Austin Shull, Ph.D.

Education

B.S. Biology, Presbyterian College
Ph.D. Cancer Biology, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Research or Areas of Specialty

My lab’s work centers around discovering novel therapeutic targets and strategies in cancers by interpreting the molecular profiles of malignancies using next-generation DNA sequencing and array technologies. Integration of this information is coupled with next generation sequencing and clinical data provided by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and then implemented into preclinical cell models to determine therapeutic vulnerabilities of specific cancer types.

My research expertise also aligns with my teaching and mentoring philosophy which includes teaching scientific principles as relatable narratives to my trainees. Much of the important concepts taught within scientific textbooks were pursued by scientists using the fundamental principles of the scientific method. Thus, teaching how we came to know such information compared to just what we know provides a deeper understanding for students and allow students to resonate with groundbreaking scientists who were also pursuing a better comprehension of our world. This approach not only provides context behind scientific principles, but also encouragement for students who too can see themselves pursuing a career in scientific research as they take part in our research development program at Presbyterian College.

Recognitions

• 2015 Darrell Brann Alumni Scholarship, Augusta University
• 2015 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
• 2014 R. August Roesel Memorial Award in Biochemistry Research, Augusta University
• 2012 Travel Award, Southern Translational Educational & Research Conference (STaR)
• 2011 Outstanding Service Award from the Department of Biology, Presbyterian College
• 2011 Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society
• 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Historical Honor Society
• 2010 Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society

Classes at PC

• BIOL1150: Biological Concepts
• BIOL3210: Molecular Biology
• BIOL3990: Scientific Writing & Presentation
• BIOL4010: Senior Seminar in Cancer Biology

Organizations

• President Biomedical Student Association, Augusta University (Term: 2015-‘16)
• Member The Graduate School Student Council, Augusta University (Term: 2015-‘16)
• Member American Society of Hematology, (2015-Present)
• Vice President GRU Cancer Center Postdoc & Grad Student Association [GRUCC-PGA] (Term: 2014-‘16)
• Member American Association of Cancer Research (2014-present)
• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
• Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE)

Publications

Lee EJ, Rath P, Liu J, Ryu DS, Pei L, Noonepalle SK, Shull AY, Feng Q, Litofsky NS, Miller DC, Anthony DC, Kirk MD, Laterra JJ, Ryu DH, Choi JH, Shi H. Identification of Global DNA Methylation Signature in Glioblastoma-derived Cancer Stem Cells. J Genet Genomics 2015 July 7 Vol 42:7, 355-371

Shull AY, Noonepalle SK, Awan FT, Liu J, Pei L, Bollag RJ, Salman H, Ding Z, Shi H. RPPA-based protein profiling reveals eIF4G overexpression and 4E-BP1 serine 65 hyperphosphorylation as molecular events that correspond with a pro-survival phenotype in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Oncotarget 2015 10;6(16):14632-45

Teng Y, Ren X, Li H, Shull A, Kim J, Cowell JK. Mitochondrial ATAD3A combines with GRP78 to regulate WASF3 metastasis-promoting protein. Oncogene 2015 Mar 30 doi:1038/onc.2015.86

Shull AY, Noonepalle SK, Lee EJ, Choi JH, Shi H. Sequencing the Cancer Methylome. Methods Mol. Biol., 2015; 1238:627-51 (Review)

Shull AY, Clendenning ML, Ghoshal-Gupta S, Farrell CL, Vangapandu HV, Dudas L, Wilkerson BJ, Buckhaults PJ. Somatic Mutations, Allele Loss, and DNA Methylation of the Cub and Sushi Domains 1(CSMD1) Gene Reveals Association with Early Age of Diagnosis in Colorectal Cancer Patients.PLoS One, 2013 8(3): e58731.

Shull AY, Latham-Schwark A, Ramasamy P, Leskoske K, Oroian D, Birtwistle MR, Buckhaults PJ. Novel Somatic Mutations to PI3K Pathway Genes in Metastatic Melanoma. PLoS One, 2012 7(8): e43369.

Farrell CL, Ginzburg MR, Enlow MB, Jenkins MM, Hames AN, Adams CR, Roberts MA, Stamps HE, Paxton NA, Addison CN, Shull AY. Leveraging Pharmacy Education through a Train-the-Trainer Model to Enhance Breast Cancer Literacy in Rural Communities. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Mar 26:2025.03.25.25324513. doi: 10.1101/2025.03.25.25324513. PMID: 40196274; PMCID: PMC11974945.

Koksalar Alkan F, Caglayan AB, Alkan HK, Benson E, Gunduz YE, Sensoy O, Durdagi S, Zarbaliyev E, Dyson G, Assad H, Shull A, Chadli A, Shi H, Ozturk G, Korkaya H. Dual activity of Minnelide chemosensitize basal/triple negative breast cancer stem cells and reprograms immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 28;14(1):22487. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72989-6. PMID: 39341857; PMCID: PMC11439009.

McGuinness CB, White SR, Gray EV, Leonard MV, Teng Y, Shull AY. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor CHRNA5 is overexpressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with a recent tobacco smoking history. MicroPubl Biol. 2024 Feb 2;2024:10.17912/micropub.biology.001098. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001098. PMID: 38371320; PMCID: PMC10873754.

Teng Y, Loveless R, Benson EM, Sun L, Shull AY, Shay C. SHOX2 cooperates with STAT3 to promote breast cancer metastasis through the transcriptional activation of WASF3. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Aug 31;40(1):274. doi: 10.1186/s13046-021-02083-6. PMID: 34465361; PMCID: PMC8406721.

Shi SZ, Lee EJ, Lin YJ, Chen L, Zheng HY, He XQ, Peng JY, Noonepalle SK, Shull AY, Pei FC, Deng LB, Tian XL, Deng KY, Shi H, Xin HB. Recruitment of monocytes and epigenetic silencing of intratumoral CYP7B1 primarily contribute to the accumulation of 27-hydroxycholesterol in breast cancer. Am J Cancer Res. 2019 Oct 1;9(10):2194-2208. PMID: 31720082; PMCID: PMC6834472.

Eisa NH, Jilani Y, Kainth K, Redd P, Lu S, Bougrine O, Abdul Sater H, Patwardhan CA, Shull A, Shi H, Liu K, Elsherbiny NM, Eissa LA, El-Shishtawy MM, Horuzsko A, Bollag R, Maihle N, Roig J, Korkaya H, Cowell JK, Chadli A. The co- chaperone UNC45A is essential for the expression of mitotic kinase NEK7 and tumorigenesis. J Biol Chem. 2019 Apr 5;294(14):5246-5260. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006597. Epub 2019 Feb 8. PMID: 30737284; PMCID: PMC6462532.

Gao L, Lang L, Zhao X, Shay C, Shull AY, Teng Y. FGF19 amplification reveals an oncogenic dependency upon autocrine FGF19/FGFR4 signaling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oncogene. 2019 Mar;38(13):2394-2404. doi: 10.1038/s41388-018-0591-7. Epub 2018 Dec 5. PMID: 30518874.

Prieto-Dominguez N, Shull AY, Teng Y. Making way for suppressing the FGF19/FGFR4 axis in cancer. Future Med Chem. 2018 Oct;10(20):2457-2470. doi: 10.4155/fmc-2018-0099. Epub 2018 Oct 16. PMID: 30325210.

Lang L, Shull AY, Teng Y. Interrupting the FGF19-FGFR4 Axis to Therapeutically Disrupt Cancer Progression. Curr Cancer Drug Targets. 2019;19(1):17-25. doi: 10.2174/1568009618666180319091731. PMID: 29557750.

Shull AY, Farrell CL. ‘Et tu, inhibitor?’: the potential for HIV inhibitors to prime P-gp-mediated chemoresistance in cancer. Future Sci OA. 2017 Nov 23;4(2):FSO269. doi: 10.4155/fsoa-2017-0134. PMID: 29379643; PMCID: PMC5778385.

Teng Y, Zhao H, Gao L, Zhang W, Shull AY, Shay C. FGF19 Protects Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells against Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress via Activation of FGFR4-GSK3β-Nrf2 Signaling. Cancer Res. 2017 Nov 15;77(22):6215-6225. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-2039. Epub 2017 Sep 26. PMID: 28951455.

Shull AY, Hu CA, Teng Y. Zebrafish as a model to evaluate peptide-related cancer therapies. Amino Acids. 2017 Dec;49(12):1907-1913. doi: 10.1007/s00726-017-2388-3. Epub 2017 Mar 18. PMID: 28316026.

Noonepalle SK, Gu F, Lee EJ, Choi JH, Han Q, Kim J, Ouzounova M, Shull AY, Pei L, Hsu PY, Kolhe R, Shi F, Choi J, Chiou K, Huang TH, Korkaya H, Deng L, Xin HB, Huang S, Thangaraju M, Sreekumar A, Ambs S, Tang SC, Munn DH, Shi H. Promoter Methylation Modulates Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase 1 Induction by Activated T Cel