Sunil R. Hingorani

Sunil R. Hingorani, MD, PhD is Professor in the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He is a physician-scientist who has made foundational contributions to understanding and therapeutically targeting the formidable desmoplastic stroma that characterizes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Dr. Hingorani's laboratory discovered that hyaluronan (HA) — an extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan — accumulates to exceptionally high levels in PDAC, where it compresses blood vessels, drives elevated interstitial fluid pressure, and creates a physical barrier preventing the delivery of chemotherapy and immune cells to the tumor. To address this barrier, his laboratory developed and translated PEGPH20 (pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20), an enzymatic approach to degrade HA and normalize tumor vasculature, enabling dramatically improved drug delivery in preclinical PDAC models. Dr. Hingorani led or collaborated on multiple clinical trials of PEGPH20 in metastatic PDAC (HALO trials), demonstrating biological proof-of-concept for stromal HA depletion in patients. He is also widely recognized for his contributions to genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) of PDAC, particularly studies using the KPC model (LSL-Kras^G12D; LSL-Trp53^R172H; Pdx1-Cre) to elucidate the molecular biology of PDAC initiation, progression, and metastasis. His work has deeply influenced the field's conceptual understanding of how PDAC stroma is not merely a bystander but an active driver of treatment resistance and tumor progression.