Valerie Brown, MD, PhD - Penn State Cancer Institute
Researcher Profile

Valerie Brown, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Scientific Program:Next-Generation Therapies
Disease Teams:
Cancer Institute, Immunotherapy Team
Cancer Institute, Pediatric Cancer Team
Cancer Institute, Pediatric Cancer Team
Research Interests
- Transplants
- Therapeutics
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- Pediatrics
- Leukemia
- Allogeneic Cells
- Survival
- Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
- Child
- Cell Transplantation
- Neoplasms
- Tissue Donors
Clinical Trials
NMTT- Neuroblastoma Maintenance Therapy Trial Using Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO)
A Phase 1/2, Open-label, Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Anti-Tumor Activity Study of Repotrectinib in Pediatric and Young Adult Subjects with Advanced or Metastatic Malignancies Harboring ALK, ROS1, or NTRK1-3 Alterations (CARE)
A Phase I/II, Multicenter, Open-Label, Multi-Arm Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Preliminary Activity of Idasanutlin in Combination with either Chemotherapy or Venetoclax in the Treatment of Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Acute Leukemias or Solid Tumors
A multicenter safety study of unlicensed, investigational cryopreserved cord blood units (CBUs) manufactured by the National Cord Blood Program (NCBP) and provided for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation of pediatric and adult patients
A Phase 2 Study of Reduced Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Average-RiskWNT-Driven Medulloblastoma Patients
Protocol for a Research Sample Repository for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
A Phase I/II Study of Neratinib in Pediatric Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors or Hematologic Malignancies
Phase II Trial of Eflornithine (DFMO) and Etoposide for Relapsed/Refractory Neuroblastoma
Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Diffuse Anaplastic Wilms Tumors (DAWT) and Relapsed Favorable Histology Wilms Tumors (FHWT)
Phase 1/2 Study to Evaluate Palbociclib (Ibrance®) in Combination with Irinotecan and Temozolomide or in Combination with Topotecan and Cyclophosphamide in Pediatric Patients with Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors
A Multicenter Access and Distribution Protocol for Unlicensed Cryopreserved Cord Blood Units (CBUs) for Transplantation in Pediatric and Adult Patients with Hematologic Malignancies and Other Indications
Phase II Trial of Eflornithine/DFMO as Maintenance Therapy for Molecular High Risk/Very High Risk and Relapsed/Refractory Medulloblastoma
Protocol for a Research Database for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, other Cellular Therapies and Marrow Toxic Injuries.
A Pilot Study Using Molecular Guided Therapy with Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Maintenance with DFMO for Subjects with Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Neuroblastoma
Recent Publications
2023
Caru, M, Alberts, NM, Freeman, MC, Dandekar, SC, Rao, P, McKeone, DJ, Brown, VI, McGregor, LM & Schmitz, KH 2023, 'Chronic pain in children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer: the challenge of mitigating the pain and the potential of integrating exercise into pain management', Supportive Care in Cancer, vol. 31, no. 4, 228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07695-6
Boyiadzis, M, Zhang, MJ, Chen, K, Abdel-Azim, H, Abid, MB, Aljurf, M, Bacher, U, Badar, T, Badawy, SM, Battiwalla, M, Bejanyan, N, Bhatt, VR, Brown, VI, Castillo, P, Cerny, J, Copelan, EA, Craddock, C, Dholaria, B, Perez, MAD, Ebens, CL, Gale, RP, Ganguly, S, Gowda, L, Grunwald, MR, Hashmi, S, Hildebrandt, GC, Iqbal, M, Jamy, O, Kharfan-Dabaja, MA, Khera, N, Lazarus, HM, Lin, R, Modi, D, Nathan, S, Nishihori, T, Patel, SS, Pawarode, A, Saber, W, Sharma, A, Solh, M, Wagner, JL, Wang, T, Williams, KM, Winestone, LE, Wirk, B, Zeidan, A, Hourigan, CS, Litzow, M, Kebriaei, P, de Lima, M, Page, K & Weisdorf, DJ 2023, 'Correction to: Impact of pre-transplant induction and consolidation cycles on AML allogeneic transplant outcomes: a CIBMTR analysis in 3113AML patients (Leukemia, (2022), 10.1038/s41375-022-01738-3)', Leukemia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-023-01814-2
Narayan, R, Niroula, A, Wang, T, Kuxhausen, M, He, M, Meyer, E, Chen, YB, Bhatt, VR, Beitinjaneh, A, Nishihori, T, Sharma, A, Brown, VI, Kamoun, M, Diaz, MA, Abid, MB, Askar, M, Kanakry, CG, Gragert, L, Bolon, YT, Marsh, SGE, Gadalla, SM, Paczesny, S, Spellman, S & Lee, SJ 2023, 'HLA Class I Genotype Is Associated with Relapse Risk after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for NPM1-Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia', Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 452.e1-452.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2023.03.027
2022
Kraveka, JM, Lewis, EC, Bergendahl, G, Ferguson, W, Oesterheld, J, Kim, E, Nagulapally, AB, Dykema, KJ, Brown, VI, Roberts, WD, Mitchell, D, Eslin, D, Hanson, D, Isakoff, MS, Wada, RK, Harrod, VL, Rawwas, J, Hanna, G, Hendricks, WPD, Byron, SA, Snuderl, M, Serrano, J, Trent, JM & Saulnier Sholler, GL 2022, 'A pilot study of genomic-guided induction therapy followed by immunotherapy with difluoromethylornithine maintenance for high-risk neuroblastoma', Cancer Reports, vol. 5, no. 11, e1616. https://doi.org/10.1002/cnr2.1616
Caru, M, Levesque, A, Rao, P, Dandekar, S, Terry, C, Brown, V, McGregor, L & Schmitz, K 2022, 'A scoping review to map the evidence of physical activity interventions in post-treatment adolescent and young adult cancer survivors', Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, vol. 171, 103620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103620
Bhatt, NS, Sharma, A, St. Martin, A, Abid, MB, Brown, VI, Diaz Perez, MA, Frangoul, H, Gadalla, SM, Herr, MM, Krem, MM, Lazarus, HM, Martens, MJ, Mehta, PA, Nishihori, T, Prestidge, T, Pulsipher, MA, Rangarajan, HG, Williams, KM, Winestone, LE, Yin, DE, Riches, ML, Dandoy, CE & Auletta, JJ 2022, 'Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of COVID-19 in Pediatric and Early Adolescent and Young Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: A Cohort Study', Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 696.e1-696.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2022.06.026
Cioccio, J, Rakszawski, K, Zheng, H, Nickolich, M, Naik, S, Wirk, B, Rybka, W, Ehmann, C, Silar, B, Vajdic, C, Shah, N, Tuanquin, L, Greiner, R, Brown, V, Hohl, R, Claxton, D, Mineishi, S, Minagawa, K & Shike, H 2023, 'Donor HLA mismatch promotes full donor T-cell chimerism in the allogeneic stem cell transplant with reduced-intensity conditioning and post-transplant cyclophosphamide GVHD prophylaxis', Annals of Hematology, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 613-620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-022-05077-2
Boyiadzis, M, Zhang, MJ, Chen, K, Abdel-Azim, H, Abid, MB, Aljurf, M, Bacher, U, Badar, T, Badawy, SM, Battiwalla, M, Bejanyan, N, Bhatt, VR, Brown, VI, Castillo, P, Cerny, J, Copelan, EA, Craddock, C, Dholaria, B, Perez, MAD, Ebens, CL, Gale, RP, Ganguly, S, Gowda, L, Grunwald, MR, Hashmi, S, Hildebrandt, GC, Iqbal, M, Jamy, O, Kharfan-Dabaja, MA, Khera, N, Lazarus, HM, Lin, R, Modi, D, Nathan, S, Nishihori, T, Patel, SS, Pawarode, A, Saber, W, Sharma, A, Solh, M, Wagner, JL, Wang, T, Williams, KM, Winestone, LE, Wirk, B, Zeidan, A, Hourigan, CS, Litzow, M, Kebriaei, P, de Lima, M, Page, K & Weisdorf, DJ 2023, 'Impact of pre-transplant induction and consolidation cycles on AML allogeneic transplant outcomes: a CIBMTR analysis in 3113 AML patients', Leukemia, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 1006-1017. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-022-01738-3
Shah, N, Cioccio, J, Rakszawski, K, Zheng, H, Nickolich, M, Naik, S, Wirk, B, Rybka, W, Ehmann, C, Silar, B, Vajdic, C, Mierski, J, Zhou, S, Shike, H, Greiner, R, Brown, V, Hohl, R, Claxton, D, Mineishi, S, Minagawa, K & Tuanquin, L 2022, 'Low-dose total body irradiation promotes T-cells donor chimerism in reduced-intensity/non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplant with post-transplant cyclophosphamide', Leukemia Research, vol. 123, 106969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leukres.2022.106969
Otegbeye, F, Vina, MAF, Wang, T, Bolon, YT, Lazaryan, A, Beitinjaneh, A, Bhatt, VR, Castillo, P, Marsh, SGE, Hildebrandt, GC, Assal, A, Brown, VI, Hsu, J, Spellman, S, de Lima, M & Lee, SJ 2022, 'Natural Killer Cell Alloreactivity Predicted By Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Ligand Mismatch Does Not Impact Engraftment in Umbilical Cord Blood and Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation', Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, vol. 28, no. 8, pp. 483.e1-483.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2022.05.034
2021
Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Immunobiology Working Committee 2021, 'Genetics of HLA Peptide Presentation and Impact on Outcomes in HLA-Matched Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation', Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 591-599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2021.04.003
Byron, SA, Hendricks, WPD, Nagulapally, AB, Kraveka, JM, Ferguson, WS, Brown, VI, Eslin, DE, Mitchell, D, Cornelius, A, Roberts, W, Isakoff, MS, Oesterheld, JE, Wada, RK, Rawwas, J, Neville, K, Zage, PE, Harrod, VL, Bergendahl, G, Vansickle, E, Dykema, K, Bond, J, Chou, HC, Wei, JS, Wen, X, Reardon, HV, Roos, A, Nasser, S, Izatt, T, Enriquez, D, Hegde, AM, Cisneros, F, Christofferson, A, Turner, B, Szelinger, S, Keats, JJ, Halperin, RF, Khan, J, Sholler, GLS & Trent, JM 2021, 'Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Relapsed and Refractory Childhood Solid Tumors Reveals a Diverse Molecular Landscape and Mechanisms of Immune Evasion', Cancer Research, vol. 81, no. 23, pp. 5818-5832. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-1033
Shah, N, Rakszawski, K, Nickolich, M, Ehmann, C, Wirk, B, Naik, S, Rybka, W, Zheng, H, Mierski, J, Silar, B, Mackey, G, Greiner, R, Brown, V, Claxton, D, Mineishi, S & Minagawa, K 2021, 'Improved outcome in AML relapse after allogeneic transplant with high-intensity chemotherapy followed by 2nd allogeneic stem cell transplant or donor lymphocyte infusion', Annals of Hematology, vol. 100, no. 10, pp. 2585-2592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-021-04616-7
2020
Lewis, EC, Kraveka, JM, Ferguson, W, Eslin, D, Brown, VI, Bergendahl, G, Roberts, W, Wada, RK, Oesterheld, J, Mitchell, D, Foley, J, Zage, P, Rawwas, J, Rich, M, Lorenzi, E, Broglio, K, Berry, D & Saulnier Sholler, GL 2020, 'A subset analysis of a phase II trial evaluating the use of DFMO as maintenance therapy for high-risk neuroblastoma', International Journal of Cancer, vol. 147, no. 11, pp. 3152-3159. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.33044
Dandoy, CE, Kim, S, Chen, M, Ahn, KW, Ardura, MI, Brown, V, Chhabra, S, Diaz, MA, Dvorak, C, Farhadfar, N, Flagg, A, Ganguly, S, Hale, GA, Hashmi, SK, Hematti, P, Martino, R, Nishihori, T, Nusrat, R, Olsson, RF, Rotz, SJ, Sung, AD, Perales, MA, Lindemans, CA, Komanduri, KV & Riches, ML 2020, 'Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Patients Who Develop Mucosal Barrier Injury-Laboratory Confirmed Bloodstream Infections in the First 100 Days After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant', JAMA network open, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. e1918668. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.18668
Camacho-Bydume, C, Wang, T, Sees, JA, Fernandez-Viña, M, Abid, MB, Askar, M, Beitinjaneh, A, Brown, V, Castillo, P, Chhabra, S, Gadalla, SM, Hsu, JM, Kamoun, M, Lazaryan, A, Nishihori, T, Page, K, Schetelig, J, Fleischhauer, K, Marsh, SGE, Paczesny, S, Spellman, SR, Lee, SJ & Hsu, KC 2020, 'Specific Class I HLA Supertypes but Not HLA Zygosity or Expression Are Associated with Outcomes following HLA-Matched Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant: HLA Supertypes Impact Allogeneic HCT Outcomes', Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.10.010
2019
Papanicolaou, GA, Ustun, C, Young, JAH, Chen, M, Kim, S, Woo Ahn, K, Komanduri, K, Lindemans, C, Auletta, JJ, Riches, ML, Abdel-Azim, H, Ahmed, IA, Aljurf, M, Antin, J, Ballen, KK, Beitinjaneh, A, Brown, VI, Cerny, J, Champlin, R, Chao, N, Chhabra, S, Dahi, PB, Daly, A, Dandoy, C, Dvorak, CC, Forman, S, Ganguly, S, Hashmi, SK, Kharfan-Dabaja, MA, Lazarus, H, Ljungman, P, Malone, AK, Murthy, G, Nishihori, T, Page, K, Pingali, RSR, Reddy, V, Saad, A, Savani, BN, Seftel, M, Szer, J, Vij, R, Weisdorf, D, William, BM, Williams, K, Wirk, B & Yared, J 2019, 'Bloodstream Infection Due to Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus Is Associated with Increased Mortality after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Acute Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome: A Multicenter, Retrospective Cohort Study', Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 69, no. 10, pp. 1771-1779. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz031
Ustun, C, Kim, S, Chen, M, Beitinjaneh, AM, Brown, VI, Dahi, PB, Daly, A, Diaz, MA, Freytes, CO, Ganguly, S, Hashmi, S, Hildebrandt, GC, Lazarus, HM, Nishihori, T, Olsson, RF, Page, KM, Papanicolaou, G, Saad, A, Seo, S, William, BM, Wingard, JR, Wirk, B, Yared, JA, Perales, MA, Auletta, JJ, Komanduri, KV, Lindemans, CA & Riches, ML 2019, 'Increased overall and bacterial infections following myeloablative allogeneic HCT for patients with AML in CR1', Blood Advances, vol. 3, no. 17, pp. 2525-2536. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000226
Naik, S, Riches, M, Hari, P, Kim, S, Chen, M, Bachier, C, Shaughnessy, P, Hill, J, Ljungman, P, Battiwalla, M, Chhabra, S, Daly, A, Storek, J, Ustun, C, Diaz, MA, Cerny, J, Beitinjaneh, A, Yared, J, Brown, V, Page, K, Dahi, PB, Ganguly, S, Seo, S, Chao, N, Freytes, CO, Saad, A, Savani, BN, Woo Ahn, K, Boeckh, M, Heslop, HE, Lazarus, HM, Auletta, JJ & Kamble, RT 2019, 'Survival outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants with EBV-positive or EBV-negative post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, A CIBMTR study', Transplant Infectious Disease, vol. 21, no. 5, e13145. https://doi.org/10.1111/tid.13145