The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE)

My work at University of Iowa gravitated around RNA technologies, RNAi and aptamers. During this appointment I gained valuable expertise in RNA isolation and purification, flow cytometry, microscopy, cell-based assays (to assess proliferation, apoptosis, and motility), mouse models of cancer and development of targeted imaging technologies for cancer. Specifically, I developed/employed RNA chemistries for linking functional groups (e.g. fluorophores, toxins) on RNA aptamers and aptamer-siRNA chimeras, I developed several mouse models of metastatic cancer (breast and prostate), I identified and characterized potent siRNAs against cancer pro-survival genes, identified and characterized RNA aptamers with affinity and specificity to Her2 and EphA2 and developed cell-based assays for characterizing cell-specific, cell-internalizing aptamers. Moreover, I gained knowledge and trained in evaluate the in vivo biodistribution, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of RNA aptamers in animal models of metastatic prostate cancer using bioluminescence and fluorescence. In this sense, I developed RNA aptamer-NIR dye conjugates for in vivo targeted imaging of disseminated prostate cancer cells that express the target antigen PSMA on the cell surface.Other responsibilities: Manager of Radiation Safety Laboratory Procedures and Animal Protocols for Research. Mouse histopathology and necropsy.

The main focus of my work was the development of a microfluidic-based device to investigate circulating cells (white blood cells) and their potential as carriers of biomarkers suitable for discriminating patients with an increased risk of developing unstable plaques (in atherosclerosis). During my postdoc at Tu/e I designed and developed microfluidic-based devices to interrogate mechanical properties of monocytes.

My doctoral research at MSU entailed the development of microfluidic-based devices for bioanalytical applications. Specifically, my work applied the recent developments in microfabrication technology to create a Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) mimic with blood components using lithographically-derived microchips in order to monitor the fate of endothelium-derived NO that is stimulated by mechanically deformed red blood cells (RBCs). The work shows that an array of endothelial cells, addressable by an underlying microfluidic network of channels containing RBCs, can be employed as an in vitro model of the in vivo circulation to monitor cellular communication between different cell types. Results obtained from this array suggest that the ability of iloprost, a stable analogue of prostacyclin, to stimulate NO production in endothelial cells, may be due to its ability to stimulate ATP release from the red cell. These results provide evidence that the described device may serve as a controlled, in vitro platform for performing in vivo-type measurements.Moreover, this device was successfully used in a study that attempts to classify the possible role of prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) (a peptide that stimulate the release of prolactin from the pituitary gland) in regulating the vascular tone by decreasing the endothelium-derived NO production through a decrease in ATP.

M.S. degree in Computational Chemistry