ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ

Jason Mills

Mills

Jason Mills, M.D., Ph.D.

Herman Brown Endowed Professor

Positions

Herman Brown Endowed Professor
Medicine
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
Chief of Research
Medicine
Gastroenterology and Hepatology
ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
Vice Chief
Medicine
Gastroenterology and Hepatology
ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
Co-Director
Medicine
Texas Medical Center Digestive Disease Center
Houston, Texas, United States
Co-Associate Director for Cancer Research Training and Education
Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Education

AB from Washington University, St. Louis, MO
12/1989 - St. Louis, Missouri, United States
MD-PhD from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
12/1997 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Postdoctoral Fellowship at Washington University Medical Center
01/2002 - St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Certifications

(01/01/2021)
Board Eligible, Anatomic Pathology

Honors & Awards

Excellence in Research and Leadership Award
ÌÇÐÄÊÓÆµ of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology & Hepatology (12/2022)
Top Reviewer for Gastroenterology (Badges 1 and 2)
American Gastroenterological Association (01/2022)
Membership Induction
Association of American Physicians (02/2022)
Research Mentor Award (Cellular & Molecular Gastroenterology Section)
AGA Institute Council (01/2022)

Professional Interests

  • Research Interests, Dr. Jason Mills

Professional Statement

I am trained as a human pathologist and have served as an attending on autopsy service for nearly 20 years. As a scientist, I trained in cell and developmental biology as well as bioinformatics. My research focuses on how cells in tissue adapt to various stressors, in particular those that cause them to change their functional identity. Thus, I am interested in how mature cells rearrange their structure to become proliferative, regenerating cells. I have proposed that cells have a universal program, like those for division and death, to do this. This cellular program, paligenosis, helps fuel tissue repair but also, by allowing old cells to proliferate, increases risk for mutation accumulation and development of chronic, pre-cancerous conditions (like metaplasia) and tumorigenesis. I have also led several translational efforts, including clinical trials, to use my lab’s study of paligenosis to better prevent or treat tumors.

Selected Publications

  • Miao ZF, Lewis MA, Cho CJ, Adkins-Threats M, Park D, Brown JW, Sun JX, Burclaff JR, Kennedy S, Lu J, Mahar M, Vietor I, Huber LA, Davidson NO, Cavalli V, Rubin DC, Wang ZN, Mills JC.. " " 2020 Aug 7; 178-194.
    Pubmed PMID: .
  • Miao ZF, Adkins-Threats M, Burclaff JR, Osaki LH, Sun JX, Kefalov Y, He Z, Wang ZN, Mills JC.. " " Cell Stem Cell. 2020 Apr 2; 910-925.
    Pubmed PMID: .
  • Miao ZF, Sun JX, Adkins-Threats M, Pang MJ, Zhao JH, Wang X, Tang KW, Wang ZN, Mills JC.. " " Gastroenterology. 2020 Sep 19; 206-271.
    Pubmed PMID: .
  • Radyk MD, Burclaff J, Willet SG, Mills JC.. " " Gastroenterology. 2017 Dec 14; 839-843.
    Pubmed PMID: .

Memberships

American Gastroenterological Association
American Society for Cell Biology
American Society for Microbiology
American Physiological Society
American Society for Investigative Pathology
American Society for Clinical Investigation
American Association for Cancer Research
Association of American Physicians

Funding

MECHANISMS GOVERNING EXPANSION OF EMBRYONIC PROGENITOR CELLS (EPCS) IN METAPLASIA
#R01 CA239645
$1,740,651.00   (06/10/2020 - 05/31/2025)
Grant funding from NIH NCI
The goal of this project is to understand how metaplasia forms and why it increases cancer risk.
MECHANISMS AND BIOMARKERS IN ABERRANT PALIGENOSIS-INDUCED STOMACH TUMORIGENESIS
#R01 CA246208
$815,768.00   (05/01/2020 - 04/30/2025)
Grant funding from NIH NCI
The goal of this project is to understand how preneoplastic lesions progress to gastric cancer through a recently characterized conserved, stepwise, cellular program termed paligenosis. We will examine the paligenosis program through three well organized stages as a mechanism to adapt to ongoing injury and/or inflammation.
MECHANISMS OF CHIEF CELL DEDIFFERENTIATION
#R01 DK105129
$3,117,314.00   (07/01/2024 - 06/30/2029)
Grant funding from NIH NIDDK
The goals/aims of the project are: (1) to confirm and further characterize at which stages ISR is active and confirm and characterize the role for ATF3; (2) to identify additional genes involved in the ISR and paligenosis; and (3) to test ATF3 and the ISR and new targets developed in Aim 2 in a pipeline of more physiological disease models and human translational samples.
REGULATION OF ATROPHY-INDUCED PROGENITOR CELLS IN THE GASTRIC CORPUS
#R01 DK094989
$2,664,266.00   (07/01/2023 - 04/30/2028)
Grant funding from NIH NIDDK
The goals are to examine response of both constitutive and recruited stem cells to atrophy of acid secreting parietal cells.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS GOVERNING AGING IN THE BLADDER
#R56 AG084691
$400,000.00   (09/15/2024 - 08/31/2025)
Grant funding from NIH NIA
This research aims to uncover how aging predisposes the bladder to urinary tract infections by examining proteostasis and ribosomal and endoplasmic reticulum dynamics. Proposed aims will investigate the effect of aging on protein trafficking from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus, which is hypothesized to be regulated largely by the Ifrd1 gene. Completion of this work will establish a platform for new treatments, focusing on drugs that target aging-related bladder changes.
TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER DIGESTIVE DISEASES CENTER
#P30 DK056338
$5,954,137.00   (03/01/2023 - 02/28/2028)
Grant funding from NIH NIDDK
This center supports four scientific cores, an enrichment core, and a pilot project program to facilitate digestive disease research of center members, promote interactions and translational research between basic and clinical areas, develop new projects, nurture new investigators, and provide educational activities. I serve as co-director of the center and director of one of the scientific cores.
THE ROLE OF INFLAMMATION IN REGULATING GASTRIC METAPLASIA
#R01 DK134531
$763,158.00   (03/01/2023 - 11/30/2027)
Grant funding from NIH NIDDK
To focus on correlation of results of mouse experiments in human tissue, will oversee pathological analysis of all tissue, and will perform tumorigenesis experiments. Richard DiPaolo is PI of this award, Jason Mills is a Co-I.
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE CANCER CENTER-CANCER CENTER SUPPORT GRANT
#P30 CA125123
$17,586,440.00   (07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025)
Grant funding from NIH NCI
The goals of the DLDCCC are: (1) to facilitate high-impact collaborative research of significant depth and breadth; (2) to bring together researchers from different Departments, centers, and other institutions for collaborative, transdisciplinary, and translational cancer research; and (3) to train the next generation of cancer researchers and physicians. Paven Reddy serves as PI of this award.

Languages

French, Russian

to edit your profile