Interrogates results of tumor DNA sequencing to infer the order of tumorigenic events during evolution of a tumor from initial insult to development of an invasinve cancer. Defines differences in progression between HPV-associated and other HNSCC.

Evaluates measures of intra-tumor heterogeneity, estrogen-receptor expression, and other potential biomarkers for their associations with HNSCC patient outcomes and potential implications for choice of therapy.

Examines ways to propagate cancer cells from patient tumors in vitro, and how well those methods and xenografting maintain the original diversity among those cells.

Sullivan FJ, Mroz EA, Miller RE. Electronic calibration for indocyanine dye-dilution curves. Am Heart J 1973; 85: 506-510

Sullivan FJ, Mroz EA, Miller RE. The precision of a special-purpose analog computer for cardiac output determination.  Ann Surg 1975; 181: 232-238

Mroz EA, Brownstein MJ, Leeman SE. Evidence for substance P in the habenulo-interpeduncular tract.  Brain Research 1976; 113: 597-599

Brownstein MJ, Mroz EA, Kizer JS, Palkovits M, Leeman SE. Regional distribution of substance P in the brain of the rat.  Brain Research 1976; 116: 299-305

Schenker C, Mroz EA, Leeman SE. Release of substance P from isolated nerve endings.  Nature 1976; 264: 790-792

Mroz EA, Brownstein MJ, Leeman SE. Evidence for substance P in the striatonigral tract.  Brain Research 1977; 125: 305-311

Brownstein MJ, Mroz EA, Tappaz ML, Leeman SE. On the origin of substance P and glutamic acid decarboxylase in the substantia nigra. Brain Research 1977; 135: 315-323

Gamse R, Mroz EA, Leeman SE, Lembeck F. The intestine as source of immunoreactive substance P in plasma of the cat. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Arch Pharmacol 1978; 305: 17-21

Palkovits M, Mroz EA, Brownstein MJ, Leeman SE. Descending substance P-containing pathway: a component of the ansa lenticularis.  Brain Research 1978; 156: 124-128

Guyenet PG, Mroz EA, Aghajanian GK, Leeman SE. Iontophoretic ejection of substance P from glass micropipets--correlation with time-course of neuronal excitation in vivo. Neuropharmacology 1979; 18: 553-558

Nutt JG, Mroz EA, Leeman SE, Williams AC, Engel WK, Chase TN. Substance P in human cerebrospinal fluid: reductions in peripheral neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction.  Neurology 1980; 30: 1280-1285

Mroz EA, Lechene C. Fluorescence analysis of picoliter samples. Analyt Biochem 1980; 102: 90-96

Graber ML, Bengele HH, Mroz E, Lechene C, Alexander EA. Acute metabolic acidosis augments collecting duct acidification rate in the rat.  Am J Physiol 1981; 241: F669-F676

Mroz EA, Roman RJ, Lechene C.  Fluorescence assay for picomole quantities of ammonia. Kidney International 1982; 21: 524-527

Mroz EA, Lechene, C. An NADH-coupled assay for femtogram or nanogram quantities of chymotrypsin. Analyt Biochem 1983; 128: 181-185

Leese, HJ, Biggers, JD, Mroz, EA, Lechene, C. Nucleotides in a single mammalian ovum or preimplantation embryo.  Analyt Biochem 1984; 140: 443-448

Mroz EA, Lechene C. Pancreatic zymogen granules differ markedly in protein composition. Science 1986; 232: 871-873

Adams JC, Mroz EA, Sewell WF. A possible neurotransmitter role for CGRP in a hair-cell sensory organ. Brain Research 1987; 419: 347-351

Sweeney TK, Mroz EA, Sewell WF. Isolation and culture of auditory cells from the goldfish (Carassius auratus). Hearing Research 1987; 28: 153-160

Sewell WF, Mroz EA. Neuroactive substances in inner ear extracts. J Neuroscience 1987; 7: 2465-2475

Mroz EA, Sewell WF. Pharmacological alterations of the activity of afferent fibers innervating hair cells. Hearing Research 1989; 38: 141-162

Sewell WF, Mroz EA. Purification of a low-molecular-weight excitatory substance from the inner ears of goldfish. Hearing Research 1990; 50:127-137

Mroz EA, Nissim KR, Lechene C. Electron-probe analysis of isolated goldfish hair cells: implications for preparing healthy cells. Hearing Research 1993; 70:9-21

Mroz EA, Nissim KR, Lechene C. Rapid resting ion fluxes in goldfish hair cells are balanced by (Na+,K+)-ATPase. Hearing Research 1993; 70:22-30

Sewell WF, Mroz EA. Flavin-adenine dinucleotide is a major endogenous fluorophore in hair cells of the inner ear. Hearing Research 1993; 70: 131-138

Mroz EA, Lechene C. Calcium and magnesium transport by isolated goldfish hair cells. Hearing Research 1993; 70: 139-145

Mroz EA, Lechene C. Extracellular N-methyl-d-glucamine leads to loss of hair-cell sodium, potassium, and chloride. Hearing Research 1993; 70: 146-150

Sewell WF, Mroz EA, Evans JE. Extracts of retina and brain that excite afferent fibers in nervating hair cells contain a compound related to hydroxyphenylglycine-N-carbamoyl. Synapse 2005; 58: 129-40

Mroz EA, Baird AH, Michaud WA, Rocco JW. COOH-terminal binding protein regulates expression of the p16INK4A tumor suppressor and senescence in primary human cells. Cancer Res 2008; 68: 6049-53

Michaud WA*, Nichols AC*, Mroz EA*, Faquin WC, Clark JR, Begum S, Westra WH, Wada H, Busse PM, Ellisen LW, Rocco JW. Bcl-2 blocks cisplatin-induced apoptosis and predicts poor outcome following chemoradiation treatment in advanced oropharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 2009; 15: 1645-54. *co-first authors

Nichols AC, Faquin WC, Westra WH, Mroz EA, Begum S, Clark JR, Rocco JW. HPV-16 infection predicts treatment outcome in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2009; 140: 228-34

Nichols AC, Finkelstein DM, Faquin WC, Westra WH, Mroz EA, Kneuertz P, Begum S, Michaud WA, Busse PM, Clark JR,  Rocco JW. Bcl2 and HPV16 as predictors of outcome following concurrent chemoradiation for advanced oropharyngeal cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2010; 16: 2138-2146

Mroz EA, Rocco JW. MATH, a novel measure of intratumor genetic heterogeneity, is high in poor-outcome classes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oral Oncol 2013; 49: 211-5.

Mroz EA, Tward AD, Pickering CR, Myers JN, Ferris RL, Rocco JW. High intratumor genetic heterogeneity is related to worse outcome in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer 2013; 119: 3034-42

Mroz EA, Tward AD, Hammon RJ, Ren Y, Rocco JW. Intra-tumor Genetic Heterogeneity and Mortality in Head and Neck Cancer: Analysis of Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. PLOS Medicine Feb. 10, 2015; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001786

Keenan T, Moy B, Mroz EA, Ross K, Niemierko A, Rocco JW, Isakoff S, Ellisen LW, Bardia A. Comparison of the Genomic Landscape Between Primary Breast Cancer in African American Versus White Women and the Association of Racial Differences With Tumor Recurrence. J Clin Oncol. 2015 Nov 1;33(31):3621-7. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2015.62.2126. Epub 2015 Sep 14. PMID: 26371147; PMCID: PMC4979243.

Puram SV, Tirosh I, Parikh AS, Patel AP, Yizhak K, Gillespie S, Rodman C, Luo CL, Mroz EA, Emerick KS, Deschler DG, Varvares MA, Mylvaganam R, Rozenblatt-Rosen O, Rocco JW, Faquin WC, Lin DT, Regev A, Bernstein BE. Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Primary and Metastatic Tumor Ecosystems in Head and Neck Cancer. Cell. 2017 Dec 14;171(7):1611-1624.e24. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.10.044. Epub 2017 Nov 30. PMID: 29198524; PMCID: PMC5878932.

Koenigs MB, Lefranc-Torres A, Bonilla-Velez J, Patel KB, Hayes DN, Glomski K, Busse PM, Chan AW, Clark JR, Deschler DG, Emerick KS, Hammon RJ, Wirth LJ, Lin DT, Mroz EA, Faquin WC, Rocco JW. Association of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Expression With Survival in Oropharyngeal Cancer Following Chemoradiation Therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019 Sep 1;111(9):933-942. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djy224. PMID: 30715409; PMCID: PMC6748818.

Mroz EA, Patel KB, Rocco JW. Intratumor heterogeneity could inform the use and type of postoperative adjuvant therapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer. 2020 Jan 1;126(9):1895-1904. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32742. Epub 2020 Feb 21. PMID: 32083741; PMCID: PMC7160035.

Lancione PJ, Kumar B, Zhao S, Mroz EA, Brock G, Rocco JW, Carrau RL, Agrawal A, Seim N, Kang SY, Ozer E, Old MO. A potential protective effect of metformin in adenoid cystic carcinoma. Oral Oncol. 2020 Aug;107:104726. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.104726. Epub 2020 May 7. PMID: 32388409.

Rygalski CJ, Zhao S, Eskander A, Zhan KY, Mroz EA, Brock G, Silverman DA, Blakaj D, Bonomi MR, Carrau RL, Old MO, Rocco JW, Seim NB, Puram SV, Kang SY. Time to Surgery and Survival in Head and Neck Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol. 2021 Feb;28(2):877-885. doi: 10.1245/s10434-020-09326-4. Epub 2020 Nov 13. PMID: 33188461; PMCID: PMC7664584.

Patel KB, Mroz EA, Faquin WC, Rocco JW. A combination of intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity, estrogen receptor alpha and human papillomavirus status predicts outcomes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma following chemoradiotherapy. Oral Oncol. 2021 Sep;120:105421. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105421. Epub 2021 Jun 29. PMID: 34198234.

Leeman SE, Mroz EA. Substance P. Life Sci 1974; 15: 2033-2044

Mroz EA, Leeman SE. Substance P. Vitamins and Hormones 1977; 35: 209-281

Mroz, EA. Possible role of carbamates in neurotoxicity and neurotransmitter inactivation. Science 1989; 243: 1613

Mroz, EA, Rocco JW. RNA interference: natural, experimental, and clinical roles in cancer biology. Head Neck 2006; 28: 1132-41

Mroz EA, Rocco JW. Functional p53 status as a biomarker for chemotherapy response in oral-cavity cancer. J Clin Oncol 2010; 28: 715-7

Mroz EA, Forastiere AA, Rocco JW. Implications of the oropharyngeal cancer epidemic. J Clin Oncol. 2011; 29: 4222-3

Mroz EA, Rocco JW. Gene expression analysis as a tool in early-stage oral cancer management. J Clin Oncol. 2012; 30: 4053-5

Bonilla-Velez J, Mroz EA, Hammon RJ, Rocco JW. Impact of human papillomavirus on oropharyngeal cancer biology and response to therapy: implications for treatment. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2013; 46:521-43

Mroz EA, Rocco JW. The challenges of tumor genetic diversity. Cancer. 2017 May 15;123(6):917-927. doi: 10.1002/cncr.30430. Epub 2016 Nov 8. PMID: 27861749 ; PMCID: PMC5370554.

Mroz EA, Rocco JW. Intra-tumor heterogeneity in head and neck cancer and its clinical implications. World J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2016 Jun;2(2):60-67. doi: 10.1016/j.wjorl.2016.05.007. Epub 2016 Jul 22. PMID: 28642939; PMCID: PMC5477669.

Li MM, Mroz EA, Faquin WC, Lott-Limbach A, Rocco JW. ERα: A biomarker and treatment target for oropharyngeal cancer? Oral Oncol. 2022 Jan;124:105637. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105637. Epub 2021 Nov 30. PMID: 34857487.

Research Associate Professor, 2015 – 2020 
Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery
The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

Assistant to Associate Professor of Physiology, 1982 – 2015
Department of Otolaryngology
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA