Laura Huppert, MD
Assistant Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Huppert's research focuses on designing and conducting clinical trials to evaluate new cancer treatments, including ways to combine therapies so as to improve outcomes. She also studies metastatic breast cancer (that has spread to other body parts), including cancer that has reached the brain and leptomeninges (membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord), and works to translate findings from the lab into care provided to patients.

Huppert earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and has received an ASCO Merit Award as well as grants from the California Breast Cancer Research Program.

• Phase II trial of pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, and aspirin in melanoma: clinical outcomes and translational predictors of response.
  BJC reports 2024 Quandt Z, Jacob S, Fadlullah MZH, Wu C, Wu C, Huppert L, Levine LS, Sison P, Tsai KK, Chow M, Kang JH, Hwang J, Lee JC, Oglesby A, Venegas J, Brintz BJ, Tan AC, Anderson MS, Rosenblum MD, Young A, …
• Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with metastatic breast cancer and leptomeningeal disease: a single center retrospective cohort study.
  Breast cancer research and treatment 2024 Huppert LA, Fisch S, Tsopurashvili E, Somepalle SS, Salans M, Vasudevan HN, Jo Chien A, Majure M, Rugo HS, Balassanian R, Boreta L, Melisko ME
• Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy for Estrogen Receptor-Positive Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2-Negative Breast Cancer.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2024 Ríos-Hoyo A, Cobain E, Huppert LA, Beitsch PD, Buchholz TA, Esserman L, van 't Veer LJ, Rugo HS, Pusztai L
• Incidence and Mitigation of Corneal Pseudomicrocysts Induced by Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
  Current ophthalmology reports 2024 Lindgren ES, Yan R, Cil O, Verkman AS, Chan MF, Seitzman GD, Farooq AV, Huppert LA, Rugo HS, Pohlmann PR, Lu J, Esserman LJ, Pasricha ND
• Changes in Gender and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in US Residency Program Applications From 2018 to 2022.
  Journal of graduate medical education 2024 Huppert LA, Santhosh L, Alba-Nguyen S, Lai CJ, Babik JM
• Characterizing attitudes related to future child-bearing in young women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
  Breast cancer research and treatment 2024 Umashankar S, Li M, Blevins K, Kim MO, Majure M, Park J, Huppert LA, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Esserman L, Chien AJ
• Can We De-escalate Therapy for HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer?
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2023 Huppert LA, Rugo HS
• Tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors with ovarian function suppression in pre-menopausal stage I-III lobular breast cancer.
  NPJ breast cancer 2023 Record H, Clelland E, Rothschild HT, Kaur M, Chien AJ, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Mujir F, Huppert L, Mukhtar RA
• Letter to the Editor of Annals of Surgical Oncology concerning "Is Choosing Wisely Wise for Lobular Carcinoma in Patients over 70 Years of Age? A National Cancer Database Analysis of Sentinel Node Practice Patterns".
  Annals of surgical oncology 2023 Mukhtar RA, Huppert L, Ramalingam K
• A phase Ib/II study of eribulin in combination with cyclophosphamide in patients with advanced breast cancer.
  Breast cancer research and treatment 2023 Gumusay O, Huppert LA, Magbanua MJM, Wabl CA, Assefa M, Chien AJ, Melisko ME, Majure MC, Moasser M, Park J, Rugo HS
• Metabolic Positron Emission Tomography in Breast Cancer.
  PET clinics 2023 Cecil K, Huppert L, Mukhtar R, Dibble EH, O'Brien SR, Ulaner GA, Lawhn-Heath C
• Invited Commentary: Can We De-Escalate More Than 1 Breast Cancer Treatment Modality at the Same Time?
  Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2023 Tasoulis MK, Huppert LA
• High-dimensional immune cell profiling of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with metastatic breast cancer and leptomeningeal disease.
  NPJ breast cancer 2023 Im KW, Huppert LA, Malevanchik L, Rugo HS, Combes AJ, Campbell MJ, Krummel MF, Melisko ME
• Implantation of engineered adipocytes that outcompete tumors for resources suppresses cancer progression.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023 Nguyen HP, Sheng R, Murray E, Ito Y, Bruck M, Biellak C, An K, Lynce F, Dillon DA, Magbanua MJM, Huppert LA, Hammerlindl H, Esserman L, Rosenbluth JM, Ahituv N
• Systemic therapy for hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative early stage and metastatic breast cancer.
  CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 2023 Huppert LA, Gumusay O, Idossa D, Rugo HS
• Role of Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer.
  JCO oncology practice 2023 Jacob SL, Huppert LA, Rugo HS
• Clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer and pseudocirrhosis: a single center retrospective cohort study.
  Breast cancer research and treatment 2022 Huppert LA, Walker Z, Li M, Kim MO, Callan J, Brandman D, Majure M, Melisko ME, Rugo HS, Behr S, Chien AJ
• Intratumoral therapies and in-situ vaccination for melanoma.
  Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics 2022 Huppert LA, Daud AI
• Emerging treatment strategies for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
  Therapeutic advances in medical oncology 2022 Huppert LA, Gumusay O, Rugo HS
• The role of percutaneous vertebral augmentation in patients with metastatic breast cancer: Literature review including report of two cases.
  Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) 2022 Gumusay O, Huppert LA, Behr SC, Rugo HS
• Tumor Fever Due to Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
  The American journal of medicine 2022 Isaza E, Huppert LA, Lai AR, Brondfield S
• Development and Evaluation of a Five-Component Toolkit for Internal Medicine Residents Applying for Subspecialty Fellowships.
  MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources 2022 Huppert LA, Babik JM
• A single center evaluation of applicant experiences in virtual interviews across eight internal medicine subspecialty fellowship programs.
  Medical education online 2021 Huppert LA, Hsu G, Elnachef N, Flint L, Frank JA, Gensler LS, Hsiao EC, Khanna RR, Qasim A, Schwartz BS, Widera E, Zapata C, Babik JM
• Emerging immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of breast cancer.
  Breast cancer research and treatment 2021 Huppert LA, Mariotti V, Chien AJ, Soliman HH
• Letter to the Editor: The Effect of COVID-19 on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Process.
  The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2021 Roberts HJ, Huppert LA
• Tissue-specific Tregs in cancer metastasis: opportunities for precision immunotherapy.
  Cellular & molecular immunology 2021 Huppert LA, Green MD, Kim L, Chow C, Leyfman Y, Daud AI, Lee JC
• The Liver-Immunity Nexus and Cancer Immunotherapy.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2021 Lee JC, Green MD, Huppert LA, Chow C, Pierce RH, Daud AI
• Pembrolizumab and Ipilimumab as Second-Line Therapy for Advanced Melanoma.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2021 Huppert LA, Daud AI
• Answers Are in the Blood: cfDNA to Enhance Precision Medicine for Breast Cancer.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2021 Rugo HS, Huppert L
• Trends in US Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Applications During the COVID-19 Pandemic vs Previous Years.
  JAMA network open 2021 Huppert LA, Santhosh L, Babik JM
• Virtual Interviews at Graduate Medical Education Training Programs: Determining Evidence-Based Best Practices.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2020 Huppert LA, Hsiao EC, Cho KC, Marquez C, Chaudhry RI, Frank J, Goglin SE, Hsu G, Kathpalia P, Khanna R, Kompala T, Rao MN, Bower BA, Trafas V, Santhosh L, Schwartz BS, Babik JM
• Best Practices to Successfully Navigate a Virtual Interview: a Five-Step Guide for Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Applicants.
  Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education 2020 Huppert LA, Babik JM
• Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma With Leptomeningeal Disease Using Intrathecal Immunotherapy.
  JCO oncology practice 2020 Huppert LA, Melisko ME, Glastonbury CM, Khanafshar E, Daud AI
• Checkpoint Inhibitors for the Treatment of Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
  Clinical liver disease 2020 Huppert LA, Gordan JD, Kelley RK
• Prognostic Biomarkers for Melanoma Immunotherapy.
  Current oncology reports 2020 Twitty CG, Huppert LA, Daud AI
• Pathogenesis of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
  Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine 2019 Huppert LA, Matthay MA, Ware LB
• Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells in the treatment of ARDS.
  Transfusion 2018 Huppert LA, Liu KD, Matthay MA
• Alveolar Fluid Clearance in Pathologically Relevant Conditions: In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
  Frontiers in immunology 2017 Huppert LA, Matthay MA
• Linked domain architectures allow for specialization of function in the FtsK/SpoIIIE ATPases of ESX secretion systems.
  Journal of molecular biology 2014 Ramsdell TL, Huppert LA, Sysoeva TA, Fortune SM, Burton BM
• Dimer recognition and secretion by the ESX secretion system in Bacillus subtilis.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014 Sysoeva TA, Zepeda-Rivera MA, Huppert LA, Burton BM
• The ESX system in Bacillus subtilis mediates protein secretion.
  PloS one 2014 Huppert LA, Ramsdell TL, Chase MR, Sarracino DA, Fortune SM, Burton BM