Craig Jordan, PhD
Professor, Medicine-Hematology

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Gender: Male
Languages: English
Department, Section/Division: Medicine-Hematology

Personal Interests
Dr. Jordan completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley, followed by doctoral studies at Princeton University with a focus on the molecular biology of hematopoietic stem cells. He then went on to perform post-doctoral studies at MIT’s Whitehead Institute. He next spent several years working in the biotechnology industry before rejoining the academic ranks in 1997 at the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor of medicine. In 2003 he moved to the University of Rochester, where he became the Director of Translational Research for Hematologic Malignancies at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. In 2013 he was recruited to his present position at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Jordan has been and is an editorial board member or academic editor for several journals including Leukemia, Stem cells, PLoS Biology, Blood, and Cell Stem Cell, and is ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals including Science, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, Nature Reviews Cancer, Lancet, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Drug Discovery Today, etc. Dr. Jordan has participated in numerous NIH/NCI grant review panels, and has published over 125 peer-reviewed original research articles, review articles and book chapters. He has successfully maintained national level grants including awards from the NIH/NCI, Department of Defense, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and American Cancer Society. His honors include the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship, the Stohlman Scholar Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Philip and Marilyn Wehrheim endowed chair in cancer research.

Recognition & Awards

  • "Best of Cancer Cell 2018", Cancer Cell (2019)
    Cancel Cell named Dr. Jordan's study, "Subversion of Systemic Glucose Metabolism as a Mechanism to Support the Growth of Leukemia Cells" was named one of the "Best of Cancer Cell 2018"

Information for Referring Providers

Research Interest for Referring Providers
Since first establishing my independent academic laboratory in 1997, my research has been focused on characterization and targeting of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). In leukemia, like many forms of cancer, a small subset of so-called “cancer stem cells” are thought to be key drivers of pathogenesis and relapse. While therapies that reduce bulk tumor have been devised for many forms of cancer, effective eradication of cancer stem cells is more challenging, and represents an important goal towards improved therapies. In the most prevalent forms of adult acute leukemia, long-term survival rates are only ~20%, hence, better therapies are urgently needed. My laboratory was the first to describe properties of human LSCs that are relevant to therapeutic targeting. These observations have led to multiple clinical trials using antibodies, small molecules and cell-based immunotherapies designed to target the biological properties first reported from our studies. Our research was also the first to describe a drug regimen specifically designed to target LSCs in patients. Building on our initial basic science studies, in subsequent years we developed drug screening and identification methods to identify improved therapeutic agents to target LSCs. We were the first group to report a single agent (known as parthenolide) capable of selectively eradicating LSCs. We subsequently collaborated with a leading medicinal chemistry group to develop a candidate clinical compound that was based on parthenolide. That agent, known as DMAPT is currently being tested in phase I clinical trials. In parallel to our efforts to develop novel drugs, we have also generated new methods for drug characterization and new strategies to identify the most basic molecular properties of leukemia stem cells. Intriguingly, in recent studies we have identified a distinct subpopulation of LSCs characterized by unique metabolic properties. This discovery has led to a new therapeutic strategy for targeting LSCs based on pharmacological inhibition of Bcl-2, a concept that is currently being tested in ongoing clinical trials. We have also identified non-hematopoietic organs that provide protective niches for leukemia stem cells and are working to identify more effective strategies for targeting tissue specific.
Lab Phone: (303) 724-2672 (Reaches Hematology Admin. Team)

CV Craig CV (CU format) 03.11.19.doc