Email sxm10@case.edu
Phone 216-368-1976
Fax Number 216.368.8928
Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics, Department of Medicine, CWRU School of Medicine
Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Professor, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, CWRU School of Medicine
Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, CWRU School of Medicine
Sanford (Sandy) Markowitz is the Markowitz-Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics and a Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve University. Sandy’s national distinctions include having been awarded a 12-year term as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, having won an NCI Outstanding Investigator (R35) Award, having served 12 years as the Principal Investigator of the Case GI Cancers SPORE, an NCI-recognized national center of excellence for research in gastrointestinal cancers, and having won The Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Research from Dubai.
Research Interests
Genetic Mechanisms of GI Cancers
- Development of Diagnostics for Early Detection of GI Cancers
- Development of Drugs That Regulate Tissue Stem Cells and
- Tissue Regeneration
Research Projects
The Markowitz laboratory is recognized as a national leader in studies of the genetics and epigenetics of GI cancers, including in basic discovery of genetic targets in GI cancers and in translational studies aimed at developing new methods for early cancer detection, prevention, and treatment.
Highlights of studies from the Markowitz laboratory include: identifying TGF-beta as a key human tumor suppressor; identifying the first cancer associated mutations in the TGF-beta signaling pathway (mutations in TGF-beta type II receptors); identifying 15-prostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH), a prostaglandin degrading enzyme, as a novel effector of TGF-beta mediated tumor suppression and as a negative regulator of tissue stem’s repair of tissue injury; developing the first in-vivo active 15-PGDH inhibitor drugs and demonstrating their activity in potentiating tissue repair in multiple disease models that include potentiating healing of colitis, accelerating hematopoietic recovery following bone marrow transplantation, and protecting from neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (through blocking macrophage generation of reactive oxygen); being part of the team that sequenced the first human cancer coding genome (the colon cancer genome); discovering key epigenetic markers of colon cancers and esophageal cancers; pioneering development of the first commercial stool DNA based test for colon cancer detection, based on aberrantly methylated DNA (ColoSure); pioneering development of the first commercial non-endoscopic DNA based tests for detecting esophageal cancers and their precursor lesions of Barrett’s esophagus (via engineering the EsoCheck esophageal sampling device and developing the EsoGuard methylated DNA panel assay).
Sandy’s translational advances have led to founding of two biotechnology companies, Rodeo Therapeutics (for the development of 15-PGDH inhibitor drugs – acquired by Amgen) and LucidDx (for the development of non-endoscopic DNA testing for esophageal neoplasias – listed on the Nasdaq). Sandy’s work on developing diagnostic tests for detecting esophageal neoplasia was reported as a highlight advance in the 2020 NCI Director’s report to Congress.
In 2020, Sandy’s EsoGuard DNA assay was awarded breakthrough device designation by the FDA, and his EsoCheck sampling device won FDA approval.
External Appointments
Physician, Department of Hematology and Oncology
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Publications
View All Publications
Selected Publications
Markowitz S, Wang J, Myeroff L, Parsons R, Sun L, Lutterbaugh J, Fan RS, Zborowska E, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Brattain M, Willson
JKV. (1995). Inactivation of type II TGF-ß receptor in colon cancer cells with microsatellite instability. Science 268, 1336-1338.
Chen WD, Han ZJ, Skoletsky J, Olson J, Sah J, Myeroff L, Platzer P, Lu S, Dawson D, Willis J, Pretlow TP, Lutterbaugh J, Kasturi L, Willson JK, Rao JS, Shuber A, Markowitz SD. (2005). Detection in fecal DNA of colon cancer-specific methylation of the nonexpressed vimentin gene. J Natl Cancer Inst 97, 1124-1132.
Zhang Y, Desai A, Yang SY, Bae KB, Antczak MI, Fink SP, Tiwari S, Willis JE, Williams NS, Dawson DM, Wald D, Chen WD, Wang Z, Kasturi L, Larusch GA, He L, Cominelli F, Di Martino L, Djuric Z, Milne GL, Chance M, Sanabria J, Dealwis C, Mikkola D, Naidoo J, Wei S, Tai HH, Gerson SL, Ready JM, Posner B, Willson JK, Markowitz SD. (2015). Inhibition of the prostaglandin-degrading enzyme 15-PGDH
potentiates tissue regeneration. Science. 48(6240):aaa2340. PMCID: PMC4481126. (Highlighted by co-Published Science Perspective)
Moinova HR, LaFramboise T, Lutterbaugh JD, Chandar AK, Dumot J, Faulx A, Brock W, Cabrera ODL, Guda K, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Iyear PG, Canto MI, Wang JS, Shaheen NJ, Thota PN, Willis JE, Chak A, Markowitz SD. (2018). Identifying DNA Methylation Biomarkers for Non-Endoscopic Detection of Barrett’s Esophagus. Science Translational Medicine. 10(424):eaao5848. PMCID: PMC5789768.
Huang W, Li H, Kiselar J, Fink SP, Regmi S, Day A, Yuan Y, Chance M, Ready JM*, Markowitz SD*, Taylor DJ*. (2023) Small molecule inhibitors of 15-PGDH exploit a physiologic induced-fit closing system. Nat Commun.14(1):784. PMID: 36774348. PMCID: PMC9922282 (*JR, SDM, DT co-corresponding authors)
Koh Y, Vazquez-Rosa E, Gao F, Li H, Chakraborty S, Tripathi SJ, Barker S, Bud Z, Bangalore A, Kandjoze UP, Leon-Alvarado RA, Sridharan PS, Cordova BA, Yu Y, Hyung J, Fang H, Singh S, Katabathula R, LaFramboise T, Kasturi L, Lutterbaugh J, Beard L, Cordova E, Cintron-Perez CJ, Franke K, Fragoso MF, Miller E, Indrakumar V, Noel KL, Dhar M, Ajroud K, Zamudio C, Lopes F, Bambakidis E, Zhu X, Wilson B, Flanagan ME, Gefen T, Fujioka H, Fink SP, Desai AB, Dawson D, Williams NS, Kim YK, Ready JM, Paul BD, Shin MK*, Markowitz SD*, Pieper AA*. (2025) Inhibiting 15-PGDH blocks blood-brain barrier deterioration and protects mice from Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 122(21):e2417224122. PMID: 40397680. PMCID: PMC12130856. (*MKS, SDM, AAP co-corresponding authors) (Highlighted as subject of a co-published PNAS Commentary)
More detailed description of highlight research and publications from the Markowitz laboratory is available at
- Lab Research
- Sandy’s NIH Biosketch