Michael B. Prystowsky, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Prystowsky has extensive leadership, research, education, program development and administrative experience. 

Pathology Services: As Chairman of the unified Department of Pathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center (~700 FTE; budget ~$150M), Dr. Prystowsky has substantial experience in developing and managing service, research and educational programs. Our pathology service line delivers 24/7 service producing about 10 million test results per year for Montefiore patients. Dr. Prystowsky has engaged in many College of American Pathologists (CAP) programs as a governor of the college including both domestic and international laboratory inspections. In addition, the Montefiore women's healthcare team initiated a very successful See, Test & Treat program in May 2015 bringing much needed healthcare to women in the Bronx.

Education Activities:  Dr. Prystowsky has had a unique opportunity during the past several years to connect pathologists from all practice environments through educational efforts. This is possible because he chaired both the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee of Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) and the Council on Education (COE) for CAP. For undergraduate medical education, pathologists from many practice settings have contributed to developing national standards for teaching pathology to all medical students (https://journals.sagepub.com/page/apc/pcme). Another educational effort bridges the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Committee of APC with the COE and Council on Scientific Affairs (CSA); members developed a test utilization course for residents that teaches both common problems in test selection and how to interact with ordering physicians. Dr. Prystowsky has first hand experience with the educational programs and their impact on the trainees (20 residents and 10 fellows) and faculty (greater than 50) whom he oversees and mentors.

Research Focus: In 1999 Dr. Prystowsky organized a multidisciplinary group including surgery, oncology, pathology, molecular biology, protein chemistry, computational biology and biostatistics to study Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). Initial studies on molecular classification of HNSCC using microarray technology demonstrated that patient segregation by gene expression profiling is a better predictor of outcome than established clinicopathological variables. The Head and Neck Program includes multiple laboratories with research exploring basic mechanisms of tumor behavior, developing biomarkers and identifying molecular classifiers that define distinct subsets of patients. The questions arise from the tumor board, from taking care of patients, with the primary goal to develop new diagnostics that will optimize treatment selection at initial diagnosis.

A.     Positions and Honors

Professional Experience:

1978-1979          Post-Doctoral fellow in Biochemistry, the Rockefeller University

1981-1984          Resident in Pathology, The University of Chicago

1984-1993          Asst/Assoc Prof, Department of Pathology, University of Pennsylvania

1993-present     Professor, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

1997-present     Chair, Department of Pathology, Einstein / Montefiore Medical Center

2002-2016         Associate Director, Einstein Cancer Center Shared Facilities

External Committees:

2001-2006                American Cancer Society, National Council for Extramural Research (Chair 2005-06)

2012-2019                      Association of Pathology Chairs, Undergraduate Medical Education Committee (Chair)

2012-2018         College of American Pathologists, Board of Governors

Honors and Awards:

Bachelor of Science cum laude, Phi Sigma Biological Honorary Society, Phi Kappa Phi Scholastic Honorary Society, Microbiology at Pennsylvania State University; Cancer Research Institute, Postdoctoral Fellow; Hartford Foundation Fellowship; Faculty Research Award, American Cancer Society; Fellow, AAAS; Michele Raible Distinguished Teaching Award, APC

B.      Contribution to Science

Dr. Prystowsky has contributed to the understanding of IL2-driven T lymphocyte activation, structural requirements for GM-CSF activity, to the molecular and whole animal studies of inflammation focusing on A1, an anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member that he discovered. During the past 18 years he has organized a multidisciplinary group including surgery, oncology, pathology, molecular biology, protein chemistry, computational biology and biostatistics to study Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). Initial studies on molecular classification of HNSCC using microarray technology demonstrated that patient segregation by gene expression profiling is a better predictor of outcome than established clinicopathological variables. The Head and Neck Program includes multiple laboratories with research exploring basic mechanisms of tumor behavior, developing biomarkers and identifying molecular classifiers that define distinct subsets of patients. The questions arise from the tumor board, from taking care of patients, with the primary goal to develop new diagnostics that will optimize treatment selection at initial diagnosis.

 Immunology and Inflammation

1.     Prystowsky MB, Ely JM, Beller DI, Eisenberg LE, Goldman J, Goldman M, Goldwasser E, Ihle J, Quintans J, Remold H, Vogel SN, Fitch FW (1982) Alloreactive cloned T cell lines.  VI. Multiple lymphokine activities secreted by helper and cytolytic cloned T lymphocytes.  J Immunol 129: 2337-2344.

2.     Prystowsky MB, Otten G, Naujokas MF, Vardiman J, Ihle JN, Goldwasser E, Fitch FW (1984) Multiple hemopoietic lineages are found after stimulation of mouse bone marrow precursor cells with interleukin 3.  Am J Pathol 117: 171-179.  PMCID:  PMC1900437

3. Reed JC, Sabath DE, Hoover RG, Prystowsky MB. (1985) Recombinant interleukin 2 regulates levels of c-myc mRNA in a cloned murine T lymphocyte. Mol & Cell Biology 5:3361-3368.

4.     Shipman-Appasamy P, Cohen KS, Prystowsky MB (1990) Interleukin 2-induced expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen is regulated by transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. J Biol Chem 265: 19180-19184.

5. Altmann SW, Johnson GD, Prystowsky MB (1991) Single proline substitutions in predicted alpha helices of murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor result in a loss in bioactivity and altered glycosylation. J Biol Chem 266: 5333-5341.
6. Clevenger CV, Altmann SW, Prystowsky MB. (1991) Requirement for nuclear prolactin during interleukin 2 stimulation of T lymphocytes.  Science 253:77-79.
7. Lin EY, Orlofsky A, Berger MS, Prystowsky MB (1993) Characterization of A1, a novel hemopoietic-specific early-response gene with sequence similarity to bcl-2. J Immunol 151: 1979-1988.
8. Huang D, Shipman-Appasamy PM, Orten DJ, Hinrichs SH Prystowsky MB (1994) Promoter activity of the proliferating-cell nuclear antigen gene is associated with inducible CRE-binding proteins in interleukin 2-stimulated T lymphocytes.  Mol Cell Biol 14: 4233-4243.  PMCID:  PMC358789
9. Orlofsky A, Weiss LM, Kawachi N, Prystowsky MB (2002) Deficiency in the anti-apoptotic protein A1-a results in a diminished acute inflammatory response. J Immunology  168:1840-1846.
10. Gonzalez J, Orlofsky A, Prystowsky MB (2003) A1 is a growth-permissive anti-apoptotic factor mediating post-activation survival in T cells. Blood, 101:2679-2685.

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

1. Belbin TJ, Singh B, Barber I, Socci N, Wenig B, Smith R, Prystowsky MB, Childs G (2002) Molecular Classification of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma using cDNA Microarrays. Cancer Research 62:1184-1190.

2.     Belbin TJ, Singh B, Wreesmann VB, Socci ND, Sanchez-Carbayo M, Masterson J, Smith R, Patel S, Cordon-Cardo C, Prystowsky MB, Childs G (2005) Molecular profiling of tumor progression in head and neck cancer. Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery 131:10-18.

3. Loudig O, Milova E, Brandwein-Gensler M, Massimi A, Belbin TJ, Childs G, Singer RH, Rohan T, Prystowsky MB. (2007) Molecular restoration of archived transcriptional profiles by complementary-template reverse-transcription (CT-RT). Nucleic Acids Research. July 17. Epub, 35:pe94.

4.     Schlecht, N.F., Burk, R.D., Adrien, L., Dunne, A., Kawachi, N., Sarta, C., Chen, Q., Brandwein-Gensler, M., Prystowsky, MB, Childs, G., Smith, R.V. and Belbin, T.J. (2007). Gene expression profiles in HPV infected head and neck cancer.  Journal of Pathology. Nov; 213(3):283-93.

5. Belbin TJ, Schlecht NF, Smith RV, Adrien LR, Kawachi N, Brandwein-Gensler M, Bergman A, Chen Q, Childs G, Prystowsky MB. (2008) Site-specific molecular signatures predict aggressive disease in HNSCC. Head and Neck Pathology 2(4):243-256.
6. Childs G, Fazzari M, Kung G, Kawachi N, Brandwein-Gensler M, McLemore M, Chen Q, Burk RD, Smith RV, Prystowsky MB, Belbin TJ. Schlecht NF (2009) Low level expression of microRNA's let7-d and miR-205 are prognostic markers of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Amer J Pathol 174(3):736-745.
7. Prystowsky MB, Adomako A, Smith RV, Kawachi N, McKimpson W, Atadja P, Chen Q, Schlecht NF, Parish JL, Childs G, Belbin TJ (2009) The histone deacetylase inhibitor LBH589 inhibits expression of mitotic genes causing G2/M arrest and cell death in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Journal of Pathology, 218-467-477.

8.     Lleras R, Adrien LR, Smith RV, Harris TM, Liveras A, Schlecht NS, Childs G, Prystowsky MB, Belbin TJ (2011) Hypermethylation of a cluster of kruppel-type zinc finger protein genes on chromosome 19q13 in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Am J Pathol, 178:1965-1974.

9.     Schlecht NF, Brandwein-Gensler M, Nuovo GJ, Li M, Dunne A, Kawachi N, Smith RV, Burk RD, Prystowsky MB (2011) A comparison of clinically utilized human papillomavirus detection methods in head and neck cancer. Modern Pathology 24:1295-1305.

10.  Smirnova T, Adomako A, Locker J, Van Rooijen N, Prystowsky MB, Segall JE (2011) In vivo invasion of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells does not require macrophages. Am J Pathol 178:2857-2865.

11.  Schlecht N, Brandwein-Gensler M, Smith RV, Kawachi N, Broughel D, Lin J, Keller CE, Reynolds PA, Gunn-Moore FJ, Harris T, Childs G, Belbin TJ, Prystowsky MB (2012) Cytoplasmic ezrin and moesin correlate with poor survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Head and Neck Pathology 6:232-243.

12. Harris T, Jimenez L, Kawachi N, Fan J-B, Chen J, Belbin T, Ramnauth A, Loudig O, Keller CE, Smith R, Prystowsky MB, Schlecht NF, Segall JE, Childs G (2012) Low-Level expression of miR-375 Correlates with Poor Outcome and Metastasis While Altering the Invasive Properties of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas Am J Pathol, 180:917-928.

13.  Lleras RA, Smith RV, Adrien LR, Schlecht NF, Burk RD, Harris TM, Childs G, Prystowsky MB, Belbin TJ (2013) Unique DNA Methylation Loci Distinguish Anatomic Site and HPV Status in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 19:5444-5455.

14.  Prystowsky M, Feeney K, Kawachi N, Montagna C, Willmott M, Wasson C, Antkowiak M, Loudig O, Parish J (2013) Inhibition of Plk1 and Cyclin B1 Expression Results in Panobinostat-Induced G2 Delay and Mitotic Defects. Sci Rep 3:2640.

15.  Harris TM, Du P, Kawachi N, Belbin TJ, Wang Y, Schlecht NF, Ow TJ, Keller CE, Childs GJ, Smith RV, Angeletti RH, Prystowsky MB, Lim J. (2015)  Proteomic Analysis of Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Specimens Identifies Patient Outcome—Associated Proteins. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 139: 494-507

16.  Schlecht NF, Ben-Dayan M, Anayannis N, Lleras RA, Thomas C, Wang Y, Smith RV, Burk RD, Harris TM, Childs C, Ow TJ, Prystowsky, MB, Belbin TJ (2015) Epigenetic changes in the CDKN2A locus are associated with differential expression of P16INK4A and P14ARF in HPV positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Medicine DOI: 10.1002/cam4.374

17.  Jimenez L, Sharma VP, Condeelis J, Harris TM, Ow TJ, Prystowsky MB, Childs G, Segall JE (2015) MicroRNA-375 Suppresses Extracellular Matrix Degradation and Invadopodial Activity in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 139:1349-1361

18.  Ben-Dayan M, MacCarthy T, Schlecht NF, Belbin TJ, Childs G, Smith RV, Prystowsky MB, Bergman A (2015) Cancer as the disintegration of robustness: population-level variance in gene expression identifies key differences between tobacco- and HPV-associated oropharyngeal carcinogenesis. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 139:1362-1372.

19.  Ben-Dayan MM, Ow TJ, Belbin TJ, Wetzler J, Smith RV, Childs G, Diergaarde B, Hayes DN, Grandis JR, Prystowsky MB, Schlecht NF. (2017) Non-promoter Methylation of the CDKN2A Gene with Active Transcription is Associated with Improved Locoregional Control in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancer Medicine 6:397-407. PMID:28102032

20.  Jimenez L, Lim J, Burd B, Harris T, Ow TJ, Kawachi N, Belbin T, Angeletti R, Prystowsky MB, Childs G, Segall J. (2017) miR-375 regulates invasion related proteins vimentin and L-plastin. Am J Pathology 187:1523-1536.

21.  Jayakar SK, Loudig O, Brandwein-Gensler M, Kim RS, Ow TJ, Ustun B, Harris TM, Prystowsky MB, Childs G, Segall JE, Belbin TJ.  (2017) Apolipoprotein E promotes invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Am J Pathology, 187:2259-2272.

22.  Anayannis N, Schlecht NF, Ben-Dayan M, Smith RV, Belbin TJ, Ow TJ, Blakaj DM, Burk RD, Leonard SM, WoodmanCB, Parish JL, Prystowsky MB. (2018) Association of an intact E2 gene with higher HPV viral load, higher viral oncogene expression, and improved clinical outcome in HPV16 positive Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. PLoS ONE 13: e0191581.

23.  Fattouh M, Chang GY, Ow TJ, Shifteh K, Rosenblatt G, Patel VM, Smith RV, Prystowsky MB, Schlecht NF. (2019) Association between pretreatment obesity, sarcopenia, and survival in patients with head and neck cancer. Head and Neck 41:707-714.

24. Ben-Dayan MM, Li D, Kawachi N, Ow TJ, Belbin TJ, Childs G, Schlecht NF, Prystowsky MB.(2020) Human papillomavirus type 16 E6 and E7 expression drives transcription of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4a) prior to intragenic methylation of CDKN2A. Medical Research Archives 8: May.

25. Dalaka E, Kronenberg NM, Liehm P, Segall JE, Prystowsky MB, Gather MC. (2020) Direct measurement of vertical forces shows correlation between mechanical activity and proteolytic ability of invadopodia. Science Advances 6: March 11.

Education

1.     Sadofsky M, Knollmann-Ritschel B, Conran R, Prystowsky MB (2014) National Standards in Pathology Education: Developing Competencies for Integrated Medical School Curricula. Archives of Pathol & Lab Medicine 138:328–332.

2.     Hebert T, Maleki S, Vasovic L, Arnold J, Steinberg J, Prystowsky MB (2014) A Team-Based Approach to Autopsy Education: Integrating Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the Rotation Level. Archives of Pathol & Lab Medicine 138:322–327. PMID: 24576026

3.     Hebert TM, Szymanski J, Mantilla J, McLemore L, Walsh R, Vasovic L, Steinberg JJ, Prystowsky MB. (2016) Onboarding for pathology residency programs – The Montefiore experience. Academic Pathology. 3: 1-4

4.     Black-Schaffer WS, Morrow JS, Prystowsky MB, Steinberg JJ. (2016) Training pathology residents to practice 21^st century medicine – A proposal. Academic Pathology. 3:1-16.

5.     Goldstein DY, Prystowsky M. (2017) Autosomal recessive inheritance: Cystic Fibrosis. Academic Pathology 4:1-4.

6.     Knowellmann-Ritschel BEC, Regula DP, Borowitz MJ, Conran R, Prystowsky MB. (2017) Pathology competencies for medical education and educational cases. Academic Pathology 4:1-36.

7.   Hebert TM, Cole A, Panarelli N, Hu S, Jacob J, Ahlstedt J, Steinberg JS, Prystowsky MB. (2019) Training the next generation of pathologists: A novel residency program curriculum at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Academic Pathology. 6: May 30.