Malay Haldar, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Associate Program Director, Physician-Scientist Pathway (PSP),
HUP Pathology Residency Program
Contact InformationDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Biomedical Research Building (BRB) II/III, Rm. 413
421 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215-573-9704
Fax: 215-746-5511
Email: mhaldar@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Specialty Division
Precision and Computational Diagnostics, Cancer and Immunobiology
Research Expertise
Research in our laboratory is at the intersection of innate immune system and solid tumor biology. Specifically, we study the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) with an emphasis on their role in the tumor microenvironment. MPS is part of the innate immune system and comprises of monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells (DC). These cells are functionally, phenotypically, and developmentally heterogeneous with many distinct subsets. We are interested in understanding the molecular basis of this developmental and functional heterogeneity within the MPS. A major focus in our laboratory is to understand the role of MPS within the microenvironment of a group of solid tumors known as sarcomas. DCs and macrophages are thought to play important role in cancer by modulating host-immune responses against the tumor cells, promoting metastasis, angiogenesis, etc. Additionally, the ability of these cells to regulate lymphocyte function makes them an important determinant in the success of cancer immunotherapy. Using a combination of advanced genetically engineered mouse models in conjunction with patient-derived samples, we aim to uncover the molecular pathways underlying tumor-MPS interaction with the overarching goal of targeting them for therapeutic purposes.
Itmat Expertise
Cancer Immunotherapy
Antigen presenting cells
Tumor microenvironment
Clinical Expertise
Molecular Diagnostics
Education
MBBS (Medicine), B.J. Medical College, University of Pune, Pune, Maharashtra, India, 2001
PhD (Human Genetics), University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 2007
Specialty Certification
The American Board of Pathology, 2015
Postgraduate Training
Post-doctoral Research Associate, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, 2007-2009
Clinical Residency in Clinical Pathology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 2009-2012
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, 2012-2013
Awards and Honors
Travel award, 13th annual course on Experimental Genetics of the Laboratory Mouse in Cancer Research, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, 2004
Bradley J. Breidinger Memorial Research Award from the Sarcoma foundation of America, 2005
John E. Goyert Memorial Research Award from the Sarcoma foundation of America, 2007
AACR-AstraZeneca scholar in training award, American Association for Cancer Research, 2008
Research grant award from Paul Nabil Bustany Memorial fund for Synovial Sarcoma research, 2008
James W. Prahl Memorial Award for outstanding contributions by a graduate student, University of Utah., 2008
Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, 2010
NIH K08 award for Physician Scientists, 2013
Burroughs Wellcome career award for medical scientists, 2014
Scholar Award, American Society of Hematology, 2016
MERIT (R37) Award, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 2018
Conquer Cancer Now Award, 2018
Alan Steinberg Scholars in Cancer Research, Abramson Cancer Center, UPenn, 2020
Young Investigator award for outstanding presentation (Midwinter Immunology Conference), 2020
Lloyd J. Old STAR Award, Cancer Research Institute, 2021
Abramson Research Fellowship Award, Abramson Cancer Center, UPenn, 2022
Michael S. Brown New Investigator Research Award, PSOM, UPenn, 2022
Memberships and Professional Organizations
Member. American Association for Cancer Research, 2009 - Present
Member. American Association of Immunologists, 2012 - Present
Member, American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2013 - Present
Member. American Society of Hematology, 2013 - Present
Member. Association for Molecular Pathology, 2018 - Present
Invited participant; Workshop, International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association (IFOPA)., 2018 - 2018
Grant Reviewer, Worldwide Cancer Research, 2019 - 2019
Grant Reviewer. French National Research Agency (ANR), 2019 - present
Grant Reviewer. National Institutes of Health (NCI), 2019 - 2019
Grant Reviewer. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2021 - 2021
Grant Reviewer. Connective Tissue Oncology Society, 2021 - 2021
Grant Reviewer (Ad hoc). Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria., 2022 - 2022
Grant Reviewer. Department of Defense (DOD), RCRP review panel, 2022 - 2022
Founder and Chair of Scientific Advisory Board, Stage One Immunotherapeutics (Biotech startup), 2022 - Present
Grant Reviewer. Swiss National Science Foundation. Switzerland., 2023 - 2023
Grant Reviewer for 'Academia Sinica", Taiwan, 2023 - Present
Grant reviewer for 'Institut National Du Cancer', France, 2023 - Present
Member of Scientific Review Board to evaluate the Pediatric Oncology Branch of NCI., 2024 - 2024
Web Links
Selected Publications
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin induces adipose loss through sebum hypersecretion.
Ruth Choa, Junichiro Tohyama, Shogo Wada, Hu Meng, Jian Hu, Mariko Okumura, Rebecca M. May, Tanner F. Robertson1, Ruth-Anne Langan Pai1, Arben Nace, Christian Hopkins, Elizabeth A. Jacobsen, Malay Haldar, Garret A. FitzGerald, Edward M. Behrens, Andy J. Minn, Patrick Seale, George Cotsarelis, Brian Kim, John T. Seykora, Mingyao Li, Zoltan Arany, and Taku Kambayashi*, Science 373(6554): eabd2893, 2021, PMID:34326208
Macrophages in medulloblastoma display dynamic heterogeneity that vary with treatment modality
Mai T. Dang, Michael Gonzalez, Krutika S. Gaonkar, Komal S. Rathi, PatriciaYoung, Sherjeel Arif, Li Zhai, Zahidul Alam, Samir Devalaraja, Tsun Ki To, Ian W. Folkert, Pichai Raman, Jo Lynne Rokita, Daniel Martinez, Jaclyn N. Taroni,Joshua Shapiro, Casey S. Greene, Candace Savonen, Hakon Hakonarson, Tom Curran, Malay Haldar, Cell Reports 34(13): 108917, 2021, PMID:33789113
Counter regulation of Spic by NF-κB and STAT signaling controls inflammation and iron metabolism in macrophages
Zahidul Alam, Samir Devalaraja, Minghong Li, Tsun Ki Jerrick To, Ian W. Folkert, Erick Mitchell-Velasquez, Mai T Dang, Patricia Young, Christopher J. Wilbur, Michael A. Silverman, Xinyuan Li, Youhai H. Chen, Paul Hernandez, Aritra Bhattacharyya, Mallar Bhattacharya, Matthew H. Levine, Malay Haldar., Cell Reports 31(13): 107825, 2020
Tumor-Derived Retinoic Acid Regulates Intratumoral Monocyte Differentiation to Promote Immune Suppression
Samir Devalaraja, Tsun Ki Jerrick To, Ian W Folkert, Ramakrishnan Natesan, Md Zahidul Alam, Minghong Li, Yuma Tada, Konstantin Budagyan, Mai T Dang, Li Zhai, Graham P Lobel, Gabrielle E Ciotti, T S Karin Eisinger-Mathason, Irfan A Asangani, Kristy Weber, M Celeste Simon, Malay Haldar., Cell 180(6): 1098-1114, 2020, PMID:32169218
Hemozoin produced by mammals confers heme tolerance.
Pek RH, Yuan X, Rietzschel N, Zhang J, Jackson L, Nishibori E, Ribeiro A, Simmons W, Jagadeesh J, Sugimoto H, Alam MZ, Garrett L, Haldar M, Ralle M, Phillips JD, Bodine DM, Hamza I., Elife 1(8): doi: 10.7554/eLife.49503, 2019
Distinct Transcriptional Programs Control Cross-Priming in Classical and Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells
Briseño CG*, Haldar M*, Kretzer NM, Wu X, Theisen DJ, Kc W, Durai V, Grajales-Reyes GE, Iwata A, Bagadia P, Murphy TL, Murphy KM., Cell Reports 15(11): 2462-2474, 2016, PMID:27264183
Heme-mediated SPI-C induction promotes monocyte differentiation into iron-recycling macrophages.
Haldar Malay, Kohyama Masako, So Alex Yick-Lun, Kc Wumesh, Wu Xiaodi, Briseño Carlos G, Satpathy Ansuman T, Kretzer Nicole M, Arase Hisashi, Rajasekaran Namakkal S, Wang Li, Egawa Takeshi, Igarashi Kazuhiko, Baltimore David, Murphy Theresa L, Murphy Kenneth M, Cell 156(6): 1223-34, 2014, PMID:24630724
A CreER-based random induction strategy for modeling translocation-associated sarcomas in mice.
Haldar Malay, Hedberg Matthew L, Hockin Matthew F, Capecchi Mario R, Cancer research 69(8): 3657-64, 2009, PMID:19351831
A conditional mouse model of synovial sarcoma: insights into a myogenic origin.
Haldar Malay, Hancock Jeffrey D, Coffin Cheryl M, Lessnick Stephen L, Capecchi Mario R, Cancer cell 11(4): 375-88, 2007, PMID:17418413
Two cell lineages, myf5 and myf5-independent, participate in mouse skeletal myogenesis.
Haldar Malay, Karan Goutam, Tvrdik Petr, Capecchi Mario R, Developmental cell 14(3): 437-45, 2008, PMID:18331721
