Department of Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Lali Medina-Kauwe received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from UCLA in 1995 and used her skills in molecular engineering to create the first modified recombinant adenoviral capsid protein as a nonviral gene and drug delivery agent. She has since demonstrated that this agent can deliver imaging and therapeutic cargo to tumors in a missile-like targeted fashion by mimicking an essential ligand internalized by cancer cells; but, like a Trojan Horse, releases tumoricidal attack once past the cell barrier. Her technologies have led to several issued and pending patents related to nanobiologic targeting. In 2014, she co-founded Eos Biosciences, a spin-off company that has licensed her technologies for clinical development, while she continues to serve as Scientific Advisor to Eos.
Dr. Medina-Kauwe joined the Cedars-Sinai research faculty in 2003 and has remained continuously funded by the NIH/NCI as well as receiving grant support from the Department of Defense, Komen Foundation, Avon Foundation, and the American Cancer Society. She has served as a scientific reviewer for nearly three-dozen NIH study section panel meetings since 2006, as well as numerous grant review panels for the Department of Defense, and international foundations. She has been an invited conference speaker for the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, Cold Spring Harbor Vector Targeting Strategies, and International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and at other institutions, including University of Washington, Emory University, U Penn, University of Wisconsin - Madison, UCLA, USC School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UC Fullerton, and Oregon Health Sciences University.
In 2013, Dr. Medina-Kauwe accepted an appointment as Co-Director of the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Using GFP--ligand fusions to measure receptor-mediated endocytosis in living cells.
Vitamins and hormones , 2002 | Pubmed ID: 12481543
Endocytosis of adenovirus and adenovirus capsid proteins.
Advanced drug delivery reviews Nov, 2003 | Pubmed ID: 14597142
Modulation of secretory functions in epithelia by adenovirus capsid proteins.
Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society Dec, 2003 | Pubmed ID: 14636719
Specific delivery of corroles to cells via noncovalent conjugates with viral proteins.
Pharmaceutical research Feb, 2006 | Pubmed ID: 16411149
"Alternative" endocytic mechanisms exploited by pathogens: new avenues for therapeutic delivery?
Advanced drug delivery reviews Aug, 2007 | Pubmed ID: 17707545
Corroles that bind with high affinity to both apo and holo transferrin.
Journal of inorganic biochemistry Mar, 2008 | Pubmed ID: 18180041
Tumor detection and elimination by a targeted gallium corrole.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Apr, 2009 | Pubmed ID: 19342490
Multimodal wide-field two-photon excitation imaging: characterization of the technique for in vivo applications.
Biomedical optics express , 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21339880
Ratiometric spectral imaging for fast tumor detection and chemotherapy monitoring in vivo.
Journal of biomedical optics Jun, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21721808
A Multimode Optical Imaging System for Preclinical Applications In Vivo: Technology Development, Multiscale Imaging, and Chemotherapy Assessment.
Molecular imaging and biology : MIB : the official publication of the Academy of Molecular Imaging Aug, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21874388
A mechanistic study of tumor-targeted corrole toxicity.
Molecular pharmaceutics Dec, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21981771
Investigating photoexcitation-induced mitochondrial damage by chemotherapeutic corroles using multimode optical imaging.
Journal of biomedical optics Jan, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22352647
Chemotherapy targeting by DNA capture in viral protein particles.
Nanomedicine (London, England) Mar, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22385197
Multimodality imaging in vivo for preclinical assessment of tumor-targeted doxorubicin nanoparticles.
PloS one , 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22509306
Fluorescence response of human HER2+ cancer- and MCF-12F normal cells to 200MHz ultrasound microbeam stimulation: a preliminary study of membrane permeability variation.
Ultrasonics Sep, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22513260
Photoexcitation of tumor-targeted corroles induces singlet oxygen-mediated augmentation of cytotoxicity.
Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society Nov, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 23041277
Development of adenovirus capsid proteins for targeted therapeutic delivery.
Therapeutic delivery Feb, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23343164
Investigating the photosensitizer-potential of targeted gallium corrole using multimode optical imaging.
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering Jan, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 26028799
A corrole nanobiologic elicits tissue-activated MRI contrast enhancement and tumor-targeted toxicity.
Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society Nov, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26334483
Multimode Optical Imaging for Translational Chemotherapy: In Vivo Tumor Detection and Delineation by Targeted Gallium Corroles.
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering Feb, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 26412924
Resistance to receptor-blocking therapies primes tumors as targets for HER3-homing nanobiologics.
Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society Dec, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 29288681
Large Field of View Scanning Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging System for Multimode Optical Imaging of Small Animals.
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering Mar, 2008 | Pubmed ID: 29386697