Our areas of research are:

1. Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 in the angiogenesis of intracranial tumors.
VEGF is important in the progression and angiogenesis of gliomas. Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) is the major regulator of VEGF. Our current works looks at the role of HIF-1 and other hypoxia-regulated molecules in human brain tumors. Current work examines HIF-1 in malignant glioma development. We have made siRNA to inhibit the function of HIF-1 and are examining the effects of this methodology on brain tumor vascularity and growth in a mouse model.

2. Calcium channel antagonists for potentiation of chemotherapy for meningiomas.
Our initial work demonstated the use of calcium channel antagonists for the growth inhibition of human meningiomas. This ongoing work involves using calcium channel antagonists to increase the efficacy of common chemotherapeutic drugs utilized for the treatment of meningiomas. This involves both cell culture experiments and an animal model of meningiomas first developed in our lab.

3. Research determining the role of COX-2 in meningioma growth and angiogenesis
This work involves examining the role of cyclooxygenase II (COX II) pathways in the growth and angiogenesis of meningiomas.

4. siRNA for inhibition of glioma growth and angiogenesis

5. Other collaborative projects.

    1. Drs. David Gaffney and Dennis Shrieve, of the Radiation Oncology Department, on a project measuring HIF-1 expression in cervical cancers, and the radiobiology of meningiomas.
    2. Dr. Clough Shelton and served as a mentor for his residents in otolaryngology on a number of laboratory projects. One project resulted in a publication titled “Role of Topical Steroids in Reducing Dysfunction After Nerve Injury” was published in Laryngoscope in 2000.
    3. Dr. Robert Roemer’s grant for the “Optimization of Interactive Control of HIFU Therapy” which has been funded the past four years and we submitted a renewal this fall.
    4. Dr. Lester Layfield, of the Department of Pathology, and I have a recent publication using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for detection of EGF receptor mutations in malignant gliomas and the relationship to patient outcome.