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Elizabeth Wellberg, BS, PhD
Pathology

Elizabeth Wellberg, BS, PhD

Assistant Professor
Section of Experimental Pathology
Harold Hamm Diabetes Center
Stephenson Cancer Center

975 NE 10th St, BRC 309
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

405-271-8001 ext. 32276

elizabeth-wellberg@ouhsc.edu

Dr. Wellberg's overall research goals include 1) identifying host (environment)-specific drivers of breast cancer therapy resistance in the context of obesity; 2) determining the effects of endocrine therapy on adipose, liver, and skeletal muscle biology, and 3) identifying and modeling the patient population at risk for adverse effects associated with endocrine therapy and implement appropriate ways to monitor and intervene to prevent breast cancer relapse. She combines basic research techniques, including culture of established and primary breast cancer cell lines, with preclinical (mouse and rat) models of obesity and clinical studies to comprehensively investigate the relationship between obesity, metabolic disease, and breast cancer progression.

Education:

  • BS - Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Biomedical Sciences (2004)
  • PhD - Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Toxicology (2009)

Fellowship:

  • Research Instructor, Department of Pathology, Center for Women's Health Research, University of Colorado Denver (2014-2017)
  • Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Denver (2009-2014)

Clinical/Research Interests:

Dr. Wellberg's training is in normal mammary gland biology and breast cancer metabolism. She currently holds an NCI R01 focused on FGF-FGFR signaling in endocrine-resistant breast cancer. Her lab studies the “vicious cycle” surrounding obesity and estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. Dr. Wellberg's research focuses on the mechanisms through which obesity promotes breast cancer recurrence and progression, and also on the metabolic effects of estrogen deprivation that occur with endocrine (anti-estrogen) therapy. She has established a transplant-competent murine model of obesity and glucose intolerance, in which she grows breast cancer patient derived xenograft tumors (PDX) as well as established human breast cancer cell lines and she is currently investigating the mechanisms through which growth factor signaling initiates ligand-independent activation of the ER. Other projects in her laboratory focus on the excess risk for type 2 diabetes in breast cancer survivors, studying how obesity moderates the effects of ER antagonists and estrogen deprivation on adipose tissue expansion and adipocyte progenitor cell renewal and differentiation.

Funding:

  • NIH R01CA241156 7/1/2019-6/30/2024: Growth factor signaling in obesity associated ER-positive breast cancer. Role: PI
  • NIH R01CA251600 06/01/2020–05/31/2025: Disrupting Insulin Receptor Function in Breast Cancer. Role: Co-Inv
  • DOD BCRP W81XWH2210042 09/01/2022–08/31/2025: Mechanisms of Brain Metastatic Progression in ER+ Breast Cancer. Role: Co-Inv

Select Publications:

  1. Thomas NS, Scalzo RL, Wellberg EA. Diabetes mellitus in breast cancer survivors: metabolic effects of endocrine therapy. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2024 Jan;20(1):16-26. doi: 10.1038/s41574-023-00899-0. Epub 2023 Oct 2. PMID: 37783846.
  2. Sankofi BM, Valencia-Rincón E, Sekhri M, Ponton-Almodovar AL, Bernard JJ, Wellberg EA. The impact of poor metabolic health on aggressive breast cancer: adipose tissue and tumor metabolism. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Sep 20;14:1217875. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1217875. PMID: 37800138; PMCID: PMC10548218.
  3. Castillo-Castrejon M, Sankofi BM, Murguia SJ, Udeme AA, Cen HH, Xia YH, Thomas NS, Berry WL, Jones KL, Richard VR, Zahedi RP, Borchers CH, Johnson JD, Wellberg EA. FGF1 supports glycolytic metabolism through the estrogen receptor in endocrine-resistant and obesity-associated breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 22;25(1):99. doi: 10.1186/s13058-023-01699-0. PMID: 37608351; PMCID: PMC10463730.
  4. Leo J, Dondossola E, Basham KJ, Wilson NR, Alhalabi O, Gao J, Kurnit KC, White MG, McQuade JL, Westin SN, Wellberg EA, Frigo DE. Stranger Things: New Roles and Opportunities for Androgen Receptor in Oncology Beyond Prostate Cancer. Endocrinology. 2023 Apr 17;164(6):bqad071. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqad071. PMID: 37154098; PMCID: PMC10413436.
  5. Wellberg EA, Corleto KA, Checkley LA, Jindal S, Johnson G, Higgins JA, Obeid S, Anderson SM, Thor AD, Schedin PJ, MacLean PS, Giles ED. Preventing ovariectomy-induced weight gain decreases tumor burden in rodent models of obesity and postmenopausal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2022 Jun 20;24(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s13058-022-01535-x. PMID: 35725493; PMCID: PMC9208221.
  6. Scalzo RL, Foright RM, Hull SE, Knaub LA, Johnson-Murguia S, Kinanee F, Kaplan J, Houck JA, Johnson G, Sharp RR, Gillen AE, Jones KL, Zhang AMY, Johnson JD, MacLean PS, Reusch JEB, Wright-Hobart S, Wellberg EA. Breast Cancer Endocrine Therapy Promotes Weight Gain With Distinct Adipose Tissue Effects in Lean and Obese Female Mice. Endocrinology. 2021 Nov 1;162(11):bqab174. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqab174. PMID: 34410380; PMCID: PMC8455348.
  7. Bernard JJ, Wellberg EA. The Tumor Promotional Role of Adipocytes in the Breast Cancer Microenvironment and Macroenvironment. Am J Pathol. 2021 Aug;191(8):1342-1352. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.02.006. Epub 2021 Feb 24. PMID: 33639102; PMCID: PMC8351133.
  8. Giles ED, Wellberg EA. Preclinical Models to Study Obesity and Breast Cancer in Females: Considerations, Caveats, and Tools. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2020 Dec;25(4):237-253. doi: 10.1007/s10911-020-09463-2. Epub 2020 Nov 4. PMID: 33146844; PMCID: PMC8197449.
  9. Wellberg EA, Kabos P, Gillen AE, Jacobsen BM, Brechbuhl HM, Johnson SJ, Rudolph MC, Edgerton SM, Thor AD, Anderson SM, Elias A, Zhou XK, Iyengar NM, Morrow M, Falcone DJ, El-Hely O, Dannenberg AJ, Sartorius CA, MacLean PS. FGFR1 underlies obesity-associated progression of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer after estrogen deprivation. JCI Insight. 2018 Jul 26;3(14):e120594. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.120594. PMID: 30046001; PMCID: PMC6124402.
  10. Giles ED, Jindal S, Wellberg EA, Schedin T, Anderson SM, Thor AD, Edwards DP, MacLean PS, Schedin P. Metformin inhibits stromal aromatase expression and tumor progression in a rodent model of postmenopausal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 14;20(1):50. doi: 10.1186/s13058-018-0974-2. PMID: 29898754; PMCID: PMC6000949.
  11. Wellberg EA, Checkley LA, Giles ED, Johnson SJ, Oljira R, Wahdan-Alaswad R, Foright RM, Dooley G, Edgerton SM, Jindal S, Johnson GC, Richer JK, Kabos P, Thor AD, Schedin P, MacLean PS, Anderson SM. The Androgen Receptor Supports Tumor Progression After the Loss of Ovarian Function in a Preclinical Model of Obesity and Breast Cancer. Horm Cancer. 2017 Dec;8(5-6):269-285. doi: 10.1007/s12672-017-0302-9. Epub 2017 Jul 24. PMID: 28741260; PMCID: PMC6022404.
  12. Checkley LA, Rudolph MC, Wellberg EA, Giles ED, Wahdan-Alaswad RS, Houck JA, Edgerton SM, Thor AD, Schedin P, Anderson SM, MacLean PS. Metformin Accumulation Correlates with Organic Cation Transporter 2 Protein Expression and Predicts Mammary Tumor Regression In Vivo. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2017 Mar;10(3):198-207. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-16-0211-T. Epub 2017 Feb 2. PMID: 28154203; PMCID: PMC5405741.
  13. Wellberg EA, Johnson S, Finlay-Schultz J, Lewis AS, Terrell KL, Sartorius CA, Abel ED, Muller WJ, Anderson SM. The glucose transporter GLUT1 is required for ErbB2-induced mammary tumorigenesis. Breast Cancer Res. 2016 Dec 20;18(1):131. doi: 10.1186/s13058-016-0795-0. PMID: 27998284; PMCID: PMC5168867.
  14. Wellberg EA, Rudolph MC, Lewis AS, Padilla-Just N, Jedlicka P, Anderson SM. Modulation of tumor fatty acids, through overexpression or loss of thyroid hormone responsive protein spot 14 is associated with altered growth and metastasis. Breast Cancer Res. 2014 Dec 4;16(6):481. doi: 10.1186/s13058-014-0481-z. PMID: 25472762; PMCID: PMC4303195.