Profiles

My group aims to advance the understanding of fundamental biological processes at the interface between metabolic and signal transduction networks in cancer, immune cells, and stromal cells and leverage this knowledge to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. We have established a highly integrated research program, including state-of-the-art instrumentation for both Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Mass Spectrometry platforms (for metabolomics, proteomics, and phosphoproteomics), as well as an interdisciplinary team of investigators at UCLA and other institutions, with expertise in molecular imaging, cancer metabolism, immunobiology, signal transduction, structural biology, radiochemistry, medicinal chemistry, and virology. The potential of the program is demonstrated by recent work which uncovered a new role for the nucleoside salvage pathway in hematopoiesis, developed new PET probes for nucleotide metabolism, several of which have been successfully translated to the clinic, and discovered novel small molecule inhibitors of a metabolic kinase, from which a clinical candidate compound with low nanomolar affinity and oral bioavailability has emerged with indications in selected solid tumors and autoimmune disorders, and has entered Phase I clinical trials in Fall 2021 (NCT05055609). An additional area of research for my group concerns the immunobiology of pancreatic and prostate cancers. In this area, we seek to identify novel immunometabolic checkpoints that a) are governed by nucleosides and nucleotides, b) are interconnected with pattern recognition receptor and MAPK signaling pathways, and c) are amenable to pharmacological modulation alone or in combination with mutation-targeted therapies and immunotherapies. In collaboration with Dr. Norbert Pardi (UPenn), we have established a platform for developing and evaluating a novel mRNA lipid nanoparticle platform for cancer immunotherapy.