Joseph E. Willis, M.D. Associate Professor Mailing Address: 11100 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44106 phone: (216) 844-8292 email: Joseph.Willis@Case.edu

Biography

1982	M.B. B.Ch. B.A.O., University College, Cork, Ireland
1986	F.R.C.S.I., Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
1987-1988	Research Fellow in the Department of Surgery, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York
1988-1992	Residency training in a combined AP/CP Pathology Program, University of Rochester, New York
1991-1992	Chief Resident, Department of Pathology, University of Rochester, New York
1992-1993	Fellow in Surgical Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
1993	American Board of Pathology - Combined Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Pathology
1993-2001	Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Institute of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
1997	American Board of Pathology - Cytopathology Subspecialty Board
2001-present	Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Institute of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
2004-present	Director, Tissue Management, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
2005-present	Vice Chair of Pathology for Clinical Affairs, UH Case Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Research
Gastrointestinal Pathology - investigating basic mechanisms of development and prognostic factors relating to gastro-intestinal neoplasms.

Publications
Kobayashi, K, Izatt JA, Kulkarni M D, Willis J, Sivak MV Jr (1998) High-resolution cross-sectional imaging of the gastrointestinal tract using optical coherence tomography: preliminary results. Gastrointest Endosc 47, 515-523.

Wang HW, Willis J, Canto M, Sivak MV, Izatt JA (1999) Quantitative laser scanning confocal autoflourescence microscopy of normal, premalignant and malignant colonic tissues. IEEE Trans Biomedical Eng 46, 1246-1252.

Liu DF, Ferguson K, Cooper GS, Grady WM, Willis J (1999) p27 cell-cycle inhibitor is inversely correlated with lymph node metastases in right-sided colon cancer. J Clin Lab Analysis 13, 291-295.

Canto MI, Setrakian S, Willis J, Chak A, Petras R, Powe NR, Sivak MV Jr (2000) Methylene blue-directed biopsy improves detection of intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus. Gastrointest Endosc 51, 560-568.

Hao XP, Willis J, Pretlow TG, Rao JS, MacLennon GT, Talbot IC, Pretlow TP (2000) Alterations of fragile histidine triad (Fhit) protein expression in colorectal carcinogenesis. Cancer Research 60, 18-21.

Chak A, Canto M, Cooper GS, Isenberg G, Willis J, Levitan N, Clayman J, Forrestiere A, Smith C, Heitmiller R, Yang S Sivak MV (2000) Endosonographic assessment of multimodality therapy predicts survival in esophageal cancer patients. Cancer 88, 1788-1795.

Grady WM, Willis J, Guilford PJ, Dunbier AK, Toro TT, Lynch HT, Wiesner G, Ferguson K, Markowitz S (2000) E-cadherin gene promoter methylation as the second genetic hit in hereditary gastric cancer. Nat Genetics 26, 16-17.

Sivak MV Jr, Kobayashi K, Izatt JA, Rollins AM, Ung-Runyawee R, Chak A, Wong RC, Isenberg GA, Willis J (2000) High-resolution endoscopic imaging of the gastrointestinal tract using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Gastrointest Endosc 51, 474-479.

Wiesner GL, Platzer P, Buxbaum S, Lewis S, MacMillen M, Olechnowicz J, Willis J, Chakravarti A, Elston RC, Markowitz SD (2001) Absence of colon neoplasia susceptibility variants at the human COX2 locus. J Natl Cancer Inst 93, 635-639.

Das A, Sivak MV, Chak A, Wong RCK, Westphal V, Rollins AM, Willis JE, Isenberg JA, Izzat J (2001) High resolution endoscopic imaging of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and high frequency catheter probe endoscopic ultrasonography (CPEUS). Gastrointest Endosc 54, 219-224.

Canto MIF, Setrakian S, Willis J, Chak A, Petras RE, Sivak MV Jr (2001) Methylene blue staining of dysplastic and nondysplastic Barrett's esophagus: an in vivo and ex vivo study. Endoscopy 33, 391-400.

Wong RCK, Yazdanfar S, Izatt JA, Kulkarni MD, Barton JK, Welch AJ, Willis JE, Sivak MV (2002) Visualization of subsurface blood vessels by color Doppler-optical coherence tomography in rats. Gastrointest Endosc 55, 88-95.

Spencer DM, Veldman GM, Banerjee S, Willis J, Levine AD (2002) Distinct inflammatory mechanisms mediate early versus late colitis in mice. Gastroenterology 122, 94-105.

Platzer P, Upender MB, Wilson K, Willis J, Lutterbaugh J, Nosrati A, Willson JKV, Mack D, Ried T, Markowitz S (2002) Amplifications of entire chromosomes target only rare genes for increased expression in colon cancer. Cancer Res 62, 1134-1138.

Willis J, Cooper GS, Isenberg G, Sivak MV Jr, Levitan N, Clayman J, Chak, A (2002) Correlation of EUS measurement with pathologic assessment of neoadjuvant therapy response in esophageal carcinoma. Gastrointest Endosc 55, 655-661.

Markowitz S, Dawson D, Willis J, Willson J (2002) Focus on colon cancer. Cancer Cell 1, 233-236.

Sweet K, Willis J, Zhou XP, Gallione C, Sawada T, Alhopuro P, Khoo SK, Patocs A, Martin C, Bridgeman S, Heinz J, Pilarski R, Lehtonen R, Prior TW, Frebourg T, Teh BT, Marchuk DA, Aaltonen LA, Eng C. Molecular Classification of Patients With Unexplained Hamartomatous and Hyperplastic Polyposis. JAMA. 2005 Nov 16;294(19):2465-2473.

Shannan B, Seifert M, Leskov K, Willis J, Boothman D, Tilgen W, Reichrath J. Challenge and promise: roles for clusterin in pathogenesis, progression and therapy of cancer. Cell Death Differ Jan 13; (1) 21-9 2006.

Danese S, Sans M, de la Motte C, Graziani C, West G, Phillips MH, Pola R, Rutella S, Willis J, Gasbarrini A, Fiocchi C. Angiogenesis as a novel component of inflammatory bowel disease pathogenesis Gastroenterology, 130 (7) 2060-73, 2006.

Kim YH, Petko Z, Dzieciatkowski S, Lin L, Ghiassi M, Stain S, Chapman WC, Washington MK, Willis J, Markowitz SD, Grady WM. CpG island methylation of genes accumulates during the adenoma progression step of the multistep pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 45 (8) 781-9, Aug 2006.

Myung SJ, Rerko RM, Yan M, Platzer, P, Guda K, Dotson A, Lawrence E, Dannenberg AJ, Lovgren AK, Luo G, Pretlow TP, Newman RA, Willis J, Dawson D, Markowitz SD. 15-Hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase is an in vivo suppressor of colon tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103 (32) 12098-102, Aug 8 2006.

Chak A, Ochs-Balcom H, Falk G, Grady WM, Kinnard M, Willis JE, Elston R, Eng C. Familiality in Barrett's Esophagus, Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus, and Adenocarcinoma of the Gastroesophageal Junction. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15(9): 1668-73.

Qi X, Sivak MV, Isenberg G, Willis JE, Rollins AM. Computer-aided diagnosis of dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus using endoscopic optical coherence tomography. J Biomed Opt 11(4): 044010.

Sjoblom T, Jones S, Wood LD, Parsons DW, Lin J, Barber TD, Mandelker D, Leary RJ, Ptak J, Silliman N, Szabo S, Buckhaults P, Farrell C, Meeh P, Markowitz SD, Willis J, Dawson D, Willson JK, Gazdar AF, Hartigan J, Wu L, Liu C, Parmigiani G, Park BH, Bachman KE, Papadopoulos N, Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, Velculescu VE. The Consensus Coding Sequences of Human Breast and Colorectal Cancers. Science 314 (5797), 268-74. Oct 13, 2006.

Rieder F, Cheng L, Harnett KM, Chak A, Cooper GS, Isenberg G, Ray M, Katz JA, Catanzaro A, O'Shea R, Post AB, Wong R, Sivak MV, McCormick T, Phillips M, West GA, Willis JE, Biancani P, Fiocchi C. Gastroesophageal reflux disease-associated esophagitis induces endogenous cytokine production leading to motor abnormalities. Gastroenterology 132 (1); Jan 2007 Pages: 154-65.

Ochs-Balcom HM, Falk G, Grady WM, Kinnard M, Willis J, Elston R, Eng C, Chak A. Consortium approach to identifying genes for Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Translational Research. 2007; 150(1):3-17.

Willis, J. The Pathologist's Role in Rectal Cancer Patient Assessments. Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery 20 (3) Aug 2007, 158-166.

Wood LD, Parsons DW, Jones S, Lin J, Sjoblom T, Leary RJ, Shen D, Boca SM, Barber T, Ptak J, Silliman N, Szabo S, Dezso Z, Ustyanksky V, Nikolskaya T, Nikolsky Y, Karchin R, Wilson PA, Kaminker JS, Zhang Z, Croshaw R, Willis J, Dawson D, Shipitsin M, Willson JK, Sukumar S, Polyak K, Park BH, Pethiyagoda CL, Pant PV, Ballinger DG, Sparks AB, Hartigan J, Smith DR, Suh E, Papadopoulos N, Buckhaults P, Markowitz SD, Parmigiani G, Kinzler KW, Velculescu VE, Vogelstein B. The Genomic Landscapes of Human Breast and Colorectal Cancers. Science 318 (5853), 1108-13, 2007.

Daley D, Lewis S, Platzer P, MacMillen M, Willis J, Elston RC, Markowitz SD, Wiesner GL. Identification of Susceptibility Genes for Cancer in a Genome-Wide Scan; Results from the Colon Neoplasia Sibling Study American Journal of Human Genetics 82 (3): 723-36, 2008.

Kinsella TJ, Seo Y, Willis J, Stellato TA, Siegel C, Harp D, Willson JK, Gibbons J, Sanabria JR, Hardacre JM, Schulak JP. The impact of resection margin status and post-operative CA19-9 levels on survival and patterns of recurrence following post-operative high-dose radiotherapy with 5FU-based concurrent chemotherapy for resectable pancreatic cancer. American Journal of Clinical Oncology 31(5): 446-53. 2008.

Jones S, Chen W, Parmagiani G, Diehl F, Beerenwinkel N, Antal T, Traulsen A, Nowak MA, Siegel C, Velculescu VE, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Willis J, Markowitz SD. Comparative lesion sequencing provides insights into tumor evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105 (11) 4283-4288, 2008.

Rojas A, Meherem S, Kim YH, Washington MK, Willis J, Markowitz SD, Grady WM. The aberrant methylation of TSP1 suppresses TGF-beta1 activation in colorectal cancer. Int J Cancer 123 (1) 14-21, 2008.

Leary RJ, Lin JC, Cummins J, Boca S, Wood LD, Parsons DW, Jones S, Sjoblom T, Park BH, Parsons R, Willis J, Dawson D, Willson JK, Nikolskaya T, Nikolsky Y, Kopelovich L, Papadopoulos N, Pennacchio LA, Wang TL, Markowitz SD, Parmigiani G, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Velculescu VE. Integrated analysis of homozygous deletions, focal amplifications, and sequence alterations in breast and colorectal cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(42): 16224-9.

Qi X, Pan Y, Hu Z, Kang W, Willis J, Olowe K, Sivak MV, Rollins AM. Automated quantification of colonic crypt morphology using integrated microscopy and optical coherence tomography. Journal of Biomedical Optics 13 (5), Sept/Oct 2008.

Abbas R, Willis J, Kinsella T, Siegel C, Sanabria J. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the main hepatic bile duct. Can J Surg. 2008;51(4):E85-6.

Yan M, Myung SJ, Fink SP, Lawrence E, Lutterbaugh J, Yang P, et al. 15-Hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase inactivation as a mechanism of resistance to celecoxib chemoprevention of colon tumors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009. 106:9409-9413.

Guda K, Natale L, Lutterbaugh J, Wiesner GL, Lewis S, Tanner SM, Tomsic J, Valle L, de la Chapelle A, Elston RC, Willis J, Markowitz SD. Infrequent Detection of Germline Allele-Specific Expression of TGFBR1 in Lymphoblasts and Tissue of Colon Cancer Patients. Cancer Res 2009; 69(12):4959-61.

Chak A, Falk G, Grady WM, Kinnard M, Elston R, Mittal S, et al. Assessment of Familiality, Obesity, and Other Risk Factors for Early Age of Cancer Diagnosis in Adenocarcinomas of the Esophagus and Gastroesophageal Junction. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009.

Guda K, Moinova H, He J, Jamison O, Ravi L, Natale L, et al. Inactivating germ-line and somatic mutations in polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 12 in human colon cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009.