Bhaumik B. Patel, M.D.
Research program member: Developmental Therapeutics
Box 980292
1101 E. Marshall St.
Richmond, VA 23298
804-828-7999
Email: bpatel3@vcu.edu
Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, School of Medicine
Education
MBBS, B.J. Medical College, India (1998)
Research description
I treat patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, like colorectal cancer, as well as research the role of cancer stem or stem-like cells (CSCs) in carcinogenesis to develop therapies. My focus is on how inhibition of growth factor receptors (GFRs), especially IGF1R, by natural or pharmaceutical agents induces CSC inhibition. My experience includes monitoring CSC growth, examining CSC markers and self-renewal factors by various molecular biology mechanisms, flow cytometric analysis for quantitation and isolation of CSC, isolation and growth of primary human colon CSC, advanced animal models of CSCs, biochemical studies of growth factor/morphogen receptor signaling pathways and high-throughput microassays. Our lab studies are categorized by: 1) Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and their non-sugar mimetics (NSGMs), and 2) Cholesterol metabolic pathways in regulation of CSCs. GAG/NSGMs and cholesterol metabolism in regulation of CSCs regulate IGF1R signaling, so we developed an understanding of the molecular mechanism and novel therapies targeting these. We also research the mechanisms of cancer dormancy and developing novel NSGM based therapeutics to eliminate/arrest dormant cancer stem cells, which has direct translational implication for cancer therapies.
Research keywords
Animal models,Cancer therapy resistance,Chemical biology,Drug discovery,Lipid signaling,Metabolism,Signal transduction,Translational science,Tumor microenvironment