Patricia Ernst, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics-Heme/Onc and Bone Marrow Transplantation

Professional Titles

• Postle Family Chair in Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Pre-Clinical Associate Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program
• Molecular and Cellular Oncology Program Co-Leader

Recognition & Awards

• President, International Society For Experimental Hematology (2020)
• Co-Organizer, Friday Satellite Symposia on Myeloid Development, American Society of Hematology (2018)
• Editorial Board, Journal of Experimental Medicine (2017)
• Editorial Board, Blood (2016)
• Career Development Award Panel, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (2016)
• Co-chair, Stem Cells Section, Friday Satellite Symposia on Myeloid Development, American Society of Hematology (2014)
• Co-Organizer Keystone Symposium on Hematopoiesis, Keystone Symposia (2014)
• Board Member, International Society for Experimental Hematology (2013)
• Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section, NIH (2012)

Teaching

Publications

• Sparbier CE, Gillespie A, Gomez J, Kumari N, Motazedian A, Chan KL, Bell CC, Gilan O, Chan YC, Popp S, Gough DJ, Eckersley-Maslin MA, Dawson SJ, Lehner PJ, Sutherland KD, Ernst P, McGeehan GM, Lam EYN, Burr ML, Dawson MA. Targeting Menin disrupts the KMT2A/B and polycomb balance to paradoxically activate bivalent genes. Nat Cell Biol. 2023 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 36635503
• Sparbier CE, Gillespie A, Gomez J, Kumari N, Motazedian A, Chan KL, Bell CC, Gilan O, Chan YC, Popp S, Gough DJ, Eckersley-Maslin MA, Dawson SJ, Lehner PJ, Sutherland KD, Ernst P, McGeehan GM, Lam EYN, Burr ML, Dawson MA. Targeting Menin disrupts the KMT2A/B and polycomb balance to paradoxically activate bivalent genes. Nat Cell Biol. 2023 Feb;25(2):258-272. PubMed PMID: 36635503
• Nguyen N, Gudmundsson KO, Soltis AR, Oakley K, Roy KR, Han Y, Gurnari C, Maciejewski JP, Crouch G, Ernst P, Dalgard CL, Du Y. Recruitment of MLL1 complex is essential for SETBP1 to induce myeloid transformation. iScience. 2022 Jan 21;25(1):103679. PubMed PMID: 35036869
• Nguyen N, Gudmundsson KO, Soltis AR, Oakley K, Roy KR, Han Y, Gurnari C, Maciejewski JP, Crouch G, Ernst P, Dalgard CL, Du Y. Recruitment of MLL1 complex is essential for SETBP1 to induce myeloid transformation. iScience. 2022 Jan 21;25(1):103679. PubMed PMID: 35036869
• Nguyen N, Gudmundsson KO, Soltis AR, Oakley K, Roy KR, Han Y, Gurnari C, Maciejewski JP, Crouch G, Ernst P, Dalgard CL, Du Y. Recruitment of MLL1 complex is essential for SETBP1 to induce myeloid transformation. iScience. 2022 Jan 21;25(1):103679. PubMed PMID: 35036869
• Liao W, Kohler ME, Fry T, Ernst P. Corrigendum to <Does lineage plasticity enable escape from CAR-T cell therapy? Lessons from MLL-r leukemia'>: <[Experimental Hematology 2021; 100: 1-11]>. Exp Hematol. 2021 Nov;103:73-74. PubMed PMID: 34555335
• Liao W, Kohler ME, Fry T, Ernst P. Does lineage plasticity enable escape from CAR-T cell therapy? Lessons from MLL-r leukemia. Exp Hematol. 2021 Aug;100:1-11. PubMed PMID: 34298117
• Rogawski DS, Deng J, Li H, Miao H, Borkin D, Purohit T, Song J, Chase J, Li S, Ndoj J, Klossowski S, Kim E, Mao F, Zhou B, Ropa J, Krotoska MZ, Jin Z, Ernst P, Feng X, Huang G, Nishioka K, Kelly S, He M, Wen B, Sun D, Muntean A, Dou Y, Maillard I, Cierpicki T, Grembecka J. Discovery of first-in-class inhibitors of ASH1L histone methyltransferase with anti-leukemic activity. Nat Commun. 2021 May 14;12(1):2792. PubMed PMID: 33990599
• Libbrecht C, Xie HM, Kingsley MC, Haladyna JN, Riedel SS, Alikarami F, Lenard A, McGeehan GM, Ernst P, Bernt KM. Menin is necessary for long term maintenance of meningioma-1 driven leukemia. Leukemia. 2021 May;35(5):1405-1417. PubMed PMID: 33542482
• Yang W, Trahan GD, Howell ED, Speck NA, Jones KL, Gillen AE, Riemondy K, Hesselberth J, Bryder D, Ernst P. Enhancing Hematopoiesis from Murine Embryonic Stem Cells through MLL1-Induced Activation of a Rac/Rho/Integrin Signaling Axis. Stem Cell Reports. 2020 Feb 11;14(2):285-299. PubMed PMID: 31951812
• Yang W, Trahan GD, Howell ED, Speck NA, Jones KL, Gillen AE, Riemondy K, Hesselberth J, Bryder D, Ernst P. Enhancing Hematopoiesis from Murine Embryonic Stem Cells through MLL1-Induced Activation of a Rac/Rho/Integrin Signaling Axis. Stem Cell Reports. 2020 Feb 11;14(2):285-299. PubMed PMID: 31951812
• Addicks GC, Brun CE, Sincennes MC, Saber J, Porter CJ, Francis Stewart A, Ernst P, Rudnicki MA. MLL1 is required for PAX7 expression and satellite cell self-renewal in mice. Nat Commun. 2019 Sep 18;10(1):4256. PubMed PMID: 31534153
• Chen Y, Ernst P. Hematopoietic transformation in the absence of MLL1/KMT2A: distinctions in target gene reactivation. Cell Cycle. 2019 Jul;18(14):1525-1531. PubMed PMID: 31161857
• Chen Y, Jones KL, Anastassiadis K, Kranz A, Stewart AF, Grembecka J, Meyerson M, Ernst P. Distinct pathways affected by menin versus MLL1/MLL2 in MLL-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia. Exp Hematol. 2019 Jan;69:37-42. PubMed PMID: 30315824
• Hurtz C, Chan LN, Geng H, Ballabio E, Xiao G, Deb G, Khoury H, Chen CW, Armstrong SA, Chen J, Ernst P, Melnick A, Milne T, Müschen M. Rationale for targeting BCL6 in MLL -rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Genes Dev. 2019 Sep 1;33(17-18):1265-1279. PubMed PMID: 31395741
• Chen Y, Jones KL, Anastassiadis K, Kranz A, Stewart AF, Grembecka J, Meyerson M, Ernst P. Distinct Pathways Affected by Menin versus MLL1/MLL2 in MLL-rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Exp Hematol. 2018 Oct 10. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30315824
• Gan T, Li BE, Mishra BP, Jones KL, Ernst P. MLL1 Promotes IL-7 Responsiveness and Survival during B Cell Differentiation. J Immunol. 2018 Mar 1;200(5):1682-1691. PubMed PMID: 29351999
• Chen Y, Anastassiadis K, Kranz A, Stewart AF, Arndt K, Waskow C, Yokoyama A, Jones K, Neff T, Lee Y, Ernst P. MLL2, Not MLL1, Plays a Major Role in Sustaining MLL-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Cell. 2017 Jun 12;31(6):755-770.e6. PubMed PMID: 28609655
• Yang W, Ernst P. Distinct functions of histone H3, lysine 4 methyltransferases in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Curr Opin Hematol. 2017 Jul;24(4):322-328. PubMed PMID: 28375985
• Yang W, Ernst P. SET/MLL family proteins in hematopoiesis and leukemia. Int J Hematol. 2017 Jan;105(1):7-16. PubMed PMID: 27796741
• Chen Y, Anastassiadis K, Kranz A, Stewart AF, Arndt K, Waskow C, Yokoyama A, Jones K, Neff T, Lee Y, Ernst P. MLL2, Not MLL1, Plays a Major Role in Sustaining MLL-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Cell. 2017 Jun 12;31(6):755-770.e6. PubMed PMID: 28609655
• Xu H, Valerio DG, Eisold ME, Sinha A, Koche RP, Hu W, Chen CW, Chu SH, Brien GL, Park CY, Hsieh JJ, Ernst P, Armstrong SA. NUP98 Fusion Proteins Interact with the NSL and MLL1 Complexes to Drive Leukemogenesis. Cancer Cell. 2016 Dec 12;30(6):863-878. PubMed PMID: 27889185
• Lin W, Francis JM, Li H, Gao X, Pedamallu CS, Ernst P, Meyerson M. Kmt2a cooperates with menin to suppress tumorigenesis in mouse pancreatic islets. Cancer Biol Ther. 2016 Nov 1;:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27801610
• Yang W, Ernst P. SET/MLL family proteins in hematopoiesis and leukemia. Int J Hematol. 2016 Oct 31. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27796741
• Shen EY, Jiang Y, Javidfar B, Kassim B, Loh YE, Ma Q, Mitchell AC, Pothula V, Stewart AF, Ernst P, Yao WD, Martin G, Shen L, Jakovcevski M, Akbarian S. Neuronal Deletion of Kmt2a/Mll1 Histone Methyltransferase in Ventral Striatum is Associated with Defective Spike-Timing-Dependent Striatal Synaptic Plasticity, Altered Response to Dopaminergic Drugs, and Increased Anxiety. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016 Dec;41(13):3103-3113. PubMed PMID: 27485686
• Watanabe T, Ernst P. Context, Context, Context: New Gene Programs Linked to Bad Behavior in MLL-AF9-Initiated Leukemia. Cancer Cell. 2016 Jul 11;30(1):3-5. PubMed PMID: 27411579
• Riedel SS, Haladyna JN, Bezzant M, Stevens B, Pollyea DA, Sinha AU, Armstrong SA, Wei Q, Pollock RM, Daigle SR, Jordan CT, Ernst P, Neff T, Bernt KM. MLL1 and DOT1L cooperate with meningioma-1 to induce acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Invest. 2016 Apr 1;126(4):1438-50. PubMed PMID: 26927674
• Bharadwaj R, Peter CJ, Jiang Y, Roussos P, Vogel-Ciernia A, Shen EY, Mitchell AC, Mao W, Whittle C, Dincer A, Jakovcevski M, Pothula V, Rasmussen TP, Giakoumaki SG, Bitsios P, Sherif A, Gardner PD, Ernst P, Ghose S, Sklar P, Haroutunian V, Tamminga C, Myers RH, Futai K, Wood MA, Akbarian S. Conserved higher-order chromatin regulates NMDA receptor gene expression and cognition. Neuron. 2014 Dec 3;84(5):997-1008. PubMed PMID: 25467983
• Li BE, Ernst P. Two decades of leukemia oncoprotein epistasis: the MLL1 paradigm for epigenetic deregulation in leukemia. Exp Hematol. 2014 Dec;42(12):995-1012. PubMed PMID: 25264566
• Mishra BP, Zaffuto KM, Artinger EL, Org T, Mikkola HK, Cheng C, Djabali M, Ernst P. The histone methyltransferase activity of MLL1 is dispensable for hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. Cell Rep. 2014 May 22;7(4):1239-47. PubMed PMID: 24813891

Professional Memberships

• International Society for Experimental Hematology, Member
• American Society of Hematology, Member
• International Society for Stem Cell Research, Member