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I have spent the past 13 years directing a viable program in breast cancer metastasis and the preventive and therapeutic role of natural and synthetic anti-metastasis compounds. My postdoctoral training was from Dr. John Condeelis (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY), who is a pioneering authority on in vivo image analysis of breast cancer metastasis. I was subsequently trained in molecular biology and analysis of cell signaling of model systems (Dictyostelium) and fibrobalsts and leukocytes in the laboratories of Dr. Richard Firtel (University of California, San Diego) and Dr. Gary Bokoch (Scripps Research Institute, CA). During my Assistant Professorship at the University of Texas at Austin (1999-2005), in collaboration with biomedical engineers, we designed and developed methodology for whole body and microscopic fluorescence image analysis of fluorescently-tagged breast cancer cells in mouse models. This technology and my research program in breast cancer metastasis have been transferred to my current research group at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus (UPR MSC), San Juan, PR.
At UPR MSC, we have continued with investigation of the effects and molecular mechanisms of red wine and soy polyphenols using human breast cancer cell lines and immunocompromised mouse models. In collaboration with medicinal chemists (Drs. Eliud Hernandez and Cornelis Vlaar, School of Pharmacy), we are designing and characterizing novel small molecule inhibitors to the small GTPase Rac, a central regulator of motility in normal and cancer cells. We have a pending patent for the small molecule EHop-016 that we are developing as an anti metastatic breast cancer therapeutic. Our recent collaborations with Dr. George Calin (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX), has led to an investigation on the role of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) in breast cancer therapy resistance. We have also initiated a collaborative study with Dr. Naima Moustaid-Moussa (Texas Tech University) to investigate molecular mechanisms and targeted therapeutics for obesity-associated breast cancer metastasis in postmenopausal women.
My commitment to cancer research is reflected in 39 pubmed citations, of which 18 (2002-2012) are from my independent research program in breast cancer. I am an active member of the American Society of Cell Biologists (ASCB), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). I have also served as a review panel member of the US Army Department of Defense (DoD)/Ovarian Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Research Programs (BCRP) and acted as an ad-hoc reviewer for the NIH Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics study section. My research has received funding from NIH/NCI, DoD/BCRP and the American Institute of Cancer Research. I was also the recipient of a Cancer Research Center Grant (role: Director) that I submitted with the RCMI Program of Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC), 5G12RR003035, that was relinquished after my move to UPR MSC.
I also enjoy and have had successful experiences with mentoring undergraduate, graduate, medical, and post-doctoral students, as well as Assistant Professors. Most of my undergraduate mentees have gone on to Ph.D and M.D. Programs. I graduated two M.Sc. students and 5 Ph.D. students who went on to postdoctoral positions in prestigious institutions. My first graduate student Dr. Paige Baugher is a tenured Associate Professor with her own breast cancer research program at Pacific University, Oregon. I have trained eight postdoctoral (6 Ph.D.s and 2 M.D.s) researchers who are currently in academia or medical residencies. During my tenure at UCC (Bayamon, PR) as chief of the Cell Biology section, I mentored two assistant professors: Dr. Valance Washington was the successful recipient of a MBRS/SC2, who then went on to receive a R01 award. Dr. Michelle MartÃnez currently holds three pilot project awards from NIH grants to UCC and UPR. My current mentee from the UPRCCC, Dr. Pablo Vivas was recently awarded a NIH/NCI/K22 grant. I am currently training four Ph.D. students and an Assistant Professor in my research group. Therefore, my extensive training record exemplifies my commitment to mentoring women and minorities to become productive biomedical researchers and academics.
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