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from clinicians and researchers
Our Mentors
Nathalie Y.R. Agar, MD
Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Develops & validates mass spectrometry imaging methodologies to study neuro-oncology and guide the care of patients affected by brain cancer. Students will have the opportunity to image drug and metabolite transit through the blood-brain barrier in pre-clinical animal models and clinical trial patients treated with targeted therapy, with the goal of developing new brain-penetrating agents.
Kenneth C. Anderson, MD
Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Focuses on translational research in multiple myeloma. Students will have the opportunity to characterize factors in the marrow microenvironment which allow tumor cell homing, growth and resistance to apoptosis in the marrow millieu in order to identify and validate next-generation novel small molecule and immune targeted therapies.
Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, MPH
Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Develops novel therapeutics for malignant primary brain tumors. Students will have the opportunity to image and characterize tumor markers of sensitivity and resistance to anti-angiogenic therapeutics, with the goal of defining and exploiting alternative pro-angiogenic targets.
Ross I Berbeco, PhD
Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Performs theoretical and experimental studies of systemically administered nanoparticles and their role in enhancing radiation therapy for cancer treatment. Students will have the opportunity to functionalize these particles with tumor-specific targeting moieties and study how this leads to localized disruption of the tumor vasculature.
Cesar M. Castro, MD
Director, Cancer Program - MGH Center for Systems Biology
Bridges current needs in clinical oncology with novel nanosensing technologies to selectively detect and profile cancer cells and tissues. Students will examine the feasibility of using magneto-DNA nanoparticles to characterize rare cancer cells in unpurified human clinical samples including ascites and blood.
Ciprian Catana, MD, PhD
Radiology, MGH
Seeks to improve the quantification of the PET data using the simultaneously acquired MR information in integrated MR-PET scanners. Students will have the opportunity to use advanced MR-PET methods to study the delivery, mechanism of action and effects of therapeutic agents in cancer patients.
Yolonda Colson, MD
Thoracic Surgery, MGH
Focuses on approaches to re-educate the recipient immune system for the induction of permanent donor-specific tolerance while maintaining recipient immunocompetence. Other active research interests are involved in the study of the role of innate immunity in chronic rejection of human lung allografts and local therapies for the treatment of lung cancer.
James A. DeCaprio, MD
Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Studies host cell proteins that interact with polyoma virus oncoproteins using targeted mouse models. Students will study host perturbations following the systemic administration of synthetic viral nano-complexes in order to identify novel tumor suppressors and oncogenes in Merkel cell carcinoma.
Daniela M. Dinulescu, PhD
Pathology, Brigham And Women's Hospital
Focuses on the biology of ovarian cancer and endometriosis, with a strong interest in cancer genomics, proteomics, rational drug design, targeted therapies, early detection, and prevention. Students will work on developing “homing” nanoparticles that selectively target and sensitize ovarian cancer cells to chemotherapy.
Georges El Fakhri, PhD
Director, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, MGH
Pioneers novel approaches and contrast agents for quantitative multi-modal imaging. Students will use quantitative methods to characterize and optimize the analysis of experimental nanoparticle-based imaging agents used in vivo.
Dai Fukumura, MD, PhD
Deputy Director, Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, MGH
Studies host-tumor interaction in angiogenesis, vascular function, tumor growth, and response to treatment. Students will combine intravital microscopy and fluorescent gene reporter systems to develop novel anti-tumor therapies.
Irene M. Ghobrial, MD
Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Focuses on identifying mechanisms of Multiple Myeloma progression, including autonomous cells and those dependent on the bone marrow niche. We examine genetic and epigenetic alterations that regulate tumor dissemination and the role of the bone marrow niche in disease progression from early precursor stages to active Multiple Myeloma.
William C. Hahn, MD, PhD
Chief Operating Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Studies cooperative genetic alterations that program malignant transformation and develops experimental model systems to study specific genetic alterations. Students will use therapeutic tumor-penetrating siRNA nanocomplexes to identify, validate, and understand potential therapeutic cancer.
Mukesh Harisinghani, MD
Director, Abdominal MRI, MGH
We develop magnetic nanoparticle-based platforms for use as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents in cancer diagnosis. Students will have the opportunity to study nanoparticle-enhanced MRI data from clinical trials in order to improve the detection of lymph node metastases.
Tayyaba Hasan, PhD
Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Develops novel targeted therapeutic agents for the photodynamic therapy of cancer, infections, and infectious disease through site-directed photochemistry. Students will participate in the design and testing of photoactivatable nanoparticles for the treatment of ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, or head and neck cancer.
Pasi A. Janne, MD
Director, Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Integrates bench-based studies with clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents. Students will test anti-cancer drugs in cells and tissues harvested from lung cancer patients, with the long-term goal of developing a rationale for individualizing patient therapy based on mutations.
Anne Klibanski, MD
Neuroendocrinology, MGH
Studies the pathogenesis and hormone regulation of pituitary tumors, with the goal of identifying more effective therapies for endocrine tumor treatment. Students will have the opportunity to test and validate new therapeutic strategies in vitro, as well as analyze clinical trial data.
Judy Lieberman, MD, PhD
Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital
Studies how RNA interference regulates and dysregulates cell differentiation in order to develop new drugs to treat or prevent cancer. Students will characterize anti-cancer therapeutics comprised of membrane-anchored lipoproteins that are incorporated into siRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles.
Umar Mahmood, MD, PhD
Radiology, MGH
Develops molecular imaging tools for cancer treatment and treatment monitoring. Students will have the opportunity to create and validate new imaging probes, develop cell and animal models with clinically relevant pathologies, and aid in the clinical translation of successful technologies.
G. Mike Makrigiorgos, PhD
Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Applies nanoparticle-based approaches for DNA molecular diagnostics, PCR-based detection of DNA alterations, as well as the enrichment and identification of cancer biomarkers from blood-circulating DNA/RNA. We also combine site-specific image-guided irradiation with nanoparticle based approaches for enhancing detection of circulating biomarkers via ‘liquid biopsy’.
Nathan McDannold, Ph.D.
Radiology, Brigham And Women's Hospital
Develops drug delivery strategies that utilize focused-ultrasound and microbubbles to increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Students will assess and optimize chemotherapy delivery and drug retention following ultrasound-induced brain tumor permeability enhancement.
Zdravka Medarova, PhD
Neuroimaging, MGH
Develops and tests multi-functional imaging and delivery vehicles for combined cancer imaging and therapy. More recently, our lab developed magnetic nanoparticles as delivery vehicles of miRNA-targeted therapy to breast tumors.
Wilfred Ngwa, PhD
Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Integrates research, clinical service, and teaching in Radiation Oncology, with current focus on developing smart biomaterials (Tiny drones to Target cancer) designed to boost local and metastatic tumor cell kill with minimal collateral damage or side effects.
Brendan D. Price, PhD
Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Studies the signaling systems utilized by cancer cells to detect DNA damage and deactivate cell cycle checkpoints. Students will have the opportunity to use new tools including Zinc Finger Nucleases and CRISPR coupled with Chromatin Immunoprecipitation to study how altered chromatin organization can lead to resistance to cancer therapy.
Jinjun Shi, PhD
Anaesthesia, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Our lab has extensive experience in the research fields of nanomedicine and biomaterials, and has developed many multifunctional nanoparticle platforms for the delivery of therapeutic small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids.
Timothy A. Springer, PhD
Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital
Studies receptor-ligand interactions and transmembrane signaling, with the goal of improving receptor-specific therapeutics for cancer. Students will investigate how integrins and TGF-β1 can be utilized as potential immuno-oncology targets.
Srinivas Sridhar, PhD
Physics, Northeastern University
Specializes in the development of nanoplatforms for cancer drug delivery and multi-modal contrast agents for simultaneous clinical imaging. Students will explore how multi-functional nanoparticles can offer potential benefits in wide range of applications such as in sensing, diagnostics, drug delivery, and image enhancement.
Annick D. van den Abbeele, MD
Imaging, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Imaging, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Ralph Weissleder, MD, PhD
Radiology, MGH
Applies novel imaging and sensing techniques to measure major protein and network hubs of interest in a quantitative and predictive manner. Students will combine advanced microscopic imaging with systemically injectable nanoparticle-based sensors to perform quantitative single cell analysis of cancers during drug treatments in vivo.
Catherine J. Wu, MD
Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Identifies novel immune targets for immune-based therapy of hematologic malignancies. Students will have opportunity to develop and test nanoparticle-based vaccines, alone and in combination with other immunotherapies for cancer treatment.
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