Gregor Werba, MD

Gregor Werba, MD

Resident Bio

Originally, I am from a small town near Vienna, Austria where I finished medical school. Surgical training in the United States always had the reputation of being among the best in the world and I decided to pursue residency here. In GW, I found an amazing program with training across four top hospitals in one of the political epicenters of the world. Most important of all, my co-residents, some of which I consider my closest friends now, really make GW a unique place. Clinically, I am interested in surgical oncology and tumor biology of HPB cancers and hope to obtain a fellowship in this field after residency.

Medical School

Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Clinical Interests

Surgical oncology, HPB Surgery, Tumor immunology

Professional Activities / Involvement

Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgery, Austrian Society for Surgery

Publications

  • Seifert L*, Werba G*, Tiwari S, Giao Ly NN, Alothman S, Alqunaibit D, Avanzi A, Barilla R, Daley D, Greco SH, Torres-Hernandez A, Pergamo M, Ochi A, Zambirinis CP, Pansari M, Rendon M, Tippens D, Hundeyin M, Mani VR, Hajdu C, Engle D, Miller G. The necrosome promotes pancreatic oncogenesis via CXCL1 and Mincle-induced immune suppression. Nature. 2016 Apr 14;532(7598):245-9. doi: 10.1038/nature17403. Epub 2016 Apr 6. PubMed PMID: 27049944; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4833566. * Authors contributed equally to this work
  • Seifert L, Werba G, Tiwari S, Giao Ly NN, Nguy S, Alothman S, Alqunaibit D, Avanzi A, Daley D, Barilla R, Tippens D, Torres-Hernandez A, Hundeyin M, Mani VR, Hajdu C, Pellicciotta I, Oh P, Du K, Miller G. Radiation Therapy Induces Macrophages to Suppress T-Cell Responses Against Pancreatic Tumors in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2016 Jun;150(7):1659-1672.e5. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.02.070. Epub 2016 Mar 3. PubMed PMID: 26946344; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4909514.
  • Werba G, Seifert L, Miller G. Necroptotic cell death - An unexpected driver of pancreatic oncogenesis. Cell Cycle. 2016 Aug 17;15(16):2095-2096. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2016.1191251. Epub 2016 May 31. PubMed PMID: 27245149; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4993539.
  • Diskin B, Adam S, Cassini MF, Sanchez G, Liria M, Aykut B, Buttar C, Li E, Sundberg B, Salas RD, Chen R, Wang J, Kim M, Farooq MS, Nguy S, Fedele C, Tang KH, Chen T, Wang W, Hundeyin M, Rossi JAK, Kurz E, Haq MIU, Karlen J, Kruger E, Sekendiz Z, Wu D, Shadaloey SAA, Baptiste G, Werba G, Selvaraj S, Loomis C, Wong KK, Leinwand J, Miller G. PD-L1 engagement on T cells promotes self-tolerance and suppression of neighboring macrophages and effector T cells in cancer. Nat Immunol. 2020 Apr;21(4):442-454. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0620-x. Epub 2020 Mar 9. PubMed PMID: 32152508.
  • Zettervall SL, Ju T, Holzmacher JL, Huysman B, Werba G, Sidawy A, Lin P, Vaziri K. Arterial, but Not Venous, Reconstruction Increases 30-Day Morbidity and Mortality in Pancreaticoduodenectomy. J Gastrointest Surg. 2020 Mar;24(3):578-584. doi: 10.1007/s11605-019-04211-2. Epub 2019 Apr 3. PubMed PMID: 30945084.
  • Hacker S, Dieplinger B, Werba G, Nickl S, Roth GA, Krenn CG, Mueller T, Ankersmit HJ, Haider T. Increased serum concentrations of soluble ST2 predict mortality after burn injury. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2018 Nov 27;56(12):2079-2087. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2018-0042. PubMed PMID: 29949506.
  • Kappel-Latif S, Zacherl J, Hejna M, Westerhoff M, Tamandl D, Ba-Ssalamah A, Mittlböck M, Wolf B, Wrba F, Kührer I, Pluschnig U, Schoppmann SF, Függer R, Zwrtek R, Glaser K, Karner J, Längle F, Wenzl E, Roka R, Öfner D, Tschmelitsch J, Hold M, Keil F, Gnant M, Kandioler D. • Pancho trial (p53-adapted neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable esophageal cancer) completed-mutation rate of the marker higher than expected. Eur Surg. 2018;50(4):160-166. doi: 10.1007/s10353-018-0527-z. Epub 2018 Jun 11. PubMed PMID: 30559831; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6290852.
  • Pushalkar S, Hundeyin M, Daley D, Zambirinis CP, Kurz E, Mishra A, Mohan N, Aykut B, Usyk M, Torres LE, Werba G, Zhang K, Guo Y, Li Q, Akkad N, Lall S, Wadowski B, Gutierrez J, Kochen Rossi JA, Herzog JW, Diskin B, Torres-Hernandez A, Leinwand J, Wang W, Taunk PS, Savadkar S, Janal M, Saxena A, Li X, Cohen D, Sartor RB, Saxena D, Miller G. The Pancreatic Cancer Microbiome Promotes Oncogenesis by Induction of Innate and Adaptive Immune Suppression. Cancer Discov. 2018 Apr;8(4):403-416. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-1134. Epub 2018 Mar 22. PubMed PMID: 29567829; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6225783.
  • Daley D, Mani VR, Mohan N, Akkad N, Pandian GSDB, Savadkar S, Lee KB, Torres-Hernandez A, Aykut B, Diskin B, Wang W, Farooq MS, Mahmud AI, Werba G, Morales EJ, Lall S, Wadowski BJ, Rubin AG, Berman ME, Narayanan R, Hundeyin M, Miller G. NLRP3 signaling drives macrophage-induced adaptive immune suppression in pancreatic carcinoma. J Exp Med. 2017 Jun 5;214(6):1711-1724. doi: 10.1084/jem.20161707. Epub 2017 Apr 25. PubMed PMID: 28442553; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5461004.
  • Daley D, Mani VR, Mohan N, Akkad N, Ochi A, Heindel DW, Lee KB, Zambirinis CP, Pandian GSB, Savadkar S, Torres-Hernandez A, Nayak S, Wang D, Hundeyin M, Diskin B, Aykut B, Werba G, Barilla RM, Rodriguez R, Chang S, Gardner L, Mahal LK, Ueberheide B, Miller G. Dectin 1 activation on macrophages by galectin 9 promotes pancreatic carcinoma and peritumoral immune tolerance. Nat Med. 2017 May;23(5):556-567. doi: 10.1038/nm.4314. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PubMed PMID: 28394331; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5419876.
  • Daley D, Zambirinis CP, Seifert L, Akkad N, Mohan N, Werba G, Barilla R, Torres-Hernandez A, Hundeyin M, Mani VRK, Avanzi A, Tippens D, Narayanan R, Jang JE, Newman E, Pillarisetty VG, Dustin ML, Bar-Sagi D, Hajdu C, Miller G. γδ T Cells Support Pancreatic Oncogenesis by Restraining αβ T Cell Activation. Cell. 2016 Sep 8;166(6):1485-1499.e15. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.07.046. Epub 2016 Aug 25. PubMed PMID: 27569912; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5017923.
  • Seifert L, Deutsch M, Alothman S, Alqunaibit D, Werba G, Pansari M, Pergamo M, Ochi A, Torres-Hernandez A, Levie E, Tippens D, Greco SH, Tiwari S, Ly NNG, Eisenthal A, van Heerden E, Avanzi A, Barilla R, Zambirinis CP, Rendon M, Daley D, Pachter HL, Hajdu C, Miller G. Dectin-1 Regulates Hepatic Fibrosis and Hepatocarcinogenesis by Suppressing TLR4 Signaling Pathways. Cell Rep. 2015 Dec 1;13(9):1909-1921. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.10.058. Epub 2015 Nov 19. PubMed PMID: 26655905; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4681001.
  • Koperek O, Aumayr K, Schindl M, Werba G, Soleiman A, Schoppmann S, Sahora K, Birner P. Phosphorylation of STAT3 correlates with HER2 status, but not with survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. APMIS. 2014 Jun;122(6):476-81. doi: 10.1111/apm.12194. Epub 2013 Oct 29. PubMed PMID: 24164699.
  • Sahora K, Schindl M, Kuehrer I, Eisenhut A, Werba G, Brostjan C, Telek B, Ba'ssalamah A, Stift J, Schoppmann SF, Gnant M. A phase II trial of two durations of Bevacizumab added to neoadjuvant gemcitabine for borderline and locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Anticancer Res. 2014 May;34(5):2377-84. PubMed PMID: 24778046.
  • Aumayr K, Soleiman A, Sahora K, Schindl M, Werba G, Schoppmann SF, Birner P. HER2 gene amplification and protein expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2014;22(2):146-52. doi: 10.1097/PAI.0b013e31828dc392. PubMed PMID: 23702645.
  • Mildner M, Hacker S, Haider T, Gschwandtner M, Werba G, Barresi C, Zimmermann M, Golabi B, Tschachler E, Ankersmit HJ. Secretome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells enhances wound healing. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e60103. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060103. Epub 2013 Mar 22. PubMed PMID: 23533667; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3606336.
  • Lichtenauer M, Mildner M, Werba G, Beer L, Hoetzenecker K, Baumgartner A, Hasun M, Nickl S, Mitterbauer A, Zimmermann M, Gyöngyösi M, Podesser BK, Klepetko W, Ankersmit HJ. Anti-thymocyte globulin induces neoangiogenesis and preserves cardiac function after experimental myocardial infarction. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e52101. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052101. Epub 2012 Dec 20. PubMed PMID: 23284885; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3527351.
  • Lichtenauer M, Mildner M, Baumgartner A, Hasun M, Werba G, Beer L, Altmann P, Roth G, Gyöngyösi M, Podesser BK, Ankersmit HJ. Intravenous and intramyocardial injection of apoptotic white blood cell suspensions prevents ventricular remodelling by increasing elastin expression in cardiac scar tissue after myocardial infarction. Basic Res Cardiol. 2011 Jun;106(4):645-55. doi: 10.1007/s00395-011-0173-0. Epub 2011 Mar 17. PubMed PMID: 21416207; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3105227.

Hometown

Neunkirchen, Austria

Personal Interests

Sports, Hiking, Computers and Technology, and Programming