Baoli Hu, PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • Director, Brain Tumor Evolution & Therapy Lab

Baoli Hu, PhD, joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in July of 2017.

Dr. Hu received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Northwest A&F University in Yangling, China in 2001. He earned his PhD degree in microbiology from Wuhan University in Wuhan, China in 2004 and completed his postdoctoral training in molecular oncology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla. in 2007.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Hu was a senior research scientist in the Department of Genomic Medicine and Cancer Biology at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2011-17, working in the lab of Ronald DePinho, MD. From 2007-11 he worked with Dr. DePinho as a research scientist in the Department of Medical Oncology and Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at the Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Hu’s research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of brain tumor evolution, including tumor development, progression, and recurrence after the treatment; and developing new strategies for the treatment of these devastating diseases.

Dr. Hu's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database. 

[See also NIH R01 Grant for Glioblastoma Study and Translational Research.]

Specialized Areas of Interest

Oncobiology of glioma and medulloblastoma; cancer stem cells; functional cancer genomics; mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression, treatment resistance, and recurrence; translational research in druggable targets and biomarkers discovery.

Hospital Privileges

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Professional Organization Membership

American Association for Cancer Research
Society for Neuro-Oncology
Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium
Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium

Professional Activities

Ad Hoc Reviewer, The Children’s Brain Tumor Network
Ad Hoc Reviewer, The Walter L. Copeland Fund, The Pittsburgh Foundation
Cell Image Core Advisory Committee, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Education & Training

  • BS, Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, 1998
  • MS, Animal Breeding and Genetics, Northwest A&F University, 2001
  • PhD, Microbiology, Wuhan University, 2004
  • Fellow, Molecular Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, 2007

Honors & Awards

  • Richard King Mellon Scholar, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2018
  • UPMC Competitive Medical Research Fund Award, 2018
  • B*CURED Brain Cancer Research Investigator Award, 2018
  • Caroline Ross Endowed Fellowship Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2017

Research Activities

Over the past year, the research efforts in Dr. Hu’s Brain Tumor Evolution Therapy Lab have mainly focused on the completion of two projects, which include: 

  1. developing a new class of drugs for targeting the immune-suppressive microenvironment in glioblastoma, and
  2. understanding molecular mechanisms of medulloblastoma metastatic dissemination.

The results of these projects have generated research grants and paper publications. The National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) R01 and The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) R21 grants have continuously supporting these projects. Additionally, the research projects have been funded and supported by foundations including the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation and the Walter L. Copeland Foundation.

One manuscript was published in Nature Cell Biology and two invited papers were published in Antioxidants and Redox Signaling and STAR Protocols (Cell Press) as well as other co-authorship publications. Lab members have presented the results at local and international conferences, such as the 12th Annual Children’s Hospital Research Symposium at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO) 27th Annual Meeting.