RCC Animal Model Workshop hero image

RCC Animal Model Workshop

The Kidney Cancer Association, in partnership with the Kidney Cancer Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, hosted the first-ever Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Animal Model Workshop. This event united pathologists, researchers, and other experts for the first time to standardize and validate animal models, enhancing the accuracy of preclinical trials. By collaborating to classify and characterize a range of RCC animal models, we aim to drive innovative research, help translate therapeutics to the clinic, and improve lives for patients and families.

About the RCC Animal Model Workshop

The RCC Animal Model Workshop unites pathologists, researchers, and other
experts for the first time to standardize and validate animal models, enhancing
the accuracy of preclinical trials. By collaborating to classify and characterize
a range of RCC animal models, we aim to drive innovative research, help
translate therapeutics to the clinic, and improve lives for patients and families


This Genetically Engineered Mouse Models (GEMM) Catalogue is a summary of all the preclinical models presented at the workshop. The catalogue allows you to see details of each model and compare them.


Marston Linehan (NCI)Keynote Speaker #1Content Not AvailableContent Not Available
Ari Hakimi (MSKCC)Somatic Mouse Models in Kidney Cancer​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Tao Yue (UTSW)Humanized Models in Renal Cell Carcinoma: Current Status and ChallengesPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
William Kaelin (DFCI)Keynote Speaker #2: Choosing Kidney Cancer Targets and Models Wisely​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Mahul Amin (LabCorp)The Clinical and Pathologic Basis of Classification of Renal Cell Carcinoma​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
James Brugarolas (UTSW) & Payal Kapur (UTSW)The Path of Progress: Lessons ​from RCC Animal ModelsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Roberto Pili (UBuffalo)Divergent Evolution ​in RCC Patient Derived Xenograft ModelsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Ari Hakimi (MSKCC)KVPR GEMM​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Bingqing Xie (UTSW)Dissecting the Interplay between Bap1 and Pbrm1 in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma via GEMMContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Lorraine Gudas (Weill Cornell)The Transcription Factor ATF4 in the Kidney & ccRCC (Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma)Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Sakari Vanharanta (UHelsinki)Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Thomas Carroll (UTSW)The Role of the Hippo/Warts Pathway in Sarcomatoid Renal Cell CarcinomaPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Andrea Ballabio (TIGEM)Keynote Speaker #3: The TFEB-mTORC1 Axis in Kidney CancerPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Gopinath Prakasam (UTSW)Modeling tRCC in Mice: Dissecting ASPSCR1-TFE3 ​Function Through Precision GeneticsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Tamara Lotan (JHU)SFPQ-TFE3 Reciprocally Regulates mTORC1 and Induces Lineage Plasticity in a Mouse Model of Renal TumorigenesisPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Gabriel Malouf (UStrasbourg)Modeling ASPSCR1–TFE3 Kidney Cancer in Mice: Morphology, Pathology, and Single-Cell InsightsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Laura Schmidt (NCI)TFE3 Xp11.2 Translocation RCC Mouse Model​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Eyal Gottlieb (MDACC)Fumarate Hydratase Deficient RCC: From Mouse Models to Early DiagnosticsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Lisa Henske (BWH)Mouse Models of TSC and Chromophobe RCC​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Alessandra Boletta (San Raffaele)Generation and Characterization of a Mouse Model of Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma (pRCC)​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
William Kaelin (DFCI)Creating Mouse ccRCCs Using CRISPR​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Giannicola Genovese (MDACC)Cross-Species Functionalization of the RCC Genome​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Lynda Vuong (MSKCC)Building ccRCC models with non-viral in vivo somatic cell editing methods​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Hui Jang (MSKCC)A Novel In-Vitro CRISPR-Edited Syngeneic RCC Mouse Model: ​Establishment, Characterization, and Lessons LearnedPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
James Brugarolas (UTSW)In Vivo CRISPR Engineering ​of Renal TumorsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Roy Elias (JHU) & Vanina Toffessi Tcheuyap (UTSW)UT Southwestern RCC Tumorgraft Platform: ​A Resource for Precision Therapy DevelopmentPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Niki Zacharias Millward (MDACC)RCC PDX Models at MD Anderson Cancer Center: ​A Legacy StoryPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Oriol Casanovas (Catalan Institute of Oncology)ccRCC PDOX Models for 1st and 2nd Line Treatment ​and AVATAR Co-Clinical TrialsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Yizheng Xue (UPenn)HDL-derived Triglycerides Counteract Ferroptosis​Content Not AvailableContent Not Available
Richard Flavell (Yale)Keynote Speaker #4: Dissecting Disease Mechanisms and Human Biology in Humanized MicePresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Michael Brehm (UMass)Development of Humanized Mice to Study Human NK cells In VivoPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
David Hsu (Duke)An Autologous Humanized Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) model for evaluation of Immunotherapy in Renal Cell CancerPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Keith Lawson (UHN)Leveraging Humanized Mice to Map Kidney Cancer Immune Evasion MechanismsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Sanjeev Noel (JHU)Immunophenotypic Analysis of Humanized Mice KidneysPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Tao Yue (UTSW)Autologous Humanized PDX-TIL Models for Precision Medicine in RCCPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Annika Fendler (Charite Berlin)Organoid Models of Renal Cancer: From Culture Optimization to Therapeutic InsightsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Srinivas Malladi (UTSW)​Patient Derived Organoids Identify Targetable Metabolic Adaptations in Metastatic RCCsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Samir Zaidi (Yale)Tumor Plasticity and Immunity in Prostate and Renal Cell CarcinomaPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Allison May (UVirginia)Ex vivo Tumor Slices as an Immune-Intact Human Model to Study Tumor and Immuneresponses in Renal CellPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Bruce Beutler (UTSW)Monogenic Resistance to Cancer​Content Not AvailableContent Not Available
Noelle Williams (UTSW)Bridging the Gap: Humanized Drug Dosing​
in Mouse Models for Cancer Research
Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Ralph DeBerardinis (UTSW)Dissecting Metabolic Pathways in RCC Mouse ModelsPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Javier Garcia Bermudez (UTSW)Dissecting the Roles of Lipid Uptake in Kidney Tumors​Presentation SlidesPresentation Video
Scott Welford (UMiami)Lipidomic Classification of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma​ Reveals Aggressiveness and Therapeutic SensitivityPresentation SlidesPresentation Video
Chunling Yi (Georgetown University)Exploring YAP/TAZ-TEAD-based Therapies for Overcoming Resistance to HIF2a-VEGFR InhibitorsContent Not AvailableContent Not Available
Xiankai Sun (UTSW)Molecular Imaging Resources at UTSW ​
for Kidney Cancer Models in Rodents
Content Not AvailableContent Not Available
Qing Zhang (UTSW)Deploying RCC Models to Advance Biology and TherapyContent Not AvailableContent Not Available

Watch all the presentations on our YouTube playlist.


Dr. Mahul Amin

Dr. James Brugarolas

Dr. Ari Hakimi

Dr. Roberto Pili

Dr. Sabina Signoretti

Dr. Ramaprasad Srinivasan


Mahul Amin, MD

Vice President and Divisional Medical Director, LabCorp., USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Bruce Beutler, MD

Director, Center for the Genetics of Host Defense; Regental Professor; Raymond and Ellen Willie Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research, UT Southwestern Medical Center

James Brugarolas, MD, PhD

Director of the Kidney Cancer Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Yingbei Chen, MD, PhD

Pathologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Annika Fendler, PhD

Group Leader, Charite – University Hospital

Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, MBA

Vice President, Research, Division of Discovery Science, Professor and R.E. Bob Smith Distinguished Chair in Cancer Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Lisa Henske, MD, PhD

Director, Center for LAM Research and Clinical Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Medical Oncologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

William Kaelin, MD

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator/Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

W. Marston Linehan, MD

Chief, Urological Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute

Gabriel Malouf, MD, PhD

Professor, Strasbourg University

Sabina Signoretti, MD

Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute

Vanina Toffessi Tcheuyap, MS

Senior Research Associate, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Scott Welford, PhD

Professor, University of Miami

Yizheng Xue, MD, PhD

Urological Surgeon, University of Pennsylvania

Andrea Ballabio, MD

Professor, TIGEM

Alessandra Boletta, PhD

Head of Unit, Ospedale San Raffaele

Thomas Carroll, PhD

Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Ralph DeBerardinis, MD, PhD

Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Richard Flavell, PhD, FRS

Sterling Professor of Immunobiology, Yale University

Lorraine Gudas, PhD

Professor/Chair, Weill Cornell Medicine

David Hsu, MD, PhD

Professor, Duke University

Payal Kapur, MD

Professor of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Tamara Lotan, MD

Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Allison May, MD

Assistant Professor, University of Virginia

Sanjeev Noel, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Roberto Pili, MD

Associate Dean for Cancer Research and Integrative Oncology; Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology; Professor, Department of Medicine, University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine

Ramaprasad Srinivasan, MD, PhD

Senior Investigator, National Cancer Institute

Sakari Vanharanta, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, University of Helsinki

Noelle Williams, PhD

Research Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Chunling Yi, PhD

Professor, Georgetown University

Samir Zaidi, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Yale University

Qing Zhang, PhD

Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Javier Garcia Bermudez, PhD

Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Michael Brehm, PhD

Co-Director/Professor, University of Massachusetts

Oriol Cassanovas, PhD

Group Leader, Institut Catala d’Oncologia

Roy Elias, MD

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Giannicola Genovese, MD, PhD

Associate Professor/Scientific Director, University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center

A. Ari Hakimi, MD

Associate Professor, Urological Surgeon, Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center

Hui Jiang, PhD

Research Associate, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Keith Lawson, MD, PhD, FRCSC

Scientist and Assistant Professor, University Health Network

Srinivas Malladi, PhD

Associate Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Niki Zacharias Millward, PhD

Associate Professor, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Gopinath Prakasam, PhD

Assistant Instructor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Laura Schmidt, PhD

Principal Scientist, Leidos Biomedical Research and National Cancer Institute

Xiankai Sun, PhD

Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Lynda Vuong, PhD

Scientific Research Lead, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Bingqing Xie, PhD

Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Tao Yue, PhD

Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center


For questions or to learn more about the KCA’s RCC Animal Model Workshop, contact our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Salvatore La Rosa.