David A. Drew, PhD - Director of the Biobanking
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Dr. David A. Drew is the Director of Biobanking in the CTEU, Co-Director of EPICORE, and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at MGH and HMS. Dr. Drew earned a PhD in Biomedical Science from the University of Connecticut and also holds a B.S. in Biochemistry/Biophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His long-term research has focused on the interception and prevention of gastrointestinal disorders, primarily gastrointestinal cancers, through chemoprevention, lifestyle modification, or enhanced endoscopic screening methods. Recently, this interest has been focused on the molecular mechanisms, particularly those influenced by the gut microbiome, driving gastrointestinal disease and cancer, and the mechanisms by which pharmacologic agents, such as aspirin or incretin mimetics, prevent the development of GI disorders. Broadly, his training has provided him a strong foundation in basic and translational research, the gut microbiome, colorectal carcinogenesis, fluorescence molecular endoscopic imaging, precision prevention, epidemiology/biostatistics, and cancer genetics. As the Director of Biobanking for the CTEU, he seeks to build robust biospecimen repositories that are paired with high-resolution metadata to build truly translational platforms derived from clinical research studies. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped lead the COVID Symptom Study’s implementation in the U.S. and establish the Coronavirus Pandemic Epidemiology (COPE) consortium. He is a member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Cancer Epidemiology and Cancer Risk, Prevention, and Early Detection programs, the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) Gastric Cancer Interception Team, the SU2C Colorectal Cancer Healthy Equity Dream Team, Team PROSPECT of the Cancer Grand Challenges, and the New England Clinical Center of the NIH’s Nutrition for Precision Health initiative. He is independently funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). His work has been recognized with national and international awards from the AGA, AACR, and the Aspirin for Cancer Prevention/European Hereditary Tumor Group and was named to Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers List in 2023.
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Key Projects
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Understanding the role of PGE2 inhibition in colorectal cancer metastasis
We are interrogating the role of prostaglandins in promotion of liver-specific metastatic anti-tumor immunity via intermediaries, including hepatic stellate cells and the paradoxical effect of PGE2 inhibition by aspirin in tumor initiation vs. progression settings. Our work, supported by The Bridge Project via DF/HCC and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and the V Foundation, combines novel preclinical models of colorectal cancer tumor liver metastasis, extended follow-up and molecular profiling of the ASPREE aspirin randomized clinical trial population, and the development of a natural language processing tool to determine the effect of aspirin use on individual-level liver metastatic burden in colorectal cancer patients using novel clinical imaging analyses at the time of diagnosis.
Translating GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP1RA) for prevention of early-onset colorectal cancer.
Our project, a pilot study funded by the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH), seeks to understand the effect of GLP1RA among younger individuals at risk for CRC in relation to CRC-related mechanistic biomarkers to 1) establish a causal relationship between GLP1RA and lower risk of EOCRC and 2) to elucidate underlying anti-cancer mechanisms. These data are critical to determine if larger, longer-term clinical trials of GLP1RA with neoplastic endpoints are warranted, particularly in light of potential adverse effects in the clinical trial of GLP1RA supported by the Cancer Grand Challenges Team PROSPECT. Specifically, we will develop a living biobank of patients enrolled to the trial to interrogate putative mechanisms in vitro and pilot meta’omic profiling or pre- and post-treatment stool samples to understand the impact of GLP1RA on an individual’s microbiome and metabolome.
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Key Publications
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Drew DA, Kim AE, Lin Y, Qu C, Morrison J, Lewinger JP, Kawaguchi E, Wang J, Fu Y, Zemlianskaia N, Díez-Obrero V, Bien SA, Dimou N, Albanes D, Baurley JW, Wu AH, Buchanan DD, Potter JD, Prentice RL, Harlid S, Arndt V, Barry EL, Berndt SI, Bouras E, Brenner H, Budiarto A, Burnett-Hartman A, Campbell PT, Carreras-Torres R, Casey G, Chang-Claude J, Conti DV, Devall MAM, Figueiredo JC, Gruber SB, Gsur A, Gunter MJ, Harrison TA, Hidaka A, Hoffmeister M, Huyghe JR, Jenkins MA, Jordahl KM, Kundaje A, Le Marchand L, Li L, Lynch BM, Murphy N, Nassir R, Newcomb PA, Newton CC, Obón-Santacana M, Ogino S, Ose J, Pai RK, Palmer JR, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Pellatt AJ, Peoples AR, Platz EA, Rennert G, Ruiz-Narvaez E, Sakoda LC, Scacheri PC, Schmit SL, Schoen RE, Stern MC, Su YR, Thomas DC, Tian Y, Tsilidis KK, Ulrich CM, Um CY, van Duijnhoven FJB, Van Guelpen B, White E, Hsu L, Moreno V, Peters U, Chan AT, Gauderman WJ. Two genome-wide interaction loci modify the association of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with colorectal cancer. Sci Adv. 2024 May 31;10(22):eadk3121. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk3121. Epub 2024 May 29. PMID: 38809988; PMCID: PMC11135391.
Drew DA, Schuck MM, Magicheva-Gupta MV, Stewart KO, Gilpin KK, Miller P, Parziale MP, Pond EN, Takacsi-Nagy O, Zerjav DC, Chin SM, Mackinnon Krems J, Meixell D, Joshi AD, Ma W, Colizzo FP, Carolan PJ, Nishioka NS, Staller K, Richter JM, Khalili H, Gala MK, Garber JJ, Chung DC, Yarze JC, Zukerberg L, Petrucci G, Rocca B, Patrono C, Milne GL, Wang M, Chan AT.Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2020 Jul 27. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-20-0216. Online ahead of print.PMID: 32718943
Rapid implementation of mobile technology for real-time epidemiology of COVID-19.
Drew DA, Nguyen LH, Steves CJ, Menni C, Freydin M, Varsavsky T, Sudre CH, Cardoso MJ, Ourselin S, Wolf J, Spector TD, Chan AT; COPE Consortium.Science. 2020 Jun 19;368(6497):1362-1367. doi: 10.1126/science.abc0473. Epub 2020 May 5.PMID: 32371477
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