Joshua Gruber, M.D., Ph.D.

Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

Internal Medicine - Hematology/Oncology
Early phase clinical trials
Metastatic breast cancer

New Patient Appointment Accepting Virtual Visits or 214-645-4673

Biography

Joshua Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. A breast cancer specialist, he has a secondary appointment in UTSW’s Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences.

Dr. Gruber earned his medical degree and doctoral degree in cancer biology and biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Stanford University, where he also received advanced training through a clinical fellowship in medical oncology and a research fellowship in systems biology of cancer epigenetics.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in medical oncology, he joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021.

Dr. Gruber is the author of numerous scholarly articles in journals such as Cell, Molecular Cell, and Cell Reports, and he serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Oncology Precision Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research.

His clinical focus is on treating patients with metastatic breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, as well as conducting early-stage clinical trials on new therapies for these diseases. His laboratory research interests include the molecular biology of breast cancer initiation, the intersection of tumor immunology with cancer growth pathways, and the development of molecular tools to interrogate neoplastic tissues.

He is also focused on gene regulation, specifically the intersection of cancer epigenetics with cellular metabolism. In particular, his work is directed at devising new methods for understanding how metabolic products affect chromatin landscapes as well as developing new chemical probes to interrogate this process.

Dr. Gruber is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

Education & Training

Medical School - University of Pennsylvania Hospital (2007-2011)
Residency - Stanford University Medical Center (2011-2013), Internal Medicine
Fellowship - Stanford University Hospital (2013-2016), Medical Oncology
Other Post Graduate Training - University of Pennsylvania (2004-2008)
Internship - Stanford University (2011-2012)

Professional Associations & Affiliations

American Association for Cancer Research
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer

Honors & Awards

Recruitment of First-time, Tenure-Track Faculty Member Award 2020, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Development Award (K08) 2020, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI)
Women’s Cancer Innovation Award 2020, Stanford Cancer Institute
SPARK Translational Research Award 2020, Stanford University
Cancer Institute Innovation Award 2017, Stanford University
Young Investigator Award 2017, American Society of Clinical Oncology & Conquer Cancer Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship 2017, Susan G. Komen Foundation
Scholar-in-Training Award 2016, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Research Fellowship 2016, Stanford Cancer Institute
Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship 2015

Books & Publications

Publications
- Association of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes with Homologous Recombination Deficiency and BRCA1/2 Status in Patients with Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Pooled Analysis.
  Telli ML, Chu C, Badve SS, Vinayak S, Silver DP, Isakoff SJ, Kaklamani V, Gradishar W, Stearns V, Connolly RM, Ford JM, Gruber JJ, Adams S, Garber J, Tung N, Neff C, Bernhisel R, Timms KM, Richardson AL, Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020 06 26 11 2704-2710
- Acetate supplementation restores chromatin accessibility and promotes tumor cell differentiation under hypoxia.
  Li Y, Gruber JJ, Litzenburger UM, Zhou Y, Miao YR, LaGory EL, Li AM, Hu Z, Yip M, Hart LS, Maris JM, Chang HY, Giaccia AJ, Ye J, Cell death & disease 2020 02 11 2 102
- Matrix stiffness induces a tumorigenic phenotype in mammary epithelium through changes in chromatin accessibility.
  Stowers RS, Shcherbina A, Israeli J, Gruber JJ, Chang J, Nam S, Rabiee A, Teruel MN, Snyder MP, Kundaje A, Chaudhuri O, Nature biomedical engineering 2019 12 3 12 1009-1019
- High-Resolution Bisulfite-Sequencing of Peripheral Blood DNA Methylation in Early-Onset and Familial Risk Breast Cancer Patients.
  Chen J, Haanpää MK, Gruber JJ, Jäger N, Ford JM, Snyder MP, Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2019 09 25 17 5301-5314
- Chromatin Remodeling in Response to BRCA2-Crisis.
  Gruber JJ, Chen J, Geller B, Jäger N, Lipchik AM, Wang G, Kurian AW, Ford JM, Snyder MP, Cell reports 2019 08 28 8 2182-2193.e6
- HAT1 Coordinates Histone Production and Acetylation via H4 Promoter Binding.
  Gruber JJ, Geller B, Lipchik AM, Chen J, Salahudeen AA, Ram AN, Ford JM, Kuo CJ, Snyder MP, Molecular cell 2019 08 75 4 711-724.e5
- Disruption of mesoderm formation during cardiac differentiation due to developmental exposure to 13-cis-retinoic acid.
  Liu Q, Van Bortle K, Zhang Y, Zhao MT, Zhang JZ, Geller BS, Gruber JJ, Jiang C, Wu JC, Snyder MP, Scientific reports 2018 08 8 1 12960
- Outstanding Questions in the Clinical Management of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
  Gruber JJ, Telli ML, Journal of oncology practice 2017 05 13 5 305-307
- Association of AHSG with alopecia and mental retardation (APMR) syndrome.
  Reza Sailani M, Jahanbani F, Nasiri J, Behnam M, Salehi M, Sedghi M, Hoseinzadeh M, Takahashi S, Zia A, Gruber J, Lynch JL, Lam D, Winkelmann J, Amirkiai S, Pang B, Rego S, Mazroui S, Bernstein JA, Snyder MP, Human genetics 2017 03 136 3 287-296
- Differentiated thyroid cancer: focus on emerging treatments for radioactive iodine-refractory patients.
  Gruber JJ, Colevas AD, The oncologist 2015 Feb 20 2 113-26
- Long-lived microRNA-Argonaute complexes in quiescent cells can be activated to regulate mitogenic responses.
  Olejniczak SH, La Rocca G, Gruber JJ, Thompson CB, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2013 Jan 110 1 157-62
- Ars2 promotes proper replication-dependent histone mRNA 3' end formation.
  Gruber JJ, Olejniczak SH, Yong J, La Rocca G, Dreyfuss G, Thompson CB, Molecular cell 2012 Jan 45 1 87-98
- Hypoxia promotes isocitrate dehydrogenase-dependent carboxylation of a-ketoglutarate to citrate to support cell growth and viability.
  Wise DR, Ward PS, Shay JE, Cross JR, Gruber JJ, Sachdeva UM, Platt JM, DeMatteo RG, Simon MC, Thompson CB, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011 Dec 108 49 19611-6
- Loss of the Birt-Hogg-Dube tumor suppressor results in apoptotic resistance due to aberrant TGF?-mediated transcription.
  Cash TP, Gruber JJ, Hartman TR, Henske EP, Simon MC, Oncogene 2011 Jun 30 22 2534-46
- Imatinib resistance associated with BCR-ABL upregulation is dependent on HIF-1alpha-induced metabolic reprograming.
  Zhao F, Mancuso A, Bui TV, Tong X, Gruber JJ, Swider CR, Sanchez PV, Lum JJ, Sayed N, Melo JV, Perl AE, Carroll M, Tuttle SW, Thompson CB, Oncogene 2010 May 29 20 2962-72
- The glucose-responsive transcription factor ChREBP contributes to glucose-dependent anabolic synthesis and cell proliferation.
  Tong X, Zhao F, Mancuso A, Gruber JJ, Thompson CB, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2009 Dec 106 51 21660-5
- Ars2 regulates both miRNA- and siRNA- dependent silencing and suppresses RNA virus infection in Drosophila.
  Sabin LR, Zhou R, Gruber JJ, Lukinova N, Bambina S, Berman A, Lau CK, Thompson CB, Cherry S, Cell 2009 Jul 138 2 340-51
- Ars2 links the nuclear cap-binding complex to RNA interference and cell proliferation.
  Gruber JJ, Zatechka DS, Sabin LR, Yong J, Lum JJ, Kong M, Zong WX, Zhang Z, Lau CK, Rawlings J, Cherry S, Ihle JN, Dreyfuss G, Thompson CB, Cell 2009 Jul 138 2 328-39
- The PP2A-associated protein alpha4 plays a critical role in the regulation of cell spreading and migration.
  Kong M, Bui TV, Ditsworth D, Gruber JJ, Goncharov D, Krymskaya VP, Lindsten T, Thompson CB, The Journal of biological chemistry 2007 Oct 282 40 29712-20
- DR5 knockout mice are compromised in radiation-induced apoptosis.
  Finnberg N, Gruber JJ, Fei P, Rudolph D, Bric A, Kim SH, Burns TF, Ajuha H, Page R, Wu GS, Chen Y, McKenna WG, Bernhard E, Lowe S, Mak T, El-Deiry WS, Molecular and cellular biology 2005 Mar 25 5 2000-13
- Rheological microscopy: local mechanical properties from microrheology.
  Chen DT, Weeks ER, Crocker JC, Islam MF, Verma R, Gruber J, Levine AJ, Lubensky TC, Yodh AG, Physical review letters 2003 Mar 90 10 108301

Research

Development of molecular tools to interrogate neoplastic tissues
Intersection of tumor immunology with cancer growth pathways
Molecular biology of breast cancer

Clinical Focus

Early phase clinical trials
Metastatic breast cancer
Triple-negative breast cancer