UAMS’ Mayumi Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., Named Nettleship Chair in Oncologic Pathology | UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

LITTLE ROCK — Mayumi Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., was invested April 26 as recipient of the Drs. Mae and Anderson Nettleship Chair in Oncologic Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

She is a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Sciences in the UAMS College of Medicine and co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences Program in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

“Being named to the Nettleship chair is the greatest honor I’ve received in my life,” Nawagawa said. “As I start this new phase of my career, I am so grateful for the friendship, support and encouragement I have received from my colleagues and family.”

The Nettleship chair is the result of generous gifts by husband and wife pathologists the late Anderson Nettleship, M.D., and the late Mae Nettleship, M.D. The chair will be used to support Nakagawa’s research related to human papillomavirus (HPV) and cancer.

“We are grateful for the generosity of the Nettleships in endowing this chair in oncologic pathology. Their forethought has ensured that our researchers will have the support they need to explore and advance cancer research for many years to come,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost.

The chair was previously held by Aubrey Hough, M.D., inaugural university professor and distinguished professor in the Department of Pathology in the UAMS College of Medicine.

An endowed chair is the among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member and is established with gifts of $1 million, which are invested and the proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields of expertise.

“Dr. Nakagawa has proven herself as a leader and innovative scientist well deserving of this honor,” said Peter Emanuel, M.D., director of the UAMS Cancer Institute and professor of medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine. “Her pioneering work in HPV immunology has resulted not only in more than $7.5 million in highly competitive national grant funding, but also a phase 2 clinical trial showing promise for women with cervical dysplasia or pre-cancer caused by the HPV virus.”

Nakagawa graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York. After medical and graduate schools, she received her residency training in clinical pathology at the University of California at San Francisco, where she began her studies of immunity against HPV resulting not from an antibody but from a person’s own cells.

After joining the faculty at UAMS in 2004, Nakagawa continued her research pursuits in the area of HPV immunology and provided patient care as an attending physician for the Transfusion Medicine Service in the Department of Pathology. Her research team’s work at understanding the science of naturally occurring HPV infection, led to the design of a therapeutic vaccine for treating patients with cervical dysplasia or pre-cancer.

A phase 1 clinical trial that tested the vaccine’s safety was performed from 2013-2015 and was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A phase 2 clinical trial testing the effects of the vaccine is now underway.

Nakagawa’s research group has presented their findings at many national and international scientific meetings, including at international papillomavirus conferences. She has continuously received outside funding from numerous organizations such as the NCI, Cancer Research Institute and the American Cancer Society.

Nakagawa serves on various NIH study sections and numerous committees inside and outside UAMS, including serving as chair of the mentoring committee of the UAMS Women’s Faculty Developmental Caucus since 2013.

Anderson Nettleship served as chairman of the Department of Pathology in the UAMS College of Medicine from 1947-1954 and was instrumental in development of the college as a research institution. He organized the UAMS Medical Illustration Department, began the pathology residency program and served as the first state medical examiner.

Mae Nettleship served as medical director of laboratories at Washington Regional Medical Center and Fayetteville City Hospital.

Together, the Nettleships founded Antaeus Lineal Medical Research Laboratories, which gave pre-medical fellowships to more than 200 students, several of whom became prominent UAMS faculty members. For 18 years, they provided an environment to encourage high school and college students in the study of medicine and health-related fields by creating a summer fellowship program and a school of medical technology. Continuing their support of education, the Nettleships founded The New School in 1971 for excellence in childhood education.

In addition to Gardner and Emanuel, speakers at the ceremony included:

Aubrey Hough, M.D., inaugural university professor and distinguished professor in the Department of Pathology in the UAMS College of Medicine

Michele Fox, M.D., professor in the Department of Pathology in the UAMS College of Medicine and director of cell therapy and transfusion medicine

Anna-Barbara Moscicki, M.D., chief of adolescent and young adult medicine and professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles

LITTLE ROCK — A human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, discovered by a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher and recently shown to be safe, is being made available to a larger group of Arkansas women for further testing.

In her recently completed phase I study involving 34 women, researcher Mayumi Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., demonstrated the drug’s safety and got a glimpse of its promise for curing HPV patients. Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Nakagawa’s research will receive an additional $3.5 million over the next five years.

In the phase II clinical trial now underway, Nakagawa’s vaccine will be tested in 80 patients with precancerous cervical lesions. She is seeking women ages 18 – 50 whose Pap smears show high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), or that HSIL cannot be ruled out.

Women interested in participating in learning more about the study may contact Shawna Owens, (501) 526-7657 or email owensshawnas@uams.edu.

Nakagawa’s vaccine differs from an existing HPV vaccine for women or girls who have never been exposed to HPV and don’t have the virus. Her vaccine is designed to cure HPV, cause the pre-cancerous lesions to disappear, and provide future protection against HPV.

If proven effective, the vaccine could significantly reduce the incidence of preterm births. It would do so by giving women an alternative to surgical treatment for HPV-related precancerous lesions called HSIL. Surgery increases the incidence of preterm delivery from 4.4 to 8.9 percent.

For women who still plan to have children, a therapeutic vaccine such as the one being developed by Nakagawa could become the first line of therapy when it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

HPV, a sexually transmitted virus, is associated primarily with cervical cancer, the fourth-most common cancer in women worldwide. Cervical cancer is almost always caused by HPV, which also causes anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal and vulvar cancers. It is estimated to be responsible for 5.2 percent of cancer cases in the world.

During the phase I safety study, Nakagawa saw the vaccine’s potential effectiveness.

Patients were divided into groups that received different dosages. For those who got the lowest dose — which was determined to be the most effective — their precancerous lesions disappeared in half of the patients in three months. The vaccine also appeared to be effective against the most aggressive form of HPV, she said.

At three months, however, Nakagawa could no longer track the vaccine’s effect on the precancerous lesions because the study participants had the lesions removed in a surgical procedure. Given more time to observe the patients who received the vaccine, Nakagawa believes the number of patients in which the lesions disappeared could double as shown in similar study, essentially curing them.

“It could be nearing 100 percent regression at six months,” she said. “In phase II we’re extending the observation period to 12 months.”

If at 12 months there’s no evidence of the virus or cervical lesions, study participants will be considered cured and not have the surgical procedure. This will leave the cervix intact and lower the risk for a future preterm delivery. For women who don’t respond to the vaccine, the study will pay for them to have the surgical procedure.

Nakagawa’s HPV research is also supported by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, which has provided pilot funding and a full-range of research services, including study planning and coordination, nursing, regulatory startup and budget development.