Dr. Daniel J. Spakowicz

Daniel Spakowicz, PhD, is a research assistant professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at Ohio State and a member of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James. His lab studies the role of the microbiome in human health, particularly the immunomodulatory effects of microbes in the context of cancer.

Dr. Spakowicz has a number of ongoing projects centered on this subject, including observational studies that correlate patients’ microbiomes with cancer immunotherapy outcomes; mechanistic studies that seek to understand the small-molecule drivers of these effects; and interventional studies that alter the microbiome to improve treatment outcomes.

Dr. Spakowicz has co-authored many articles in well-respected journals, including Cell Systems, Genome Biology, Journal of Biological Chemistry and Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. He has also shared his work in several presentations to organizations like the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Spakowicz’s LCFA Funded research studies the interplay between the microbiome and immuno-oncology (IO) therapy responses, which is an area of high importance as IO therapy becomes more common in the treatment of advanced lung cancer. His overarching aim is to predict overall survival, progression free survival and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in lung cancer patients. Dr. Spakowicz will focus on biomarkers that patients can modify: the microbiome and physical activity levels.