Medicine

Ian Robey, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor with the Department of Medicine, University of Arizona, and a Full Investigator at the Arizona Cancer Center. Dr. Robey is a new investigator studying the role of pH in tumor behavior. He is interested in the mechanisms driving acid-mediated invasion and metastases and how pH modulation can be used for therapeutic purposes in cancer treatment.Dr. Robey is published in over 20 research articles ranging in immunology and cancer biology. He regularly presents his research at national meetings and conferences. He is a lecturer for the introductory biology course for Biomedical Engineering and serves as a committee member for graduate student comprehensive examinations. He is a mentor for Molecular and Cellular Biology student projects. He has been a regular attending and voting IRB member since 2008. He is a regular peer reviewer of grant proposals and manuscripts. Dr. Robey’s current research is focused on investigating the mechanisms of systemic alkalinization in tumor bearing mice to inhibit the spread of metastases. The objective of my project is to advance the preclinical findings on the effects of tumor alkalinization to promote the application of eventual clinical trials with the expectation of establishing a research program bridging integrative medicine and diagnosis/ therapy driven non-invasive imaging methodologies.

Dr. Ledford’s current work in the area of pulmonary surfactant immunobiology combines her knowledge of mouse genetics, pulmonary disease models and immune function regulation and focuses on understanding the role of Surfactant Protein-A (SP-A) and how it regulates signaling pathways within various immune cell populations. Specifically, she is interested in how SP-A regulates degranulation, either directly or indirectly, of two important cell types in asthma: mast cells and eosinophils. More recently, Dr. Ledford’s research has focused on understanding how genetic variation within human SP-A2 alters functionality of the protein in relation to eosinophil activities and how this translates to characteristics observed in human asthma.

Dr. Garcia is an authority on the genetic basis of inflammatory lung disease (with an emphasis on health disparities) and on the mechanistic basis of lung vascular permeability. Using bench-to-bedside approaches, his lab has explored novel methods to prevent vascular leak and to restore endothelial cell barrier function and vascular integrity. This expertise in lung inflammation and vascular permeability provides a natural linkage to interrogation of lung vascular contribution to the development of lung metastases. Leveraging their genomic expertise, in recent years, Dr. Garcia's lab has identified vascular genes whose products are key participants in inflammatory lung injury that also play a role in cancer development. They have developed lung endothelial inflammatory gene expression profiles as well as diagnostic gene signatures influenced by MYLK and NAMPT that impact lung and breast cancer prognosis. This work with NAMPT led to development of a therapeutic NAMPT neutralizing antibody that has shown promise in treating lung cancer, melanoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Finally, Dr. Garcia's lab is also interested in the untoward effect of thoracic radiation and has been examining strategies designed to attenuate radiation–induced pneumonits, fibrosis and vascular leak. These collaborative and highly translational cancer research efforts have bolstered the overall mission of the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Dr. Galgiani has focused his career on Arizona’s special problems with Valley Fever. His work has included studies of the impact of Valley Fever on the general population and on special groups such as organ transplant recipients and patients with AIDS. For 19 years, as part of the NIH-sponsored Mycoses Study Group, Dr. Galgiani has been the project director of a coccidioidomycosis clinical trials group. Through collaboration, this group has evaluated new therapies for Valley Fever more rapidly and with greater clarity than might otherwise have been possible by investigators working in isolation. Dr. Galgiani has also been involved with efforts to prevent Valley Fever through vaccination. His group discovered and patented a recombinant antigen which is the basis for a vaccine candidate suitable for further development and clinical trials. Most recently, he has become the project leader for developing a new drug, nikkomycin Z, for treating Valley Fever. With recent NIH and FDA grant awards, clinical trials with this drug were resumed in 2007. Dr. Galgiani is also Chief Medical Officer of Valley Fever Solutions, Inc, a start-up company founded to assist in the drug’s development. In 1996, the Arizona Board of Regents accepted Dr. Galgiani’s proposal to establish the Valley Fever Center for Excellence for the Arizona universities. Based at the University of Arizona, the Center is pledged to spread information about Valley Fever, help patients with the severest complications of this disease, and to encourage research into the biology and diseases of its etiologic agent. The Center maintains a website (www.VFCE.Arizona.edu) and answers inquiries from health care professionals located in Arizona, other parts of the United States, and even from other countries. The Valley Fever Corridor Project, begun in 2009, intends to facilitate communication among Arizona clinicians to also improve patient care. In 2011, The Valley Fever Center in Phoenix was announced as a partnership between St. Joseph’s Hospital and the UA College of Medicine in Phoenix. It began operation in June, 2012. Research is increasing into the environmental biology of the fungus within its desert soil habitat as well as how the fungus caused disease and the body’s immunity controls it. Since Arizona has the only medical schools situated directly within the endemic region for Valley Fever, it is quite appropriate that Arizona lead in solving this problem. As Director of the Center, Dr. Galgiani is working for its full implementation as a means of ensuring an institutional commitment to accomplish this goal. Keywords: Coccidioidomycosis, Valley Fever, antifungal drugs, vaccines, serologic tests,

Janet L. Funk, MD, FACP, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Funk leads a federally-funded research team that is focused on identifying new treatments for chronic diseases that have strong inflammatory components, including metabolic bone diseases, such as arthritis, bone tumors and osteoporosis, and cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes. Recent studies have focused on the use of medicinal plants that have historically been used to treat inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. By understanding whether and how these plants work in blocking inflammatory pathways in the body, we are striving to harness the power of nature and the wisdom of our ancestors to indentify new treatments for diseases that are common in our modern society. Discoveries we have made at the lab bench have allowed us to move forward into the clinics, building upon the old to discover the new.

Clara Curiel-Lewandroski, PhD, is the director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic and Multidisciplinary Cutaneous Oncology Program, both part of the University of Arizona Cancer Center Skin Cancer Institute. She completed two research fellowships, the first in the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and the second at the Ludwig Boltzman Institute and Immunobiology of the Skin at Miinster University in Germany. Dr. Curiel is certified by the American Board of Dermatology.Dr. Curiel-Lewandroski’s research focus is on melanoma chemoprevention, early detection of melanoma, cutaneous T cell lymphomas and skin cancer. She studied the extended use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, particularly aspirin, and their ability to possibly decrease the risk of cutaneous medanoma (CM) development. CM is responsible for more than 77 percent of skin cancer deaths.

Elizabeth Connick, M.D.'s laboratory focuses on the immunopathogenesis of HIV infection, particularly strategies employed by the virus to evade cellular immunity. Because most HIV replication occurs in secondary lymphoid tissues, much of her work has been focused on understanding the biology of HIV replication within lymphoid tissues and unique features of the host immune response at those sites. Other areas of interest include investigation of sex differences in HIV-1 infection as well as factors that promote accelerated cardiovascular disease in HIV-infected individuals.