David Frank
Overview
David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP, serves as director of the Winship Innovation Initiative and as an advisor to the Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Board certified in medical oncology, he cares for patients with hematologic malignancies, specializing in leukemia. He is actively involved in training the next generation of clinical oncologists and cancer scientists.
Dr. Frank is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He is a Fellow of American College of Physicians. He holds professional memberships with American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society for Microbiology. He serves as chair for the Medical Sciences Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Prior to joining Emory, Dr. Frank was the chief quality officer for Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, having previously served as chair of Quality Improvement for Medical Oncology, chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and medical director of patient safety.
A renowned physician-scientist, Dr. Frank's translational research laboratory focuses on the intracellular signaling pathways that control normal cellular function and become subverted in the development of cancer, and then using this knowledge in designing targeted molecular inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. His lab has developed innovative ways to target STAT transcription factors, leading to a series of therapeutic clinical trials, including the first clinical trial of a small molecule STAT3 inhibitor in cancer therapy.
Dr. Frank has authored or coauthored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. He serves on the editorial board of Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cancer Biology and Therapy. In addition, he is an invited or ad hoc reviewer for several publications, including Blood, Nature Medicine, Science Signaling, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and others.
Academic Appointment
- Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
Education
Degrees
- MD from Yale University
- PhD from Yale University
Research
Publications
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Challenging the "Undruggable"Targeting STAT3 but Identifying Potent TrkA-Targeted Inhibitors.
J Med Chem
04/17/2025 Authors: Iliev P; McCutcheon C; Admas TH; Reithmeier A; Lopez McDonald M; van Outryve A; Hanke D; Brown JI; Haraldsson M; Toillon R-A -
STAT signaling in the pathogenesis and therapy of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
Neoplasia Volume: 61 Page(s): 101137
03/01/2025 Authors: King Z; Desai SR; Frank DA; Shastri A -
Proteomics profiling of inflammatory responses to elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor in cystic fibrosis.
Front Immunol Volume: 16 Page(s): 1486784
01/01/2025 Authors: Ozuna H; Bojja D; Partida-Sanchez S; Hall-Stoodley L; Amer A; Britt RD; Sheikh S; Frank DA; Wang W; Kang B-Y -
Dissecting Out a Rare Mutation, STAT: Features of STAT3-Mutant Myeloid Neoplasms.
Clin Cancer Res Volume: 30 Page(s): 4554 - 4556
10/15/2024 Authors: Hochman MJ; Frank DA -
Correction: Oncogenic Transformation by Inhibitor-Sensitive and -Resistant EGFR Mutants.
PLoS Med Volume: 21 Page(s): e1004470
09/01/2024 Authors: Greulich H; Chen T-H; Feng W; Jnne PA; Alvarez JV; Zappaterra M; Bulmer SE; Frank DA; Hahn WC; Sellers WR -
Oncogenic STAT Transcription Factors as Targets for Cancer Therapy: Innovative Strategies and Clinical Translation.
Cancers (Basel) Volume: 16
03/31/2024 Authors: Wang W; Lopez McDonald MC; Hariprasad R; Hamilton T; Frank DA -
Investigating the anti-cancer potential of pyrimethamine analogues through a modern chemical biology lens.
Eur J Med Chem Volume: 264 Page(s): 115971
01/15/2024 Authors: Brown JI; Persaud R; Iliev P; Karmacharya U; Attarha S; Sahile H; Olsen JE; Hanke D; Idowu T; Frank DA -
Pyrimethamine Shows Synergy and Efficacy in Combination With Venetoclax in Preclinical Models of Therapy Resistant MDS/AML
Volume: 23 Page(s): S355 - S355
09/01/2023 Authors: Rivera-Pena B; Chakraborty S; Shi Y; Zhang H; Zhao R; Choudhary G; Gordon-Mitchell S; Pradhan K; Fu B; Tosic I -
Prolactin levels and breast cancer risk by tumor expression of prolactin-related markers.
Breast Cancer Res Volume: 25 Page(s): 24
03/07/2023 Authors: Hathaway CA; Rice MS; Collins LC; Chen D; Frank DA; Walker S; Clevenger CV; Tamimi RM; Tworoger SS; Hankinson SE -
Targeting MET and FGFR in Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Preclinical and Clinical Findings, and Signal Transduction Correlates.
Clin Cancer Res Volume: 29 Page(s): 878 - 887
03/01/2023 Authors: Chen EC; Gandler H; Toi I; Fell GG; Fiore A; Pozdnyakova O; DeAngelo DJ; Galinsky I; Luskin MR; Wadleigh M