activity Inhibits Prostate Cancer Growth and Metastasis and Sensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells to Antiandrogen Therapies.. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2019.
  33. Rice MA, Stoyanova T. . Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Prostate Cancer. Prostatectomy. Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Prostate Cancer. Prostatectomy., 2018.
  34. Going CC, Tailor D, Kumar V, Birk AM, Pandrala M, Rice MA, Stoyanova T, Malhotra S, Pitteri SJ. Quantitative Proteomic Profiling Reveals Key Pathways in the Anticancer Action of Methoxychalcone Derivatives in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.. Journal of proteome research, 2018.
  35. Liu F, Vermesh O, Mani V, Ge TJ, Madsen SJ, Sabour A, Hsu EC, Gowrishankar G, Kanada M, Jokerst JV, Sierra RG, Chang E, Lau K, Sridhar K, Bermudez A, Pitteri SJ, Stoyanova T, Sinclair R, Nair VS, Gambhir SS, Demirci U. The Exosome Total Isolation Chip.. ACS nano, 2017.
  36. Liu X, Grogan TR, Hieronymus H, Hashimoto T, Mottahedeh J, Cheng D, Zhang L, Huang K, Stoyanova T, Park JW, Shkhyan RO, Nowroozizadeh B, Rettig MB, Sawyers CL, Elashoff D, Horvath S, Huang J, Witte ON, Goldstein AS. Low CD38 Identifies Progenitor-like Inflammation-Associated Luminal Cells that Can Initiate Human Prostate Cancer and Predict Poor Outcome.. Cell reports, 2016.
  37. Stoyanova T, Riedinger M, Lin S, Faltermeier CM, Smith BA, Zhang KX, Going CC, Goldstein AS, Lee JK, Drake JM, Rice MA, Hsu EC, Nowroozizadeh B, Castor B, Orellana SY, Blum SM, Cheng D, Pienta KJ, Reiter RE, Pitteri SJ, Huang J, Witte ON. Activation of Notch1 synergizes with multiple pathways in promoting castration-resistant prostate cancer.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016.
  38. Ju X, Jiao X, Ertel A, Casimiro MC, Di Sante G, Deng S, Li Z, Di Rocco A, Zhan T, Hawkins A, Stoyanova T, Andò S, Fatatis A, Lisanti MP, Gomella LG, Languino LR, Pestell RG. v-Src Oncogene Induces Trop2 Proteolytic Activation via Cyclin D1.. Cancer research, 2016.
  39. Drake JM, Paull EO, Graham NA, Lee JK, Smith BA, Titz B, Stoyanova T, Faltermeier CM, Uzunangelov V, Carlin DE, Fleming DT, Wong CK, Newton Y, Sudha S, Vashisht AA, Huang J, Wohlschlegel JA, Graeber TG, Witte ON, Stuart JM. Phosphoproteome Integration Reveals Patient-Specific Networks in Prostate Cancer.. Cell, 2016.
  40. Lee JK, Phillips JW, Smith BA, Park JW, Stoyanova T, McCaffrey EF, Baertsch R, Sokolov A, Meyerowitz JG, Mathis C, Cheng D, Stuart JM, Shokat KM, Gustafson WC, Huang J, Witte ON. N-Myc Drives Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Initiated from Human Prostate Epithelial Cells.. Cancer cell, 2016.
  41. Miyahira AK, Lang JM, Den RB, Garraway IP, Lotan TL, Ross AE, Stoyanova T, Cho SY, Simons JW, Pienta KJ, Soule HR. Multidisciplinary intervention of early, lethal metastatic prostate cancer: Report from the 2015 Coffey-Holden Prostate Cancer Academy Meeting.. The Prostate, 2015.
  42. Stoyanova T, Goldstein AS. Distinct phases of human prostate cancer initiation and progression can be driven by different cell-types.. Cancer cell & microenvironment, 2014.
  43. Stoyanova T, Cooper AR, Drake JM, Liu X, Armstrong AJ, Pienta KJ, Zhang H, Kohn DB, Huang J, Witte ON, Goldstein AS. Prostate cancer originating in basal cells progresses to adenocarcinoma propagated by luminal-like cells.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013.
  44. Drake JM, Graham NA, Lee JK, Stoyanova T, Faltermeier CM, Sud S, Titz B, Huang J, Pienta KJ, Graeber TG, Witte ON. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer reveals intrapatient similarity and interpatient heterogeneity of therapeutic kinase targets.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013.
  45. Stoyanova TI, Goldstein AS. Identification, characterization and targeting of Docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cells.. Asian journal of andrology, 2012.
  46. Stoyanova T, Goldstein AS, Cai H, Drake JM, Huang J, Witte ON. Regulated proteolysis of Trop2 drives epithelial hyperplasia and stem cell self-renewal via β-catenin signaling.. Genes & development, 2012.
  47. Cai H, Memarzadeh S, Stoyanova T, Beharry Z, Kraft AS, Witte ON. Collaboration of Kras and androgen receptor signaling stimulates EZH2 expression and tumor-propagating cells in prostate cancer.. Cancer research, 2012.
  48. Drake JM, Graham NA, Stoyanova T, Sedghi A, Goldstein AS, Cai H, Smith DA, Zhang H, Komisopoulou E, Huang J, Graeber TG, Witte ON. Oncogene-specific activation of tyrosine kinase networks during prostate cancer progression.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012.
  49. Stoyanova T, Roy N, Bhattacharjee S, Kopanja D, Valli T, Bagchi S, Raychaudhuri P. p21 cooperates with DDB2 protein in suppression of ultraviolet ray-induced skin malignancies.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2011.
  50. Kopanja D, Roy N, Stoyanova T, Hess RA, Bagchi S, Raychaudhuri P. Cul4A is essential for spermatogenesis and male fertility.. Developmental biology, 2011.
  51. Goldstein AS, Stoyanova T, Witte ON. Primitive origins of prostate cancer: in vivo evidence for prostate-regenerating cells and prostate cancer-initiating cells.. Molecular oncology, 2010.
  52. Stoyanova T, Roy N, Kopanja D, Raychaudhuri P, Bagchi S. DDB2 (damaged-DNA binding protein 2) in nucleotide excision repair and DNA damage response.. Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.), 2009.
  53. Stoyanova T, Roy N, Kopanja D, Bagchi S, Raychaudhuri P. DDB2 decides cell fate following DNA damage.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009.
  54. Kopanja D, Stoyanova T, Okur MN, Huang E, Bagchi S, Raychaudhuri P. Proliferation defects and genome instability in cells lacking Cul4A.. Oncogene, 2009.
  55. Stoyanova T, Yoon T, Kopanja D, Mokyr MB, Raychaudhuri P. The xeroderma pigmentosum group E gene product DDB2 activates nucleotide excision repair by regulating the level of p21Waf1/Cip1.. Molecular and cellular biology, 2007.