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Paul A. Northcott, PhD
Paul A. Northcott, PhD

Education

BSc – Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida
MSc – McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
PhD – University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Postdoctoral – The Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario, Canada
Postdoctoral – German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

Honors & Awards

  • 2020 St. Baldrick’s Foundation Robert J. Arceci Innovation Award
  • 2016 Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award
  • 2016 AACR NextGen Grant for Transformative Cancer Research
  • 2016 Pew-Stewart Scholar (Pew Charitable Trusts) 
  • 2015 V Foundation V Scholar Award
  • 2014 Pediatric Basic Science Award (Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Meeting)
  • 2014 German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Alumni Award
  • 2013 Lap-Chee Tsui Publication Award for 2012 (CIHR Institute of Genetics)
  • 2012 Roman Herzog PostDoctoral Fellowship (Hertie Foundation)
  • 2011 Stuart Alan Hoffman Memorial Prize (University of Toronto)
  • 2011 Keystone Symposia Future of Science Fund Scholarship (Changing Landscape of the Cancer Genome Meeting)
  • 2010 Young Investigator Award (Basic Science Canadian Neuro-Oncology (CNO) Meeting)

Research Interests

  • Integrative genomics to discover genes and pathways driving pediatric brain tumorigenesis
  • Developmental biology of pediatric brain tumors including their cellular origins
  • Generation of preclinical models recapitulating the molecular features of pediatric brain tumors

Join the Northcott Research Lab

Selected Publications

*Denotes shared first authorship
#Denotes shared senior authorship

Smith KS*, Bihannic L*, Gudenas BL*, Haldipur P, Tao R, Gao Q, Li Y, Aldinger KA, Iskusnykh IY, Chizhikov VV, Scoggins M, Zhang S, Edwards A, Deng M, Glass IA, Overman LM, Millman J, Sjoboen AH, Hadley J, Golser J, Mankad K, Sheppard H, Onar-Thomas A, Gajjar A, Robinson GW, Hovestadt V, Orr BA, Patay Z, Millen KJ,# Northcott PA.# Unified rhombic lip origins of Group 3 and Group 4 medulloblastoma. Nature 609:1012-1020, 2022.

Liu APY, Smith KS, Kumar R, Robinson GW, Northcott PA.# Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing of cerebrospinal-fluid-derived cell-free DNA in brain tumor patients. STAR Protoc 3:101292, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101292 PMC9026582

Liu APY, Smith KS, Kumar R, Paul L, Bihannic L, Lin T, Maass KK, Pajtler KW, Chintagumpala M, Su JM, Bouffet E, Fisher MJ, Gururangan S, Cohn R, Hassall T, Hansford JR, Klimo P Jr, Boop FA, Stewart CF, Harreld JH, Merchant TE, Tatevossian RG, Neale G, Lear M, Klco JM, Orr BA, Ellison DW, Gilbertson RJ, Onar-Thomas A, Gajjar A, Robinson GW,# Northcott PA.# Serial assessment of measurable residual disease in medulloblastoma liquid biopsies. Cancer Cell 39:1519-1530 e1514, 2021. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2021.09.012

Leary SES, Packe RJ, Li Y, Billups CA, Smith KS, Jaju A, Heier L, Burger P, Walsh K, Han Y, Embry L., Hadley J, Kumar R, Michalski J, Hwang E, Gajjar A, Pollack IF, Fouladi M, Northcott PA,# Olson JM.# Efficacy of Carboplatin and Isotretinoin in Children With High-risk Medulloblastoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial From the Children's Oncology Group. JAMA Oncol Sep 1;7(9):1313-1321, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.2224

Michalski JM#, Janss AJ, Vezina LG, Smith KS, Billups CA, Burger PC, Embry LM, Cullen PL, Hardy KK, Pomeroy SL, Bass JK, Perkins SM, Merchant TE, Colte PD, Fitzgerald TJ, Booth TN, Cherlow JM, Muraszko KM, Hadley J, Kumar R, Han Y, Tarbell NJ, Fouladi M, Pollack IF, Packer RJ, Li Y, Gajjar A, Northcott PA.# Children's Oncology Group Phase III Trial of Reduced-Dose and Reduced-Volume Radiotherapy With Chemotherapy for Newly Diagnosed Average-Risk Medulloblastoma. J Clin Oncol 39:2685-2697, 2021. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.02730

Kumar R, Smith KS, Deng M, Terhune C, Robinson GW, Orr BA, Liu APY, Lin T, Billups CA, Chintagumpala M, Bowers DC, Hassall TE, Hansford JR, Khuong-Quang DA, Crawford JR, Bendel AE, Gururangan S, Schroeder K, Bouffet E, Bartels U, Fisher MJ, Cohn R, Partap S, Kellie SJ, McCowage G, Paulino AC, Rutkowski S, Fleischhack G, Dhall G, Klesse LJ, Leary S, Nazarian J, Kool M, Wesseling P, Ryzhova M, Zheludkova O, Golanov AV, McLendon RE, Packer RJ, Dunham C, Hukin J, Fouladi M, Faria CC, Pimentel J, Walter AW, Jabado N, Cho YJ, Perreault S, Croul SE, Zapotocky M, Hawkins C, Tabori U, Taylor MD, Pfister SM, Klimo P Jr, Boop FA, Ellison DW, Merchant TE, Onar-Thomas A, Korshunov A, Jones DTW, Gajjar A#, Ramaswamy V,# Northcott PA.# Clinical Outcomes and Patient-Matched Molecular Composition of Relapsed Medulloblastoma. J Clin Oncol 39:807-821, 2021. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.01359

Gajjar A, Robinson GW, Smith KS, Lin T, Merchant TE, Chintagumpala M, Mahajan A, Su J, Bouffet E, Bartels U, Schechter T, Hassall T, Robertson T, Nicholls W, Gururangan S, Schroeder K, Sullivan M, Wheeler G, Hansford JR, Kellie SJ, McCowage G, Cohn R, Fisher MJ, Krasin MJ, Stewart CF, Broniscer A, Buchhalter I, Tatevossian RG, Orr BA, Neale G, Klimo P Jr, Boop F, Srinivasan A, Pfister SM, Gilbertson RJ, Onar-Thomas A, Ellison DW,# Northcott PA.# Outcomes by Clinical and Molecular Features in Children With Medulloblastoma Treated With Risk-Adapted Therapy: Results of an International Phase III Trial (SJMB03). J Clin Oncol 39:822-835, 2021. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.01372

Smith KS*, Xu K*, Mercer KS, Boop F, Klimo P, DeCupyere M, Grenet J, Robinson S, Dunphy P, Baker SJ, Ellison DW, Merchant TE, Upadayaya SA, Gajjar A, Wu G, Orr BA, Robinson GW#, Northcott PA# & Roussel MF.0# Patient-derived orthotopic xenografts of pediatric brain tumors: a St. Jude resource. Acta Neuropathol, doi:10.1007/s00401-020-02171-5, 2020.

Waszak SM*, Robinson GW*, Gudenas BL, Smith KS, Forget A, Kojic M, Garcia-Lopez J, Hadley J, Hamilton KV, Indersie E, Buchhalter I, Kerssemakers J, Jager N, Sharma T, Rausch T, Kool M, Sturm D, Jones DTW, Vasilyeva A, Tatevossian RG, Neale G, Lombard B, Loew D, Nakitandwe J, Rusch M, Bowers DC, Bendel A, Partap S, Chintagumpala M, Crawford J, Gottardo NG, Smith A, Dufour C, Rutkowski S, Eggen T, Wesenberg F, Kjaerheim K, Feychting M, Lannering, B, Schuz J, Johansen C, Andersen TV, Roosli M, Kuehni CE, Grotzer M, Remke M, Puget S, Pajtler KW, Milde T, Witt O, Ryzhova M, Korshunov A, Orr BA, Ellison DW, Brugieres L, Lichter P, Nichols KE, Gajjar A, Wainwright BJ, Ayrault O, Korbel, JO#, Northcott PA# & Pfister SM# Germline Elongator mutations in Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma. Nature 580, 396-401, 2020. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2164-5.

Liu APY*, Gudenas B*, Lin T, Orr BA, Klimo P Jr, Kumar R, Bouffet E, Gururangan S, Crawford JR, Kellie SJ, Chintagumpala M, Fisher MJ, Bowers DC, Hassall T, Indelicato DJ, Onar-Thomas A, Ellison DW, Boop FA, Merchant TE, Robinson GW, Northcott PA# & Gajjar A.# Risk-adapted therapy and biological heterogeneity in pineoblastoma: integrated clinico-pathological analysis from the prospective, multi-center SJMB03 and SJYC07 trials. Acta Neuropathol 139, 259-271, 2020. doi:10.1007/s00401-019-02106-9.

Hovestadt V, Ayrault O, Swartling FJ, Robinson GW, Pfister, SM & Northcott PA. Medulloblastomics revisited: biological and clinical insights from thousands of patients. Nat Rev Cancer 20, 42-56, 2020. doi:10.1038/s41568-019-0223-8.

Hovestadt V*, Smith KS*, Bihannic L*, Filbin MG*, Shaw ML, Baumgartner A, DeWitt JC, Groves A, Mayr L, Weisman HR, Richman AR, Shore ME, Goumnerova L, Rosencrance C, Carter RA, Phoenix TN, Hadley JL, Tong Y, Houston J, Ashmun RA, DeCuypere M, Sharma T, Flasch D, Silkov A, Ligon KL, Pomeroy SL, Rivera MN, Rozenblatt-Rosen O, Rusert JM, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Li XN, Peyrl A, Gojo J, Kirchhofer D, Lotsch D, Czech T, Dorfer C, Haberler C, Geyeregger R, Halfmann A, Gawad C, Easton J, Pfister SM, Regev A, Gajjar A, Orr BA, Slavc I, Robinson GW, Bernstein BE#, Suva ML# & Northcott PA.# Resolving medulloblastoma cellular architecture by single-cell genomics. Nature, doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1434-6, 2019.

Northcott PA, Robinson GW, Kratz CP, Mabbott DJ, Pomeroy SL, Clifford SC, Rutkowski S, Ellison DW, Malkin D, Taylor MD, Gajjar A & Pfister SM. Medulloblastoma. Nat Rev Dis Primers 5, 11, 2019. doi:10.1038/s41572-019-0063-6.

Carter RA*, Bihannic L*, Rosencrance C*, Hadley JL, Tong Y, Phoenix TN, Natarajan S, Easton J#, Northcott PA# & Gawad C.# A Single-Cell Transcriptional Atlas of the Developing Murine Cerebellum. Curr Biol, 28, 2910-2920 e2912, 2018. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.062.

Robinson GW*, Rudneva VA*, Buchhalter I, Billups CA, Waszak SW, Smith KS, Bowers DC, Bendel A, Fisher PG, Partap S, Crawford JR, Hassall T, Indelicato DJ, Boop F, Klimo P, Sabin ND, Patay Z, Merchant TE, Stewart CF, Orr BA, Korbel JO, Jones DTW, Sharma T, Lichter P, Kool M, Korshunov A, Pfister SM, Gilbertson RJ, Sanders, RP, Onar-Thomas, A, Ellison DW, Gajjar A# & Northcott PA.# Risk-adapted therapy for young children with medulloblastoma (SJYC07): therapeutic and molecular outcomes from a multicentre, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol, 19, 768-784, 2018. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30204-3.

Waszak SM*, Northcott PA*, Buchhalter I, Robinson GW, Sutter C, Groebner S, Grund KB, Brugieres L, Jones DTW, Pajtler KW, Morrissy AS, Kool M, Sturm D, Chavez L, Ernst A, Brabetz S, Hain, M., Zichner, T., Segura-Wang, M., Weischenfeldt, J., Rausch, T., Mardin BR, Zhou X, Baciu C, Lawerenz C, Chan JA, Varlet P, Guerrini-Rousseau L, Fults DW, Grajkowska W, Hauser P, Jabado N, Ra YS, Zitterbart K, Shringarpure SS, De La Vega FM, Bustamante CD, Ng HK, Perry A, MacDonald TJ, Hernaiz Driever P, Bendel AE, Bowers DC, McCowage G, Chintagumpala MM, Cohn R, Hassall T, Fleischhack G, Eggen T, Wesenberg F, Feychting M, Lannering B, Schuz J, Johansen C, Andersen TV, Roosli M, Kuehni CE, Grotzer M, Kjaerheim K, Monoranu CM, Archer TC, Duke E, Pomeroy SL, Shelagh R, Frank S, Sumerauer D, Scheurlen W, Ryzhova MV, Milde T, Kratz CP, Samuel D, Zhang J, Solomon DA, Marra M, Eils R, Bartram CR, von Hoff K, Rutkowski S, Ramaswamy V, Gilbertson RJ, Korshunov A, Taylor MD, Lichter P, Malkin D#, Gajjar A#, Korbel JO# & Pfister SM.# Spectrum and prevalence of genetic predisposition in medulloblastoma: a retrospective genetic study and prospective validation in a clinical trial cohort. Lancet Oncol, 19, 785-798, 2018. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30242-0.

Garancher A, Lin CY, Morabito M, Richer W, Rocques N, Larcher M, Bihannic L, Smith K, Miquel C, Leboucher S, Herath NI, Dupuy F, Varlet P, Haberler C, Walczak C, El Tayara N, Volk A, Puget S, Doz F, Delattre O, Druillennec S, Ayrault O, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Eychene A, Bourdeaut F, Northcott PA# & Pouponnot C.# NRL and CRX Define Photoreceptor Identity and Reveal Subgroup-Specific Dependencies in Medulloblastoma. Cancer Cell 33, 435-449 e436, doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2018.02.006 (2018).

Mack SC & Northcott PA. Genomic Analysis of Childhood Brain Tumors: Methods for Genome-Wide Discovery and Precision Medicine Become Mainstream. J Clin Oncol 35, 2346-2354, 2017/ doi:10.1200/JCO.2017.72.9921.

Northcott, PA*, Buchhalter I*, Morrissy AS*, Hovestadt V, Weischenfeldt J, Ehrenberger T, Grobner S, Segura-Wang M, Zichner T, Rudneva VA, Warnatz HJ, Sidiropoulos N, Phillips AH, Schumacher S, Kleinheinz K, Waszak SM, Erkek S, Jones DTW, Worst BC, Kool M, Zapatka M, Jager N, Chavez L, Hutter B, Bieg M, Paramasivam N, Heinold M, Gu Z, Ishaque N, Jager-Schmidt C, Imbusch CD, Jugold A, Hubschmann D, Risch T, Amstislavskiy V, Gonzalez FGR, Weber UD, Wolf S, Robinson GW, Zhou X, Wu G, Finkelstein D, Liu Y, Cavalli FMG, Luu B, Ramaswamy V, Wu X, Koster J, Ryzhova M, Cho YJ, Pomeroy SL, Herold-Mende C, Schuhmann M, Ebinger M, Liau LM, Mora J, McLendon RE, Jabado N, Kumabe T, Chuah E, Ma Y, Moore RA, Mungall AJ, Mungall KL, Thiessen N, Tse K, Wong T, Jones SJM, Witt O, Milde T, Von Deimling A, Capper D, Korshunov A, Yaspo ML, Kriwacki R, Gajjar A, Zhang J, Beroukhim R, Fraenkel E, Korbel JO, Brors B, Schlesner M, Eils R#, Marra MA#, Pfister SM#, Taylor MD# & Lichter P.# The whole-genome landscape of medulloblastoma subtypes. Nature 547, 311-317, 2017. doi:10.1038/nature22973.

Lin CY*, Erkek S*, Tong Y, Yin L, Federation AJ, Zapatka M, Haldipur P, Kawauchi D, Risch T, Warnatz HJ, Worst BC, Ju B, Orr BA, Zeid R, Polaski DR, Segura-Wang M, Waszak SM, Jones DT, Kool M, Hovestadt V, Buchhalter I, Sieber L, Johann P, Chavez L, Groschel S, Ryzhova M, Korshunov A, Chen W, Chizhikov VV, Millen KJ, Amstislavskiy V, Lehrach H, Yaspo ML, Eils R, Lichter P, Korbel JO, Pfister SM#, Bradner JE# & Northcott PA.# Active medulloblastoma enhancers reveal subgroup-specific cellular origins. Nature 530, 57-62,  2016. doi:10.1038/nature16546.

Northcott PA, Pfister SM. & Jones DT. Next-generation (epi)genetic drivers of childhood brain tumours and the outlook for targeted therapies. Lancet Oncol 16, e293-302, 2015. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71206-9.

Shih DJ*, Northcott PA*, Remke M*, Korshunov A, Ramaswamy V, Kool M, Luu B, Yao Y, Wang X, Dubuc AM, Garzia L, Peacock J, Mack SC, Wu X, Rolider A, Morrissy AS, Cavalli FM, Jones DT, Zitterbart K, Faria CC, Schuller U, Kren L, Kumabe T, Tominaga T, Shin Ra Y, Garami M, Hauser P, Chan JA, Robinson S, Bognar L, Klekner A, Saad AG, Liau LM, Albrecht S, Fontebasso A, Cinalli G, De Antonellis P, Zollo M, Cooper MK, Thompson RC, Bailey S, Lindsey JC, Di Rocco C, Massimi L, Michiels EM, Scherer SW, Phillips JJ, Gupta N, Fan X, Muraszko KM, Vibhakar R, Eberhart CG, Fouladi M, Lach B, Jung S, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Fevre-Montange M, Jouvet A, Jabado N, Pollack IF, Weiss WA, Lee JY, Cho BK, Kim SK, Wang KC, Leonard JR, Rubin JB, de Torres C, Lavarino C, Mora J, Cho YJ, Tabori U, Olson JM, Gajjar A, Packer RJ, Rutkowski S, Pomeroy SL, French PJ, Kloosterhof NK, Kros JM, Van Meir EG, Clifford SC, Bourdeaut F, Delattre O, Doz FF, Hawkins CE, Malkin D, Grajkowska WA, Perek-Polnik M, Bouffet E, Rutka JT, Pfister SM# & Taylor MD# Cytogenetic prognostication within medulloblastoma subgroups. J Clin Oncol 32, 886-896, 2014. doi:10.1200/JCO.2013.50.9539.

Northcott PA*, Lee C*, Zichner T*, Stutz AM, Erkek S, Kawauchi D, Shih DJ, Hovestadt V, Zapatka M, Sturm D, Jones DT, Kool M, Remke M, Cavalli FM, Zuyderduyn S, Bader GD, VandenBerg S, Esparza LA, Ryzhova M, Wang W, Wittmann A, Stark S, Sieber L, Seker-Cin H, Linke L, Kratochwil F, Jager N, Buchhalter I, Imbusch CD, Zipprich G, Raeder B, Schmidt S, Diessl N, Wolf, S, Wiemann S, Brors B, Lawerenz C, Eils J, Warnatz HJ, Risch T, Yaspo ML, Weber UD, Bartholomae CC, von Kalle C, Turanyi E, Hauser P, Sanden E, Darabi A, Siesjo P, Sterba J, Zitterbart K, Sumerauer D, van Sluis P, Versteeg R, Volckmann R, Koster J, Schuhmann MU, Ebinger M, Grimes HL, Robinson GW, Gajjar A, Mynarek M, von Hoff K, Rutkowski S, Pietsch T, Scheurlen W, Felsberg J, Reifenberger G, Kulozik AE, von Deimling A, Witt O, Eils R, Gilbertson RJ, Korshunov A, Taylor MD, Lichter P, Korbel JO#, Wechsler-Reya RJ# & Pfister SM.# Enhancer hijacking activates GFI1 family oncogenes in medulloblastoma. Nature 511, 428-434, 2014. doi:10.1038/nature13379.

Taylor MD, Northcott PA, Korshunov A, Remke M, Cho YJ, Clifford SC, Eberhart CG, Parsons DW, Rutkowski S, Gajjar A, Ellison DW, Lichter P, Gilbertson RJ, Pomeroy SL, Kool M. & Pfister SM. Molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma: the current consensus. Acta Neuropathol 123, 465-472, 2012. doi:10.1007/s00401-011-0922-z.

Northcott PA*, Shih DJ*, Peacock J, Garzia L, Morrissy AS, Zichner T, Stutz AM, Korshunov A, Reimand J, Schumacher SE, Beroukhim R, Ellison DW, Marshall CR, Lionel AC, Mack S, Dubuc A, Yao Y, Ramaswamy V, Luu B, Rolider A, Cavalli FM, Wang X, Remke M, Wu X, Chiu RY, Chu A, Chuah E, Corbett RD, Hoad GR, Jackman SD, Li Y, Lo A, Mungall KL, Nip KM, Qian JQ, Raymond AG, Thiessen NT, Varhol RJ, Birol I, Moore RA, Mungall AJ, Holt R, Kawauchi D, Roussel MF, Kool M, Jones DT, Witt H, Fernandez LA, Kenney AM, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Dirks P, Aviv T, Grajkowska WA, Perek-Polnik M, Haberler CC, Delattre O, Reynaud SS, Doz FF, Pernet-Fattet SS, Cho BK, Kim SK, Wang KC, Scheurlen W, Eberhart CG, Fevre, Montange M, Jouvet A, Pollack IF, Fan X, Muraszko KM, Gillespie GY, Di Rocco C, Massimi L, Michiels EM, Kloosterhof NK, French PJ, Kros JM, Olson JM, Ellenbogen RG, Zitterbart K, Kren L, Thompson RC, Cooper MK, Lach B, McLendon RE, Bigner DD, Fontebasso A, Albrecht S, Jabado N, Lindsey JC, Bailey S, Gupta N, Weiss WA, Bognar L, Klekner A, Van Meter TE, Kumabe T, Tominaga T, Elbabaa SK, Leonard JR, Rubin JB, Liau LM, Van Meir EG, Fouladi M, Nakamura H, Cinalli G, Garami M, Hauser P, Saad AG, Iolascon A, Jung S, Carlotti CG, Vibhakar R, Ra YS, Robinson S, Zollo M, Faria CC, Chan JA, Levy ML, Sorensen PH, Meyerson M, Pomeroy SL, Cho YJ, Bader GD, Tabori U, Hawkins CE, Bouffet E, Scherer SW, Rutka JT, Malkin D, Clifford SC, Jones SJ, Korbel JO, Pfister SM, Marra MA & Taylor MD. Subgroup-specific structural variation across 1,000 medulloblastoma genomes. Nature 488, 49-56, 2012. doi:10.1038/nature11327,

Northcott PA, Korshunov A, Witt H, Hielscher T, Eberhart CG, Mack S, Bouffet E, Clifford SC, Hawkins CE, French P, Rutka JT, Pfister S & Taylor MD. Medulloblastoma comprises four distinct molecular variants. J Clin Oncol 29, 1408-1414,  2011. doi:10.1200/JCO.2009.27.4324.

Northcott PA, Nakahara Y, Wu X, Feuk L, Ellison DW, Croul S, Mack S, Kongkham PN, Peacock J, Dubuc A, Ra YS, Zilberberg K, McLeod J, Scherer SW, Sunil Rao J, Eberhart CG, Grajkowska W, Gillespie Y, Lach B, Grundy R, Pollack IF, Hamilton RL, Van Meter T, Carlotti CG, Boop F, Bigner D, Gilbertson RJ, Rutka JT & Taylor MD. Multiple recurrent genetic events converge on control of histone lysine methylation in medulloblastoma. Nat Genet 41, 465-472, 2019 doi:10.1038/ng.336 

Last update: December 2023

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