Cara L. Shirai, PhD

Division

• Laboratory & Genomic Medicine

Additional Titles

• Section Head of Laboratory Hematology
• Medical Director Automated Hematology
• Associate Medical Director of Flow Cytometry

Education

• PhD: Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences

Subspecialty

• Flow Cytometry
• Automated Hematology

Board Certifications

• HCLD(ABB)
• SCYM(ASCP)

Honor Society Memberships

• American Association of Bioanalysts
• American Society of Clinical Pathology

Clinical Interests

• Flow Cytometry
• Automated Hematology

Research Interests

• Clinical Flow Cytometry
• Assay Development
• Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) Analysis
• Automated Hematology
• Myeloid Malignancies

Selected Publications

John L. Frater, Cara Lunn Shirai, Jonathan R. Brestoff. “Technological features of blast identification in the cerebrospinal fluid: A systematic review of flow cytometry and laboratory haematology methods.” International Journal of Laboratory Hematology. 2022, July 4; Online ahead of print. PMID: 35785436

John L. Frater and Cara Lunn Shirai. “Role of mean platelet volume in differential diagnosis of adult-onset Still’s disease and sepsis.” Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2022 May 13;68(6):736-738. PMID: 35584437

Brian A. Wadugu, Sridhar Nonavinkere Srivatsan, Amanda Heard, Michael O. Alberti, Matthew Ndonwi, Jie Liu, Sarah Grieb, Joseph Bradley, Jin Shao, Tanzir Ahmed, Cara L. Shirai, Ajay Khanna, Dennis L. Fei, Christopher A. Miller, Timothy A. Graubert, Matthew J. Walter. “U2af1 is a haplo-essential gene required for hematopoietic cancer cell survival in mice.” Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2021, Nov 1;131(21):e141401. PMID: 34546980

Sanghyun P. Kim, Sridhar N. Srivatsan, Monique Chavez, Cara L. Shirai, Brian S. White, Tanzir Ahmed, Michael O. Alberti, Jin Shao, Ryan Nunley, Lynn S. White, Jeff Bednarski, John R. Pehrson, Matthew J. Walter. “Mutant U2AF1-induced alternative splicing of H2afy (macroH2A1) regulates B-lymphopoiesis in mice.” Cell Reports, 2021, Aug 31;36(9):109626. PMID: 34469727

Yoest, Jennifer M., Cara L. Shirai, Eric J. Duncavage. “Sequencing-Based Measurable Residual Disease Testing in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2020, May 8; 8: 249. PMID: 32457898

Scott R. Goldsmith, Sana Saif Ur Rehman, Cara L. Shirai, Kiran Vij, John F. DiPersio. “Resolution of secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis after treatment with the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib.” Blood Advances, 2019, Dec 10; 3 (23): 4131-4135. PMID: 31821455

Tuoen Liu, Kilannin Krysiak, Cara Lunn Shirai, Sanghyun Kim, Jin Shao, Matthew Ndonwi, Matthew J. Walter. “Knockdown of HSPA9 Induces TP53-dependent Apoptosis in Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells.” PLoS One. 2017 Feb 8; 12(2):e0170470. PMID: 28178280

Cara Lunn Shirai, Brian S. White, Manorama Tripathi, Roberto Tapia, James N. Ley, Matthew Ndonwi, Sanghyun Kim, Jin Shao, Alexa Carver, Borja Saez, Robert S. Fulton, Catrina, Fronick, Michelle O’Laughlin, Chandraiah Lagisetti, Thomas R. Webb, Timothy A. Graubert, and Matthew J. Walter. “Mutant U2AF1-Expressing Cells Are Sensitive to Pharmacological Modulation of the Spliceosome.” Nature Communications. 2017 Jan 9; 8,14060. PMID: 28067246

Cara Lunn Shirai, James N. Ley, Brian S. White, Sanghyun Kim, Justin Tibbitts, Jin Shao, Matthew Ndonwi, Brian Wadugu, Eric J. Duncavage, Theresa Okeyo-Owuor, Tuoen Liu, Malachi Griffith, Sean McGrath, Vincent Magrini, Robert S. Fulton, Catrina Fronick, Michelle O’Laughlin, Timothy A. Graubert and Matthew J. Walter. “Mutant U2AF1 Expression Alters Hematopoiesis and Pre-mRNA Splicing In Vivo.” Cancer Cell. 2015 May 11; 27, 631-643. PMID: 25965570

Timothy A. Graubert, Dong Shen, Li Ding, Theresa Okeyo-Owuor, Cara L. Lunn, Jin Shao, Kilannin Krysiak, Christopher C. Harris, Daniel C. Koboldt, David E. Larson, Michael D. McLellan, David J. Dooling, Rachel M. Abbott, Robert S. Fulton, Heather Schmidt, Joelle Kalicki-Veizer, Michelle O’Laughlin, Marcus Grillot, Jack Baty, Sharon Heath, John L. Frater, Talat Nasim, Daniel C. Link, Michael H. Tomasson, Peter Westervelt, John F. DiPersio, Elaine R. Mardis, Timothy J. Ley, Richard K. Wilson, and Matthew J. Walter. “Recurrent Mutations in the U2AF1 Splicing Factor in Myelodysplastic Syndromes.” Nature Genetics. 2011 Dec 11; 44(1): 53-59. PMID: 22158538

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Assistant
Susan Keen
keen@wustl.edu
314-273-8136