Nicholas O. Markham, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

nicholas.o.markham.2@vanderbilt.edu

Visit Lab Site


Faculty Appointments
Assistant Professor of Medicine Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Education
M.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TennesseePh.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TennesseeB.A., Biochemistry, Colby College, Waterville, Maine
Research Description
The Markham Lab investigates how changes in the gut microbiome affect colorectal cancer and gastrointestinal infections. We are actively looking for new graduate students and post-docs to join the team! Specific projects involve single-cell RNA-sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and multiplex immunofluorescence to determine mechanisms of microbial-induced epithelial transformation in the colon. We also use mice and 3D tissue culturing of murine and human organoids to study mechanisms of C. difficile toxin pathogenesis and microbe-driven carcinogenesis.
Clinical Description
I am a general gastroenterologist with a focused clinical practice at the VA endoscopy lab in Nashville, TN.
Research Keywords
Colorectal cancer, C. difficile, cancer biology, microbiome, transcriptomics, organoids, microbial toxin pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions,
Clinical Research Keywords
Gastroenterology, Endoscopy, Polypectomy, Colorectal Cancer
Publications
Lunnemann HM, Shealy NG, Reyzer ML, Shupe JA, Green EH, Siddiqi U, Lacy DB, Byndloss MX, Markham NO. Cecum axis (CecAx) preservation reveals physiological and pathological gradients in mouse gastrointestinal epithelium. Gut Microbes. 2023; 15(1): 2185029. PMID: 36872510, PMCID: PMC10012889, DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2185029, ISSN: 1949-0984.

Drewes JL, Chen J, Markham NO, Knippel RJ, Domingue JC, Tam AJ, Chan JL, Kim L, McMann M, Stevens C, Dejea CM, Tomkovich S, Michel J, White JR, Mohammad F, Campodónico VL, Heiser CN, Wu X, Wu S, Ding H, Simner P, Carroll K, Shrubsole MJ, Anders RA, Walk ST, Jobin C, Wan F, Coffey RJ, Housseau F, Lau KS, Sears CL. Human Colon Cancer-Derived Clostridioides difficile Strains Drive Colonic Tumorigenesis in Mice. Cancer Discov. 2022 Aug 8/5/2022; 12(8): 1873-85. PMID: 35678528, PMCID: PMC9357196, PII: 700781, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-1273, ISSN: 2159-8290.

Chen B, Scurrah CR, McKinley ET, Simmons AJ, Ramirez-Solano MA, Zhu X, Markham NO, Heiser CN, Vega PN, Rolong A, Kim H, Sheng Q, Drewes JL, Zhou Y, Southard-Smith AN, Xu Y, Ro J, Jones AL, Revetta F, Berry LD, Niitsu H, Islam M, Pelka K, Hofree M, Chen JH, Sarkizova S, Ng K, Giannakis M, Boland GM, Aguirre AJ, Anderson AC, Rozenblatt-Rosen O, Regev A, Hacohen N, Kawasaki K, Sato T, Goettel JA, Grady WM, Zheng W, Washington MK, Cai Q, Sears CL, Goldenring JR, Franklin JL, Su T, Huh WJ, Vandekar S, Roland JT, Liu Q, Coffey RJ, Shrubsole MJ, Lau KS. Differential pre-malignant programs and microenvironment chart distinct paths to malignancy in human colorectal polyps. Cell [print-electronic]. 2021 Dec 12/22/2021; 184(26): 6262-6280.e26. PMID: 34910928, PMCID: PMC8941949, PII: S0092-8674(21)01381-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.031, ISSN: 1097-4172.

Monaghan TM, Seekatz AM, Markham NO, Yau TO, Hatziapostolou M, Jilani T, Christodoulou N, Roach B, Birli E, Pomenya O, Louie T, Lacy DB, Kim P, Lee C, Kao D, Polytarchou C. Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection Associates With Functional Alterations in Circulating microRNAs. Gastroenterology [print-electronic]. 2021 Jul; 161(1): 255-270.e4. PMID: 33844988, PMCID: PMC8579492, PII: S0016-5085(21)00577-1, DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.03.050, ISSN: 1528-0012.

Marincola Smith P, Choksi YA, Markham NO, Hanna DN, Zi J, Weaver CJ, Hamaamen JA, Lewis KB, Yang J, Liu Q, Kaji I, Means AL, Beauchamp RD. Colon epithelial cell TGFß signaling modulates the expression of tight junction proteins and barrier function in mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol [print-electronic]. 2021 Jun 6/1/2021; 320(6): G936-G957. PMID: 33759564, PMCID: PMC8285585, DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.00053.2021, ISSN: 1522-1547.

Markham NO, Bloch SC, Shupe JA, Laubacher EN, Thomas AK, Kroh HK, Childress KO, Peritore-Galve FC, Washington MK, Coffey RJ, Lacy DB. Murine Intrarectal Instillation of Purified Recombinant Clostridioides difficile Toxins Enables Mechanistic Studies of Pathogenesis. Infect Immun [electronic-print]. 2021 Mar 3/17/2021; 89(4): PMID: 33468584, PMCID: PMC8090962, PII: IAI.00543-20, DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00543-20, ISSN: 1098-5522.

Macedonia MC, Drewes JL, Markham NO, Simmons AJ, Roland JT, Vega PN, Scurrah CR, Coffey RJ, Shrubsole MJ, Sears CL, Lau KS. Clinically adaptable polymer enables simultaneous spatial analysis of colonic tissues and biofilms. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2020 Sep 9/24/2020; 6(1): 33. PMID: 32973205, PMCID: PMC7518420, PII: 10.1038/s41522-020-00143-x, DOI: 10.1038/s41522-020-00143-x, ISSN: 2055-5008.

Cao Z, Singh B, Li C, Markham NO, Carrington LJ, Franklin JL, Graves-Deal R, Kennedy EJ, Goldenring JR, Coffey RJ. Protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of naked cuticle homolog 2 stimulates cell-surface delivery of transforming growth factor-a for epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation. Traffic. 2019 May; 20(5): 357-68. PMID: 30941853, PMCID: PMC6618044, DOI: 10.1111/tra.12642, ISSN: 1600-0854.

Markham NO, Naik RD, Roberts JA, Yachimski PS. A case of hepatic Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosed by transgastric biopsy. Gastrointest Endosc [print-electronic]. 2018 Jul; 88(1): 188-9. PMID: 29223384, PMCID: PMC5988905, PII: S0016-5107(17)32533-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.gie.2017.12.007, ISSN: 1097-6779.

Yu HH, Dohn MR, Markham NO, Coffey RJ, Reynolds AB. P120-catenin controls contractility along the vertical axis of epithelial lateral membranes. J Cell Sci [print-electronic]. 2016 Jan 1/1/2016; 129(1): 80-94. PMID: 26585313, PMCID: PMC4732297, PII: jcs.177550, DOI: 10.1242/jcs.177550, ISSN: 1477-9137.

Markham NO, Doll CA, Dohn MR, Miller RK, Yu H, Coffey RJ, McCrea PD, Gamse JT, Reynolds AB. DIPA-family coiled-coils bind conserved isoform-specific head domain of p120-catenin family: potential roles in hydrocephalus and heterotopia. Mol Biol Cell [print-electronic]. 2014 Sep 9/1/2014; 25(17): 2592-603. PMID: 25009281, PMCID: PMC4148249, PII: mbc.E13-08-0492, DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E13-08-0492, ISSN: 1939-4586.

Meredith MM, Parry EM, Guay JA, Markham NO, Danner GR, Johnson KA, Barkay T, Fekete FA. Concomitant antibiotic and mercury resistance among gastrointestinal microflora of feral brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. Curr Microbiol [print-electronic]. 2012 Nov; 65(5): 575-82. PMID: 22850694, PMCID: PMC3737579, DOI: 10.1007/s00284-012-0194-4, ISSN: 1432-0991.

Markham NO, Cooper T, Goff M, Gribben EM, Carnahan RH, Reynolds AB. Monoclonal antibodies to DIPA: a novel binding partner of p120-catenin isoform 1. Hybridoma (Larchmt). 2012 Aug; 31(4): 246-54. PMID: 22894777, PMCID: PMC3420552, DOI: 10.1089/hyb.2012.0009, ISSN: 1557-8348.

Barrett CW, Smith JJ, Lu LC, Markham N, Stengel KR, Short SP, Zhang B, Hunt AA, Fingleton BM, Carnahan RH, Engel ME, Chen X, Beauchamp RD, Wilson KT, Hiebert SW, Reynolds AB, Williams CS. Kaiso directs the transcriptional corepressor MTG16 to the Kaiso binding site in target promoters. PLoS One [print-electronic]. 2012; 7(12): e51205. PMID: 23251453, PMCID: PMC3521008, PII: PONE-D-12-22965, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051205, ISSN: 1932-6203.

Stefanovic M, Markham NO, Parry EM, Garrett-Beal LJ, Cline AP, Gallagher PG, Low PS, Bodine DM. An 11-amino acid beta-hairpin loop in the cytoplasmic domain of band 3 is responsible for ankyrin binding in mouse erythrocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A [print-electronic]. 2007 Aug 8/28/2007; 104(35): 13972-7. PMID: 17715300, PMCID: PMC1950715, PII: 0706266104, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0706266104, ISSN: 0027-8424.

Available Postdoctoral Position Details
Posted: 11/14/2023

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Microbiome

We have an immediate opening for a postdoctoral fellowship in the Markham Lab. The project opportunities extend from recent work identifying C. difficile as a component of the human colorectal cancer microenvironment. (Drewes, Chen, Markham, et al. 2022 Cancer Discovery). Our investigations examine the role of C. difficile toxins using mouse models of colonic neoplasia and human 3D organoids. Individuals with expertise in mouse modeling, tissue culture, and high-resolution microscopy are particularly desired. Familiarity with modern methods of high-dimensional computational analysis for multiplex spatial data is desirable. Experience working in teams and the ability to apply independent management skills are important. Long-term funding is secure, along with a highly competitive salary and fringe benefits. Those interested should send a CV and cover letter to Nick Markham (nick.markham@vumc.org).