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Department of Surgery
School of Medicine  :  Department of Surgery

Research Lab

resident in training

The Cohen Laboratory

Our laboratory is involved in translational research and combines interests from the Department of Surgery, the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, and the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical Center, as well as the Departments of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry on the Lawrence Campus. Our research focuses on targeted cancer drug development and drug delivery systems in thyroid cancer, melanoma, breast cancer and colon cancer. Current projects include:

  1. Identifying tumorigenic proteins in thyroid cancer by comparative proteomics for novel drug development using high throughput screening libraries. Novel compounds will then be tested in vitro in thyroid cancer cell-lines as well as in animal in-vivo models for preclinical proof of concept and future human trials.

  2. Evaluation of HSP90 inhibitor analogs in thyroid cancer cell culture models in vitro and in a nude-mouse in vivo model for preclinical proof of concept. HSP90 is a chaperone protein involved in folding of several proteins involved in tumorigenesis. Several small molecule inhibitors of this chaperone protein are currently being evaluated in phase I and phase II clinical trials. Our lab is investigating new analogues of a HSP90 inhibitor for improved anticancer activity.

  3. Evaluation of rare medicinal plant extracts in cancer cell lines to determine antiproliferative activity and mechanism of action. Candidate compounds will be evaluated in animal in-vivo models for pre-clinical proof of concept studies and future human trials.

  4. Development of a working animal model platform for administration of new drug compounds for intraperitoneal chemotherapy in a carcinomatosis model of colorectal cancer and pseudomyxoma peritoneii.

  5. Development and optimization of an intralymphatic chemotherapy drug delivery platform for treatment of lymphatically spread cancers including colon, breast, melanoma, and lung cancers. This work will be performed in conjunction with the laboratory of Dr. Marcus Forrest, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence Campus.

Current Laboratory personnel include:

   
Abbas Samadi, PhD Senior Research Associate
Brianne Patton, BS  Research Associate and Laboratory Manager
William Herre, BS Laboratory Technician
Brian Hirsch, MS2 Summer Research Student
Melanie Rohr, MS1  Summer Research  Student
Ashley Inciardi Research Technician
Juan Du, BS PhD student, Department of Pharmacology

 

Related Clinical Trials and Publications:

  • Quantitative Proteome Analysis of Thyroid Cancers for Targeted Therapy Development. (HSC#10657). Single institution prospective translational study.
    Role: Principal Investigator and Author. 2006-2009 (KUMC).
  • Pilot Study Evaluating the Sensitivity and Specificity of PET/CT imaging in the Detection of Nonpalpable Metastatic Disease in Axial T3 and T4 Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma. Role: Principal Investigator and Author. 2007-present (KUMC)
  • Cohen MS, DeBenedetti MK, and Moley JF. Prospective study of laparoscopic liver evaluations for recurrent  medullary thyroid cancer. Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2001.
  • Cohen MS, Arslan N, Dehdashti F, Doherty GM, Lairmore TC, Brunt LM, and Moley JF. Risk of Malignancy in Thyroid Incidentalomas Identified by Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET). Surgery 2001; 130: 941-946.
  • Cohen MS, Gillanders WE, DeBenedetti MK, Moley JF. The effects of age in sporadic medullary thyroid  carcinoma. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2002; 9 (1): S77-78.
  • Cohen MS, Hussain HB, Moley JF. Inhibition of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and RET Phosphorylation by Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. Surgery 2002; 132(6):960-6; discussion 966-7.
  • Cohen MS, Phay JE, DeBenedetti MK, Skinner M, Lairmore TC, Doherty GM, Wells SA, Balfe DM, Albinson C, and Moley JF. Gastrointestinal manifestations of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2. Annals of Surgery 2002; 235 (5): 648-655.
  • Cohen MS, Moley JF. Surgical Treatment of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma. J Int Med 2003; 253(6):616-26.
  • Cohen MS, Finkelstein SE, Brunt LM, Haberfeld E, Kangrga I, Moley JF, Lairmore TC. Outpatient minimally invasive parathyroidectomy utilizing local/regional anesthesia: a safe and effective surgical approach for selected patients. Surgery 2005 Oct;138(4):681-7; disc. 687-689.
  • Cohen MS, Dilley WG, Wells SA Jr, Moley JF, Doherty GM, Sicard GA, Skinner MA, Norton JA, DeBenedetti MK, Lairmore TC. Long-Term Functionality of Cryopreserved Parathyroid Autografts: A 13-Year Prospective Analysis. Surgery 2005 Dec;138(6):1033-40; disc.1040-1041.
  • Cohen MS, Lairmore TC. Carcinoid of the Appendix. Contemporary Surgery 2007; (submitted)
  • Cohen MS, Battafarano RM, Edmundowitz S, Hall BL.  Diagnosis of a Mediastinal Parathyroid Adenoma by Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy using Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS). Surgery 2007; (submitted)