Hideho Okada, MD, PhD

Professor
M_NeuSrg-General
+1 415 476-1637

Dr. Okada is a creative physician-scientist who has developed therapeutic modalities in the laboratory, translated them into clinical protocols, and used his expertise as both scientist and clinician to assess the clinical data from ongoing trials. Dr. Okada's work has consistently focused on immunotherapeutic strategies aimed at a daunting challenge in oncology – malignant brain tumors. Dr. Okada conducted one of the first immune gene therapy trials in patients with malignant glioma. Dr. Okada's success in navigating the detailed regulatory processes required for such trials demonstrates his attention to detail and breadth of knowledge, spanning from basic science to clinical care. Dr. Okada's lab work was the first to identify and fully characterize cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes for gliomas. Dr. Okada's seminal discovery of CTL epitopes in glioma-associated antigens and the work on the mechanisms underlying the adjuvant effects of poly-ICLC enabled him to launch novel glioma vaccine trials in combination with poly-ICLC as an adjuvant. These efforts have also been supported by his mechanistic studies delineating the role of an integrin receptor very late activation antigen (VLA)-4 and chemokine CXCL10 in the efficient trafficking of T-cells to brain tumor sites. Dr. Okada has held 10 Investigational New Drug approvals that the FDA approved for early-phase clinical trials, including genetically engineered glioma vaccines and T cell receptor (TCR)- or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-transduced T cell therapy in both adult and pediatric patients. For example, Dr. Okada has developed a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)vIII, which has been evaluated in patients with EGFRvIII+ GBM. Recently, Dr. Okada developed a novel synNotch-primed CAR system with Dr. Wendell Lim to overcome the antigen-heterogeneity, off-tumor toxicity, and T-cell exhaustion issues. Dr. Okada’s team has also pioneered discoveries of novel immunoregulatory mechanisms in gliomas, such as one mediated by myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and mutations of the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)1 and IDH2. As a thought leader, to improve radiologic evaluation criteria for patients undergoing immunotherapy, Dr. Okada led an international group of brain tumor immunotherapy experts to develop novel Immunotherapy Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (iRANO) criteria. Dr. Okada is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2010-present), an honored society for physicians who promote laboratory science to the clinic. Dr. Okada also serves as an Associate Editor for Neuro-Oncology, the most prominent journal for brain tumor research.

Publications

Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) 2009-2025: Broad Scope and Implementation - A Progress Report.

Neuro-oncology

van den Bent MJ, Vogelbaum MA, Cloughesy T, Galldiks N, Albert NL, Tonn JC, Avila E, Fangusaro J, Mirsky D, Sahgal A, Soffietti R, Karschnia P, Mehta M, Kim MM, Boele F, Huse JT, Nayak L, Lim-Fat MJ, le Rhun E, Desjardins A, Lee EQ, Chukwueke U, Koekkoek JAF, Mendoza T, Loughan AR, Budhu JA, Bakas S, Huang RY, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Leone JP, Okada H, Reardon DA, Bi WL, Wen PY, Chang SM

Multi-omic landscape of human gliomas from diagnosis to treatment and recurrence.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Piyadasa H, Oberlton B, Ribi M, Ranek JS, Averbukh I, Leow K, Amouzgar M, Liu CC, Greenwald NF, McCaffrey EF, Kumar R, Ferrian S, Tsai AG, Filiz F, Fullaway CC, Bosse M, Varra SR, Kong A, Sowers C, Gephart MH, Nuñez-Perez P, Yang E, Travers M, Schachter MJ, Liang S, Santi MR, Bucktrout S, Gherardini PF, Connolly J, Cole K, Barish ME, Brown CE, Oldridge DA, Drake RR, Phillips JJ, Okada H, Prins R, Bendall SC, Angelo M

Tumour-wide RNA splicing aberrations generate actionable public neoantigens.

Nature

Kwok DW, Stevers NO, Etxeberria I, Nejo T, Colton Cove M, Chen LH, Jung J, Okada K, Lakshmanachetty S, Gallus M, Barpanda A, Hong C, Chan GKL, Liu J, Wu SH, Ramos E, Yamamichi A, Watchmaker PB, Ogino H, Saijo A, Du A, Grishanina NR, Woo J, Diaz A, Hervey-Jumper SL, Chang SM, Phillips JJ, Wiita AP, Klebanoff CA, Costello JF, Okada H

Glioblastoma evolution and heterogeneity from a 3D whole-tumor perspective.

Cell

Mathur R, Wang Q, Schupp PG, Nikolic A, Hilz S, Hong C, Grishanina NR, Kwok D, Stevers NO, Jin Q, Youngblood MW, Stasiak LA, Hou Y, Wang J, Yamaguchi TN, Lafontaine M, Shai A, Smirnov IV, Solomon DA, Chang SM, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS, Lupo JM, Okada H, Phillips JJ, Boutros PC, Gallo M, Oldham MC, Yue F, Costello JF

A road map for the treatment of pediatric diffuse midline glioma.

Cancer cell

Koschmann C, Al-Holou WN, Alonso MM, Anastas J, Bandopadhayay P, Barron T, Becher O, Cartaxo R, Castro MG, Chung C, Clausen M, Dang D, Doherty R, Duchatel R, Dun M, Filbin M, Franson A, Galban S, Garcia Moure M, Garton H, Gowda P, Marques JG, Hawkins C, Heath A, Hulleman E, Ji S, Jones C, Kilburn L, Kline C, Koldobskiy MA, Lim D, Lowenstein PR, Lu QR, Lum J, Mack S, Magge S, Marini B, Martin D, Marupudi N, Messinger D, Mody R, Morgan M, Mota M, Muraszko K, Mueller S, Natarajan SK, Nazarian J, Niculcea M, Nuechterlein N, Okada H, Opipari V, Pai MP, Pal S, Peterson E, Phoenix T, Prensner JR, Pun M, Raju GP, Reitman ZJ, Resnick A, Rogawski D, Saratsis A, Sbergio SG, Souweidane M, Stafford JM, Tzaridis T, Venkataraman S, Vittorio O, Wadden J, Wahl D, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Yadav VN, Zhang X, Zhang Q, Venneti S

Tumor-wide RNA splicing aberrations generate immunogenic public neoantigens.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Kwok DW, Stevers NO, Nejo T, Chen LH, Etxeberria I, Jung J, Okada K, Cove MC, Lakshmanachetty S, Gallus M, Barpanda A, Hong C, Chan GKL, Wu SH, Ramos E, Yamamichi A, Liu J, Watchmaker P, Ogino H, Saijo A, Du A, Grishanina N, Woo J, Diaz A, Chang SM, Phillips JJ, Wiita AP, Klebanoff CA, Costello JF, Okada H

Translational imaging of TSPO reveals pronounced innate inflammation in human and murine CD8 T cell-mediated limbic encephalitis.

Science advances

Gallus M, Roll W, Dik A, Barca C, Zinnhardt B, Hicking G, Mueller C, Naik VN, Anstötz M, Krämer J, Rolfes L, Wachsmuth L, Pitsch J, van Loo KMJ, Räuber S, Okada H, Wimberley C, Strippel C, Golombeck KS, Johnen A, Kovac S, Groß CC, Backhaus P, Seifert R, Lewerenz J, Surges R, Elger CE, Wiendl H, Ruck T, Becker AJ, Faber C, Jacobs AH, Bauer J, Meuth SG, Schäfers M, Melzer N

RASA2 ablation in T cells boosts antigen sensitivity and long-term function.

Nature

Carnevale J, Shifrut E, Kale N, Nyberg WA, Blaeschke F, Chen YY, Li Z, Bapat SP, Diolaiti ME, O'Leary P, Vedova S, Belk J, Daniel B, Roth TL, Bachl S, Anido AA, Prinzing B, Ibañez-Vega J, Lange S, Haydar D, Luetke-Eversloh M, Born-Bony M, Hegde B, Kogan S, Feuchtinger T, Okada H, Satpathy AT, Shannon K, Gottschalk S, Eyquem J, Krenciute G, Ashworth A, Marson A

Unique challenges for glioblastoma immunotherapy - Discussions across neuro-oncology and non-neuro-oncology experts in cancer immunology.

Neuro-oncology

Chuntova P, Chow F, Watchmaker P, Galvez M, Heimberger AB, Newell EW, Diaz A, DePinho RA, Li MO, Wherry EJ, Mitchell D, Terabe M, Wainwright DA, Berzofsky JA, Herold-Mende C, Heath JR, Lim M, Margolin KA, Chiocca EA, Kasahara N, Ellingson BM, Brown C, Chen Y, Fecci P, Reardon DA, Dunn GP, Liau LM, Costello JF, Wick W, Cloughesy T, Timmer WC, Wen PY, Prins RM, Platten M, Okada H

Identification of Tumor Antigens Among the HLA Peptidomes of Glioblastoma Tumors and Plasma.

Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP

Shraibman B, Barnea E, Kadosh DM, Haimovich Y, Slobodin G, Rosner I, López-Larrea C, Hilf N, Kuttruff S, Song C, Britten C, Castle J, Kreiter S, Frenzel K, Tatagiba M, Tabatabai G, Dietrich PY, Dutoit V, Wick W, Platten M, Winkler F, von Deimling A, Kroep J, Sahuquillo J, Martinez-Ricarte F, Rodon J, Lassen U, Ottensmeier C, van der Burg SH, Thor Straten P, Poulsen HS, Ponsati B, Okada H, Rammensee HG, Sahin U, Singh H, Admon A

Withdrawal: Identification of tumor antigens among the HLA peptidomes of glioblastoma tumors and plasma.

Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP

Shraibman B, Barnea E, Kadosh DM, Haimovich Y, Slobodin G, Rosner I, López-Larrea C, Hilf N, Kuttruff S, Song C, Britten C, Castle J, Kreiter S, Frenzel K, Tatagiba M, Tabatabai G, Dietrich PY, Dutoit V, Wick W, Platten M, Winkler F, von Deimling A, Kroep J, Sahuquillo J, Martinez-Ricarte F, Rodon J, Lassen U, Ottensmeier C, van der Burg SH, Thor Straten P, Poulsen HS, Ponsati B, Okada H, Rammensee HG, Sahin U, Singh H, Admon A

Publisher Correction: Actively personalized vaccination trial for newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Nature

Hilf N, Kuttruff-Coqui S, Frenzel K, Bukur V, Stevanovic S, Gouttefangeas C, Platten M, Tabatabai G, Dutoit V, van der Burg SH, Straten PT, Martinez-Ricarte F, Ponsati B, Okada H, Lassen U, Admon A, Ottensmeier CH, Ulges A, Kreiter S, von Deimling A, Skardelly M, Migliorini D, Kroep JR, Idorn M, Rodon J, Piro J, Poulsen HS, Shraibman B, McCann K, Mendrzyk R, Lower M, Stieglbauer M, Britten CM, Capper D, Welters MJP, Sahuquillo J, Kiesel K, Derhovanessian E, Rusch E, Bunse L, Song C, Heesch S, Wagner C, Kemmer-Bruck A, Ludwig J, Castle JC, Schoor O, Tadmor AD, Green E, Fritsche J, Meyer M, Pawlowski N, Dorner S, Hoffgaard F, Rossler B, Maurer D, Weinschenk T, Reinhardt C, Huber C, Rammensee HG, Singh-Jasuja H, Sahin U, Dietrich PY, Wick W

Actively personalized vaccination trial for newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Nature

Hilf N, Kuttruff-Coqui S, Frenzel K, Bukur V, Stevanovic S, Gouttefangeas C, Platten M, Tabatabai G, Dutoit V, van der Burg SH, Thor Straten P, Martínez-Ricarte F, Ponsati B, Okada H, Lassen U, Admon A, Ottensmeier CH, Ulges A, Kreiter S, von Deimling A, Skardelly M, Migliorini D, Kroep JR, Idorn M, Rodon J, Piró J, Poulsen HS, Shraibman B, McCann K, Mendrzyk R, Löwer M, Stieglbauer M, Britten CM, Capper D, Welters MJP, Sahuquillo J, Kiesel K, Derhovanessian E, Rusch E, Bunse L, Song C, Heesch S, Wagner C, Kemmer-Brück A, Ludwig J, Castle JC, Schoor O, Tadmor AD, Green E, Fritsche J, Meyer M, Pawlowski N, Dorner S, Hoffgaard F, Rössler B, Maurer D, Weinschenk T, Reinhardt C, Huber C, Rammensee HG, Singh-Jasuja H, Sahin U, Dietrich PY, Wick W

Identification of Tumor Antigens Among the HLA Peptidomes of Glioblastoma Tumors and Plasma.

Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP

Shraibman B, Barnea E, Kadosh DM, Haimovich Y, Slobodin G, Rosner I, López-Larrea C, Hilf N, Kuttruff S, Song C, Britten C, Castle J, Kreiter S, Frenzel K, Tatagiba M, Tabatabai G, Dietrich PY, Dutoit V, Wick W, Platten M, Winkler F, von Deimling A, Kroep J, Sahuquillo J, Martinez-Ricarte F, Rodon J, Lassen U, Ottensmeier C, van der Burg SH, Thor Straten P, Poulsen HS, Ponsati B, Okada H, Rammensee HG, Sahin U, Singh H, Admon A

Classification of current anticancer immunotherapies.

Oncotarget

Galluzzi L, Vacchelli E, Bravo-San Pedro JM, Buqué A, Senovilla L, Baracco EE, Bloy N, Castoldi F, Abastado JP, Agostinis P, Apte RN, Aranda F, Ayyoub M, Beckhove P, Blay JY, Bracci L, Caignard A, Castelli C, Cavallo F, Celis E, Cerundolo V, Clayton A, Colombo MP, Coussens L, Dhodapkar MV, Eggermont AM, Fearon DT, Fridman WH, Fucíková J, Gabrilovich DI, Galon J, Garg A, Ghiringhelli F, Giaccone G, Gilboa E, Gnjatic S, Hoos A, Hosmalin A, Jäger D, Kalinski P, Kärre K, Kepp O, Kiessling R, Kirkwood JM, Klein E, Knuth A, Lewis CE, Liblau R, Lotze MT, Lugli E, Mach JP, Mattei F, Mavilio D, Melero I, Melief CJ, Mittendorf EA, Moretta L, Odunsi A, Okada H, Palucka AK, Peter ME, Pienta KJ, Porgador A, Prendergast GC, Rabinovich GA, Restifo NP, Rizvi N, Sautès-Fridman C, Schreiber H, Seliger B, Shiku H, Silva-Santos B, Smyth MJ, Speiser DE, Spisek R, Srivastava PK, Talmadge JE, Tartour E, Van Der Burg SH, Van Den Eynde BJ, Vile R, Wagner H, Weber JS, Whiteside TL, Wolchok JD, Zitvogel L, Zou W, Kroemer G

Induction of CD8+ T-cell responses against novel glioma-associated antigen peptides and clinical activity by vaccinations with {alpha}-type 1 polarized dendritic cells and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stabilized by lysine and carboxymethylcellulose in

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology

Okada H, Kalinski P, Ueda R, Hoji A, Kohanbash G, Donegan TE, Mintz AH, Engh JA, Bartlett DL, Brown CK, Zeh H, Holtzman MP, Reinhart TA, Whiteside TL, Butterfield LH, Hamilton RL, Potter DM, Pollack IF, Salazar AM, Lieberman FS