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Reginald Hill, PhD
Faculty and Director, Tumor Biology and Microenvironment
Assistant Professor of Medicine
310 228 6400
Reginald Hill is the Director, Tumor Biology and Microenvironment at the Ellison Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He uses novel mouse models, human clinical samples, and newly-established assay systems to elucidate how the microenvironment or inflammation contributes to pancreatic cancer initiation, progression to metastasis, and therapeutic resistance.

Dr. Hill’s interest in elucidating the role of the microenvironment in tumorigenesis began with his graduate studies under Dr. Terry Van Dyke (UNC-Chapel Hill), where he designed and created a new transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer based on retinoblastoma gene (RB) family inactivation.

As a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Hong Wu (UCLA), Dr. Hill chose to focus on an area of research with a largely unmet need for translational research. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a high mortality rate, dismal prognosis, and few therapeutic options. This pointed to a dire need for novel therapeutic and chemopreventative strategies, and for relevant research models of disease development. Reginald established mouse models based on PTEN loss of function that recapitulated human PDAC and worked to translate these findings to the human disease.

He then continued his research as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame where he uncovered novel mechanisms through which 1) endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and 2) exosomes from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can cause therapeutic resistance in pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Hill joined the Ellison Institute in 2018 and his research will continue to elucidate a better understanding of these processes to aid the development of more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer.

Research Focus

ER Stress and Chemoresistance
Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Exosome-mediated Regulation of Chemoresistance
Tumor Microenvironment-Driven Metastasis

Charlene DeKalb
Flora Eun
Kayan Jan
Hanaa Knaneh-Monem, MSc, MBA
Sana Shah

Education

BA

1995-1998 Biology – Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL  

PhD

1999-2005 Genetics and Molecular Biology – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC  

Fellowship

2005 – 2012 Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Molecular and Medical Pharmacology Department , UCLA, Los Angeles, California  

Assistant Professor

2012 – 2018 Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences Department, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana  

Awards

Endowment (Archibald Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology) 2012 
UCLA Tumor Cell Biology Fellowship Award (T32) 2009-2011
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellowship 2006-2009
AACR Minority Scholar Award 2004 
Research Education Support Summer Program Fellow (RES) (UNC-CH) 1999 
BIONR Fellowship (Florida A&M University) 1995-1998 

Selected Publications

Hill R, Song Y, Cardiff R, and Van Dyke T. Selective Evolution of Stromal Mesenchyme with p53 Loss in Response to Epithelial Tumorigenesis. Cell. 2005 Dec 16;123(6):1001-11. (Cover) View in: PubMed
Richards K, Zeleniak A, Fishel M, Wu J, Littlepage L, and Hill R. Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Exosomes Regulate Survival and Proliferation of Pancreatic Cancer Cells. Oncogene 2017 Mar 30;36(13):1770-1778. doi: 10.1038/onc.2016.353. Epub 2016 Sep 26.View in: PubMed
Hill R, Hargan J, Kim C, Wang Y, Dawson D, Donahue T, Dry S, and Wu H. PTEN Loss Accelerates KrasG12D-Induced Pancreatic Cancer Development. Cancer Research. 2010 Sep 15;70(18):7114-24. View in: PubMed
Gifford J, Huang W, Zeleniak A, Hindoyan A, Wu H, Donahue T, and Hill R. Expression of GRP78, Master Regulator of the Unfolded Protein Response, Increases Chemoresistance in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 May;15(5):1043-52. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-15-0774. Epub 2016 Mar 3. View in: PubMed
Hill R, Li Y, Tran L, Garcia A, Hargan J, Kim C, Wang Y, Dry S, Donahue T, Herschman H, and Wu H. Delayed Progression of Pancreatic Cancer Development through Cell-Intrinsic Activity of Cox-2. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2012 Oct11(10):2127-2137. (Cover) View in: PubMed
Hill R, Song Y, Cardiff R, and Van Dyke T. Heterogeneous Tumor Evolution Initiated by Loss of pRb Function in a Preclinical Prostate Cancer Model.Cancer Research. 2005 Nov 15;65(22):10243-54. View in: PubMed
Zeleniak A*, Huang W*, Fishel M, and Hill R. PTEN-Dependent Stabilization of MTSS1 Inhibits Metastatic Phenotype in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Neoplasia. 2018 Jan;20(1):12-24. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Nov 23 View in: PubMed
​Zeleniak A, Huang W, Brinkman M, Fishel M, and Hill R. Loss of MTSS1 Results in Increased Metastatic Potential in Pancreatic Cancer. Oncotarget 2017 Mar 7;8(10):16473-16487. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.14869. View in: PubMed
Hill R and Wu H. PTEN, Stem Cells, and Cancer Stem Cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2009 May 1;284(18):11755-9. View in: PubMed 
Taller D, Richards K, Slouka Z, Senapati S, Hill R, Go D, and Chang H. On-Chip Surface Acoustic Wave Lysis and Ion-Exchange Nanomembrane Detection of Exosomal RNA for Pancreatic Cancer Study and Diagnosis. Lab on a Chip 2015 Apr 7;15(7):1656-66. (Cover) View in: PubMed
Reginald Hill, PhD
Faculty and Director, Tumor Biology and Microenvironment
Assistant Professor of Medicine
310 228 6400
Reginald Hill is the Director, Tumor Biology and Microenvironment at the Ellison Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.. He uses novel mouse models, human clinical samples, and newly-established assay systems to elucidate how the microenvironment or inflammation contributes to pancreatic cancer initiation, progression to metastasis, and therapeutic resistance.

Dr. Hill’s interest in elucidating the role of the microenvironment in tumorigenesis began with his graduate studies under Dr. Terry Van Dyke (UNC-Chapel Hill), where he designed and created a new transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer based on retinoblastoma gene (RB) family inactivation.

As a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Hong Wu (UCLA), Dr. Hill chose to focus on an area of research with a largely unmet need for translational research. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a high mortality rate, dismal prognosis, and few therapeutic options. This pointed to a dire need for novel therapeutic and chemopreventative strategies, and for relevant research models of disease development.

Dr. Hill established mouse models based on PTEN loss of function that recapitulated human PDAC and worked to translate these findings to the human disease. He then continued his research as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame where he uncovered novel mechanisms through which 1) endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and 2) exosomes from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can cause therapeutic resistance in pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Hill joined the Ellison Institute in 2018 and his research will continue to elucidate a better understanding of these processes to aid the development of more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer.

Research Focus

ER Stress and Chemoresistance
Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Exosome-mediated Regulation of Chemoresistance
Tumor Microenvironment-Driven Metastasis

Charlene DeKalb
Flora Eun
Kayan Jan
Hanaa Knaneh-Monem, MSc, MBA
Sana Shah

Education

BA

1995-1998 Biology – Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL  

PhD

1999-2005 Genetics and Molecular Biology – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC  

Fellowship

2005 – 2012 Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Molecular and Medical Pharmacology Department , UCLA, Los Angeles, California  

Assistant Professor

2012 – 2018 Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences Department, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana  

Awards

  • Endowment (Archibald Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology) 2012
  • UCLA Tumor Cell Biology Fellowship Award (T32) 2009-2011
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellowship 2006-2009
  • AACR Minority Scholar Award 2004
  • Graduate Mentor Support Grant (UNC-CH) 2003
  • GEM Fellow (UNC-CH) 2001
  • Research Education Support Summer Program Fellow (RES) (UNC-CH) 1999
  • BIONR Fellowship (Florida A&M University) 1995-1998
  • Distinguished Scholars Award (Florida A&M University) 1995–1998

Selected Publications

Hill R, Song Y, Cardiff R, and Van Dyke T. Selective Evolution of Stromal Mesenchyme with p53 Loss in Response to Epithelial Tumorigenesis. Cell. 2005 Dec 16;123(6):1001-11. (Cover) View in: PubMed
Richards K, Zeleniak A, Fishel M, Wu J, Littlepage L, and Hill R. Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Exosomes Regulate Survival and Proliferation of Pancreatic Cancer Cells. Oncogene 2017 Mar 30;36(13):1770-1778. doi: 10.1038/onc.2016.353. Epub 2016 Sep 26.View in: PubMed
Hill R, Hargan J, Kim C, Wang Y, Dawson D, Donahue T, Dry S, and Wu H. PTEN Loss Accelerates KrasG12D-Induced Pancreatic Cancer Development. Cancer Research. 2010 Sep 15;70(18):7114-24. View in: PubMed
Gifford J, Huang W, Zeleniak A, Hindoyan A, Wu H, Donahue T, and Hill R. Expression of GRP78, Master Regulator of the Unfolded Protein Response, Increases Chemoresistance in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 May;15(5):1043-52. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-15-0774. Epub 2016 Mar 3. View in: PubMed
Hill R, Li Y, Tran L, Garcia A, Hargan J, Kim C, Wang Y, Dry S, Donahue T, Herschman H, and Wu H. Delayed Progression of Pancreatic Cancer Development through Cell-Intrinsic Activity of Cox-2. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2012 Oct11(10):2127-2137. (Cover) View in: PubMed
Hill R, Song Y, Cardiff R, and Van Dyke T. Heterogeneous Tumor Evolution Initiated by Loss of pRb Function in a Preclinical Prostate Cancer Model.Cancer Research. 2005 Nov 15;65(22):10243-54. View in: PubMed
Zeleniak A*, Huang W*, Fishel M, and Hill R. PTEN-Dependent Stabilization of MTSS1 Inhibits Metastatic Phenotype in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Neoplasia. 2018 Jan;20(1):12-24. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Nov 23 View in: PubMed
​Zeleniak A, Huang W, Brinkman M, Fishel M, and Hill R. Loss of MTSS1 Results in Increased Metastatic Potential in Pancreatic Cancer. Oncotarget 2017 Mar 7;8(10):16473-16487. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.14869. View in: PubMed
Hill R and Wu H. PTEN, Stem Cells, and Cancer Stem Cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2009 May 1;284(18):11755-9. View in: PubMed 
Taller D, Richards K, Slouka Z, Senapati S, Hill R, Go D, and Chang H. On-Chip Surface Acoustic Wave Lysis and Ion-Exchange Nanomembrane Detection of Exosomal RNA for Pancreatic Cancer Study and Diagnosis. Lab on a Chip 2015 Apr 7;15(7):1656-66. (Cover) View in: PubMed