Ian Mellis, MD, PhD

Pathology - Anatomic & Clinical
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Overview

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at CUMC

Administrative Titles

  • Assistant Director, NYP/Columbia Cellular Therapy Laboratory

Hospital Affiliations

  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Gender

  • Male

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Location(s)

CUIMC/Harkness Pavilion
180 Fort Washington Avenue
New York, NY 10032
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Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MD, University of Pennsylvania
  • PhD, Genomics and Computational Biology: University of Pennsylvania
  • Residency: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
  • Fellowship: New York Blood Center

Board Certifications

  • Pathology - Clinical

Honors & Awards

  • 2024: Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award, ACLPS, New York, NY
  • 2021: Dr. Roy G. Williams Award, University of Pennsylvania

Research

My research spans a broad range of topics related to gene and cell therapies, pathogenic viruses, and adaptive immune responses. We integrate diverse approaches from the fields of molecular systems biology, virology, and immunology to study gene regulation, build methods for genetic engineering, characterize virus evolution, propose vaccine candidates, engineer gene therapies, and mitigate immune responses that interfere with gene and cell therapies.

Selected Publications

(* = Co-first author; # = Co-corresponding author)

  • Mellis, I.A.*, Wu, M.*, Hong, H.*, Tzang, C.-C.*, Bowen, A.*, Wang, Q., Gherasim, C., Pierce, V.M., Shah, J.G., Purpura, L.J., Yin, M.T., Gordon, A., Guo, Y., Ho, D.D., 2025. Antibody evasion and receptor binding of SARS-CoV-2 LP.8.1.1, NB.1.8.1, XFG, and related subvariants. Cell Rep. 44, 116440.
  • Zambrana, J.V.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Shotwell, A., Maier, H.E., Saborio, Y., Barillas, C., Lopez, R., Vasquez, G., Plazaola, M., Sanchez, N., Ojeda, S., Gilbertson, I., Kuan, G., Wang, Q., Liu, L., Balmaseda, A., Ho, D.D., Gordon, A., 2025. Variant-specific antibody correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron symptomatic overall infections. medRxiv. 2025.02.11.25322066 (Accepted, Nature Communications)
  • Wang, Q.*, Guo, Y.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Wu, M.*, Mohri, H., Gherasim, C., Valdez, R., Purpura, L.J., Yin, M.T., Gordon, A., Ho, D.D., 2025. Antibody evasiveness of SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.3.1.1 and XEC. Cell Rep. 44, 115543.
  • Wang, Q.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Wu, M.*, Bowen, A.*, Gherasim, C., Valdez, R., Shah, J.G., Purpura, L.J., Yin, M.T., Gordon, A., Guo, Y., Ho, D.D., 2025. KP.2-based monovalent mRNA vaccines robustly boost antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2. Lancet Infect. Dis. 25, e133–e134.
  • Wang, Q.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Ho, J.*, Bowen, A.*, Kowalski-Dobson, T., Valdez, R., Katsamba, P.S., Wu, M., Lee, C., Shapiro, L., Gordon, A., Guo, Y., Ho, D.D., Liu, L., 2024. Recurrent SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations confer growth advantages to select JN.1 sublineages. Emerg. Microbes Infect. 13, 2402880.
  • Mellis, I.A.#, Melzer, M.E., Bodkin, N., Goyal, Y.#, 2024. Prevalence of and gene regulatory constraints on transcriptional adaptation in single cells. Genome Biol. 25, 217. (Featured in CUIMC News)
  • Wang, Q.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Guo, Y.*, Gherasim, C., Valdez, R., Gordon, A., Ho, D.D., Liu, L., 2024. Robust SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies sustained through 6 months post XBB.1.5 mRNA vaccine booster. Cell Rep. Med. 5, 101701.
  • Wang, Q.*, Guo, Y.*, Bowen, A.*, Mellis, I.A.*, Valdez, R., Gherasim, C., Gordon, A., Liu, L., Ho, D.D., 2024. XBB.1.5 monovalent mRNA vaccine booster elicits robust neutralizing antibodies against XBB subvariants and JN.1. Cell Host Microbe 32, 315-321.e3.
  • Mellis, I.A., Edelstein, H.I., Truitt, R., Goyal, Y., Beck, L.E., Symmons, O., Dunagin, M.C., Linares Saldana, R.A., Shah, P.P., Pérez-Bermejo, J.A., Padmanabhan, A., Yang, W., Jain, R., Raj, A., 2021. Responsiveness to perturbations is a hallmark of transcription factors that maintain cell identity in vitro. Cell Syst. 12, 885-899.e8.
  • Mellis, I.A., Gupte, R., Raj, A., Rouhanifard, S.H., 2017. Visualizing adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing in single mammalian cells. Nat. Methods 14, 801–804.