Emil Lou, MD, PhD, FACP

After completing undergraduate studies in biochemistry at SUNY College at Geneseo, Dr. Lou received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees (Microbiology and Immunology) from SUNY Upstate Medical University in 2004. He performed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and then subsequently completed his Medical Oncology and Hematology fellowship at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 2010. He also completed an additional fellowship in Neuro-Oncology at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.

Dr. Lou, a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, is board certified in Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine. In addition he is also board certified in Neuro-Oncology through the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. He joined the faculty in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation in 2011 and is a member of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

Care Philosophy

New Patients

• If you are scheduled or interested in scheduling a clinic consultation with Dr. Lou, click here for more information and a welcome from Dr. Lou.

Tips to be a Great Patient Advocate

• Dr. Lou's interview with Caringbridge.org

• American Association for Cancer Research Emeritus Mentor Award, for service to the AACR’s Scientist<->Survivor Program, April 2017
• Minnesota Monthly magazine’s list of Top Doctors, 2015, 2017, 2018
• Selected by peers to Minnesota Monthly magazine's list of Best Doctors (2015)
• Early Career Development Award from the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research (2015)
• 2015 Featured New Investigator Award from the CSCTR for meritorious paper published in Translational Research (2015)
• Distinguished Alumnus, State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University (2014)
• KL2 Scholar, KL2 Scholars Career Development Program, Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), University of Minnesota (2013 - 2016)
• Conquer Cancer Foundation Oncology Trainee Travel Award. American Society of Clinical Oncology (2011)
• AACR-GlaxoSmithKline Clinical Scholars Award (2010)
• AACR-Aflac, Inc. Scholar-in-Training Award, American Association for Cancer Research (2007)
• John Bernard Henry Endowed Fellowship Award, SUNY Upstate Medical University (2004)
• American Head and Neck Society Trainee Award (2002)

• American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), 2016 to present
• Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP), American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, 2015 to present
• Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium; GI Cancer Working Group Member 2014 to present
• Tumor Microenvironment Program, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, 2014 to present
• Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of Minnesota, 2014 to present  
• ASCO Scientific Program Committee Member, Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer track (2012-2015)
• Scientist Mentor, AACR Scientist <--> Survivor Program (2013, 2014, 2015)
• Graduate Program Faculty Member, Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP) Program
• Member, American Association for Cancer Research
• Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology
• Member, Masonic Cancer

• Role of tunneling nanotubes in intercellular communication and pathophysiology of cancer. 
• Biomarkers of drug resistance in cancer
• Genomic markers of exceptional response or non-response to drug therapy in solid tumor malignancies (colorectal cancer and malignant brain tumors) 

Link to Dr. Lou’s publications via PubMed

• B Li*, E Lou*, M Hsu, H Yu, J Naidoo, MG Zauderer, C Sima, ML Johnson, M Daras, LM DeAngelis, M Fleisher, MG Kris, CG Azzoli. Serum biomarkers associated with clinical outcomes fail to predict brain metastases in patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancers. PLoS One, published online January 5, 2016. *Co-first authors.
• E Lou. Intercellular conduits in tumors: the new social network. Invited Spotlight article/editorial, Trends in Cancer 2(1): 3-5. January 1 2016.
• E Lou and PW Sperduto. Integrating bevacizumab and radiation treatment of brain metastasis: Is there sense and sensibility in this approach? Invited Perspectives article, Annals of Translational Medicine, 2016; 4(2):36. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.12.42
• Y Ji, RI Vogel, E Lou. Temozolomide Treatment of Pituitary Carcinomas and Aggressive Adenomas: Systematic Review of Case Reports. Neuro-Oncology Practice, advance access online November 12, 2015.
• KP Peters*, E Lou*, A Desjardins, DA Reardon, ES Lipp, E Miller, JE Herndon, F McSherry, HS Friedman, JJ Vredenburgh. Phase II trial of Upfront Bevacizumab, Irinotecan and Temozolomide for Unresectable Glioblastoma. The Oncologist, published online May 29, 2015. (*co-first authors)
• S Gholami, A Marano, NG Chen, RJ Aguilar, A Frentzen, C-H Chen, E Lou, S Fujisawa, C Eveno, L Belin, P Zanzonico, A Szalay, Y Fong. A Novel Vaccinia Virus with Dual Oncolytic and Anti-angiogenic Therapeutic Effects against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Nov 13 2014 (Epub ahead of print).
• J Ady, S Desir, V Thayanithy, RI Vogel, AL Moreira, RJ Downey, Y Fong, K Manova-Todorova, MAS Moore, E Lou. Intercellular communication in malignant pleural mesothelioma: Properties of Tunneling Nanotubes. Frontiers in Physiology, published online September 26, 2014.
• V Thayanithy, E Dickson, C Steer, S Subramanian, E Lou. Tumor-stromal cross-talk: Direct cell-to-cell transfer of oncogenic miRNAs via tunneling nanotubes. Translational Research, pii: S1931-5244(14)00198-4. May 2014. doi: 10.1016/j.trsl.2014.05.011
• S Gholami, C-H Chen, S Gao, E Lou, S Fujisawa, J Carson, JE Nnoli, T-C Chou, J Bromberg, Y Fong. Role of MAPK in oncolytic herpes viral therapy in triple-negative breast cancer. Cancer Gene Therapy, June 13, 2014. doi: 10.1038/cgt.2014.28. [Epub ahead of print]
• V Thayanithy, V Babatunde, E Dickson, P Wong, S Oh, X Ke, A Barlas, S Fujisawa, Y Romin, A Moreira, R Downey, C Steer, S Subramanian, K Manova-Todorova, M Moore, E Lou. Tumor exosomes induce tunneling nanotubes in lipid raft-enriched regions of human mesothelioma cells. Experimental Cell Research, 323(1):178-88. April 15 2014 (Epub 2014 Jan 24). doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2014.01.014.
• E Lou, M Johnson, C Sima, R Gonzalez-Espinoza, M Fleisher, MG Kris, CG Azzoli. Serum biomarkers for assessing histology and outcomes in patients with metastatic lung cancer. Cancer Biomarkers, 14(4):207-14. January 2014. doi: 10.3233/CBM-140399.
• N Aburjania, AM Truskinovsky, MJ Overman, E Lou. Ampulla of Vater Adenocarcinoma in a BRCA2 Germline Mutation Carrier. Journal of Gastrointestinal Cancer, published online February 17, 2013. 45(1): pp 87-90, March 2014.
• E Lou, S Subramanian, CJ Steer. Pancreatic Cancer: Modulation of KRAS, MicroRNAs and Intercellular Communication in the Setting of Tumor Heterogeneity. Pancreas 42(8), 1218-26, November 2013.
• S Gholami, C-H Chen, E Lou, LJ Belin, S Fujisawa, VA Longo, NG Chen, M Gönen. PB Zanzonico, AA Szalay, Y Fong. Vaccinia Virus GLV-1h153 in combination with ¹³¹-I-iodine shows increased efficiency in treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. FASEB Journal, November 1 2013 (Epub ahead of print).
• E Lou, KP Peters, AL Sumrall, A Desjardins, DA Reardon, ES Lipp, JE Herndon II, A Coan, L Bailey, S Turner, HS Friedman, JJ Vredenburgh. Phase II trial of upfront Bevacizumab and Temozolomide for unresectable or multifocal glioblastoma. Cancer Medicine 2(2): 185-95, April 2013; Epub January 24, 2013.
• D Reardon, JE Herndon II, KB Peters, A Desjardins, A Coan, E Lou, AL Sumrall, S Turner, ES Lipp, S Sathomsumetee, JN Rich, JH Sampson, AH Friedman, ST Boulton, DD Bigner, HS Friedman, JJ Vredenburgh. Bevacizumab continuation beyond initial bevacizumab progression among recurrent glioblastoma patients. British Journal of Cancer, October 4 2012. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2012.415.
• E Lou, A Sumrall, S Turner, K Peters, A Desjardins, JJ Vredenburgh, R McLendon, JE Herndon II, F McSherry, J Norfleet, HS Friedman, DA Reardon. Bevacizumab therapy for adults with recurrent/progressive meningioma: a retrospective series. Journal of Neurooncology, 2012 August;109(1):63-70. Epub 2012 Apr 26.
• E Lou, S Fujisawa, A Barlas, Y Romin, K Manova-Todorova, M.A.S. Moore, S Subramanian. Tunneling Nanotubes: A new paradigm for studying intercellular communication and therapeutics in cancer. Communicative & Integrative Biology 5(4): 399-403, July 2012. doi: 10.4161/cib.20569.
• E Lou, S Fujisawa, A Morozov, A Barlas, Y Romin, Y Dogan, AL Moreira, K Manova-Todorova, MAS Moore. Tunneling Nanotubes Provide a Unique Conduit for Intercellular Transfer of Cellular Contents in Human Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33093. Epub 2012 Mar 9.
• A Morozov, R Downey, J Healey, A Moreira, E Lou, A Franceschino, Y Dogan, R Leung, M Edgar, M LaQuaglia, RG Maki, MAS Moore. Benign Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Human Sarcomas. Clinical Cancer Research 16(23): 5630-40, December 1 2010.
• N Girard, E Lou, CG Azzoli, R Reddy, M Robson, M Harlan, I Orlow, Y Yatabe, M Ladanyi, A Viale, MG Kris, G Riely, V Miller, RJ Klein, K Matsuo, W Pao. Analysis of genetic variants in never-smokers with lung cancer facilitated by an Internet-based blood collection protocol: a preliminary report. Clinical Cancer Research, 16(2):755-63 (Epub 2010 Jan 12), January 15, 2010.
• C Griffith, S Noonan, E Lou, EJ Shillitoe. An oncolytic mutant of herpes simplex virus type-1 in which replication is governed by a promoter/enhancer of human papillomavirus type-16. Cancer Gene Therapy, 14: 985-993, December 2007.
• E Lou, J Marshall, M Aklilu, D Cole, D Chang,, and M Morse. A Phase II Study of Active Immunotherapy with PANVAC^TM or Autologous, Cultured Dendritic Cells Infected with PANVAC^TM after Complete Resection of Hepatic Metastases of Colorectal Carcinoma. Invited review, Clinical Colorectal Cancer, 5(5): 368-71, January 2006.