Faculty

Kara N Maxwell, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology)

Department: Medicine

Graduate Group Affiliations

Contact information

BRB Room 810
421 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Email:
kara.maxwell@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Publications

Search PubMed for articles

Education:
BS (Genetics, Biochemistry)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998.
PhD (Molecular and Cellular Biology)
Rockefeller University, 2006.
MD (Medicine)
Weill Cornell Medical College, 2007.

Links
Search PubMed for articles

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Clinical Expertise

cancer risk evaluation, breast cancer risk, hereditary breast ovarian cancer, Li Fraumeni Syndrome, Fanconi Anemia

Description of Research Expertise

I am a Medical Oncologist with postdoctoral training in Cancer Genetics and PhD training in molecular and cellular biology. My research interests are in the genetics of human disease, particularly familial breast and prostate cancers, and in determinants of disease penetrance.

Maxwell Lab
https://www.med.upenn.edu/kmaxwelllab/
We are a translational human genetics and genomics research laboratory studying mechanisms of tumor formation in inherited cancer syndromes. We have a focus on breast and prostate cancer, but are interested in the broad range of tumor types affected by DNA repair deficiency. We are using multi-omics analyses of human samples coupled with in vitro and in vivo modelling systems to understand how tumors form in patients with inherited cancers.

For our work in prostate cancer genetics, we leverage the resources of the Basser Center for BRCA (https://www.basser.org/), the Penn Medicine Biobank (https://www.itmat.upenn.edu/biobank/), the Veterans' Affairs and Prostate Cancer Foundation Partnership (https://www.pcf.org/va-partnership/) and the VA Million Veterans' Program (https://www.mvp.va.gov/). Dr. Maxwell is the Director of the Basser Center’s Men and BRCA program (https://www.basser.org/brca/brca-men).

We are actively involved in many aspects of basic, translational and clinical research in Li Fraumeni Syndrome, caused by germline TP53 disease causing variants. We are one of the founding members of the EDISYN consortium (https://www.edisyn.org/) to study early cancer detection in patients with Li Fraumeni Syndrome, and we are active participants in the LIFTUp study (https://liftupstudy.org/).

We take a multi-disciplinary approach, collaborating with our colleagues across basic science labs and the clinical arena. Our research is funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Veterans’ Affairs Office of Research amd Development, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, the Li Fraumeni Syndrome Association and the Basser Center for BRCA.

Contact us for more details on rotation and post-doc projects in the fields of:
- Prostate cancer genetics
- BRCA1/2 cancers in men
- Li Fraumeni Syndrome and TP53-related disorders
- Mutational signatures in Veteran tumors

Lab Members 2024-25:
Greg Kelly MS, Lab Manager
Caitlin Orr PhD, Penn Project Manager
Leslie Grush AuD, VA Project Manager
KJ Johnson, Lab Administrative Assistant
Heena Desai MS, Bioinformatician
Ryan Hausler MS, Bioninformatician
Renyta Moses, CAMB Cancer Biology PhD Student
Taylor Crawford, CAMB Cancer Biology PhD Student
Nabamita Boruah PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Anh Le DO, Medicine Intern
Maliha Tayeb, Clinical Research Coordinator
Michael Wang, Clinical Research Coordinator
Rosella Delgado, Genetic Counseling Assistant
Sophia Spiegel, Penn Medical Student
Jillian O'Toole, Penn MS GC Student

Selected Publications

Cappadocia J, Maxwell KN, Nathanson KL, Bagley S, Powers J, Halper-Stromberg E, Roth JJ, Domchek S, Shah PD.: Exploration of possible association of BRIP1 pathogenic variants with central nervous system cancers in an institutional cohort. J Med Genet jmg-2025-11076, Aug 2025.

Green-Lott AY, Wadhwa A, Bailey AV, Kwan L, Haroldsen CL, Shelton JB, Lewis MS, Beenhouwer DO, Chamie K, Rose BS, Maxwell KN, Nickols NG, Yamoah K, Kelley MJ, Rebbeck TR, Schoen M, Rettig MB, Iyer HS, Garraway IP: Prostate cancer incidence and outcomes among Vietnam veterans receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration. Cancer 131(15): e70007, Aug 2025.

Skuli SJ, Bakayoko A, Kruidenier M, Manning B, Pammer P, Salimov A, Riley O, Brake-Sillá G, Dopkin D, Bowman M, Martinez-Gutierrez LN, Anderson CC, Reisz JA, Buono R, Paul M, Saland E, Liccardo F, DeVine A, Wong S, Xu JP, Nee E, Hausler R, Boettcher S, Sebti SM, Lai C, Maxwell KN, Sarry JE, Fruman DA, D'Alessandro A, Mesaros C, Keith B, Simon MC, Sung PJ, Wertheim G, Skuli N, Bowman RL, Matthews A, Carroll M: Chemoresistance of TP53 mutant acute myeloid leukemia requires the mevalonate byproduct, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, for induction of an adaptive stress response. Leukemia Jul 2025.

Achatz MI, Villani A, Bertuch AA, Bougeard G, Chang VY, Doria AS, Gallinger B, Godley LA, Greer MC, Kamihara J, Khincha PP, Kohlmann WK, Kratz CP, MacFarland SP, Maese LD, Maxwell KN, Mitchell SG, Nakano Y, Pfister SM, Wasserman JD, Woodward ER, Garber JE, Malkin D.: Update on Cancer Screening Recommendations for Individuals with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Clin Cancer Res 31(10): 1831-1840, May 2025.

Johnatty SE, Tudini E, Parsons MT, Michailidou K, Zanti M, Canson D, Davidson AL, Berger T, Rosti RO, Kratz CP, Kalb R, McReynolds LJ, Giri N, Richardson M, Pesaran T, Surrallés J, Pujol R, Vundinti BR, George M, Maxwell KN, Nathanson K, Domchek S, Fiesco-Roa MÓ, Frias S, Garcia-de-Teresa B, Jongmans M, Lalani S, Maiburg M, Prescott K, Robinson R, Rajagopalan S, Blok LS, Temple SEL, Tucker K, Auerbach AD, Cancio MI, Kennedy JA, MacMillan ML, Tryon R, Wagner JE, Walsh M, Boddicker NJ, Hu C, Weitzel JN, Dingemans AJM, Hadler J, Rotenberg N, Ramadane-Morchadi L, de la Hoya M, James P, Van Overeem Hansen T, Vreeswijk MPG, Walker LC, Sharan SK, Easton DF, Couch F, Smogorzewska A, Nelson A, Ngeow J, Tischkowitz M, Gomez-Garcia E, Spurdle AB.: Analysis of BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2 related Fanconi anemia identifies scope to expand disease phenotypic features and predict breast cancer risk in heterozygotes. medRxiv 2025.05.25.25327887, May 2025.

Valle LF, Li J, Desai H, Hausler R, Haroldsen C, Chatwal M, Ojo M, Kelley MJ, Rebbeck TR, Rose BS, Rettig MB, Nickols NG, Garraway IP, Yamoah K, Maxwell KN: Somatic Tumor Next-Generation Sequencing in US Veterans With Metastatic Prostate Cancer. JAMA Netw Open 8(5): e259119, May 2025.

Spiegel SR, Orr C, Croom MJ, Edgar NU, Cahill SR, Le AN, Good M, Anson J, Feola S, Mehrhoff C, Naumer A, Vagher J, Maese LD, Garber JE, Maoz A, Katona BW, MacFarland SP, Maxwell KN: Colorectal neoplasia rates in Li Fraumeni syndrome. Cancer Research Apr 2025.

Perrino MR, Jongmans MCJ, Tomlinson GE, Greer MC, Scollon SR, Mitchell SG, Hansford JR, Schultz KAP, Kohlmann WK, Kalish JM, MacFarland SP, Das A, Maxwell KN, Pfister SM, Weksberg R, Michaeli O, Tabori U, Ney GM, Lupo PJ, Brzezinski JJ, Stewart DR, Woodward ER, Kratz CP: Update on Cancer and Central Nervous System Tumor Surveillance in Pediatric NF2-, SMARCB1-, and LZTR1-Related Schwannomatosis. Clin Cancer Res 31(8): 1400-1406, Apr 2025.

Gitto SB, Pantel AR, Maxwell KN, Pryma DA, Farwell MD, Liu F, Cao Q, O'Brien SR, Clark AS, Shah PD, McDonald ES: [18F]FluorThanatrace PET imaging as a biomarker of response to PARP inhibitors in breast cancer. Commun Med 5(1): 90, Mar 2025.

Narasimhamurthy M, Le A, Boruah N, Moses R, Kelly G, Bleiweiss I, Maxwell KN, Nayak A: Clinicopathologic Features of Breast Tumors in Germline TP53 Variant-Associated Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Am J Surg Pathol 49(3): 195-205, Mar 2025.