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Researcher Biosketches
Meena Katdare PhD
Meena Katdare PhD, Associate Professor of cell and developmental biology in surgery, has made pioneering contributions toward developing natural less-toxic therapies for the prevention and treatment of cancer. She has a national reputation as an expert in the field of nutrition and cancer prevention, and a broad range of basic scientific knowledge that she shares freely as a mentor and teacher of many young scientists and physicians. Dr. Kadare has attracted major ongoing NIH/NCI and private funding, and because of her recognized expertise in the field, she serves as a grant reviewer for important U.S.-funded cancer research projects.
Dr. Katdare received her BS degree in zoology, chemistry, and botany from the University of Pune, Pune, India, in 1967. She remained at the University of Pune, earning her MS in Zoology and Developmental Biology in 1969. She spent the next two years as a Research Fellow in Developmental Biology also at the University of Pune, and in 1971 was appointed Assistant Professor and Head of the Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory in the Department of Zoology at the University of Pune, During her tenure as Assistant Professor, Doctor Katdare also earned her PhD in Zoology and Developmental Biology in 1978.
Dr. Katdare is a focused translational researcher. With her extensive background in molecular biology, zoology, and botany, she is Principal Investigator on a 5-year NIH R01 grant that focuses on cultured epidermal grafts for wound healing in burned patients. As co-PI of an NIH/NCI grant for developing colon cell lines, she has pioneered the technology of establishing colon cell lines from gene knockout mice and human tissues, which can be used as a tool to identify molecular markers for early detection of colon cancer and to address the mechanism of colon cancer and its prevention. In addition to the importance of cellular target-specific understanding of cancer, these studies have an aim to reduce the time and money involved in long-term in vivo studies while being able to screen high-risk patient populations. These preclinical cell culture models hold great value in the area of familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer. Dr. Katdare has developed several such systems based on primary cultures of either breast or colon epithelium. These have been commonly derived from the wild-type tissues and represent good models of normal epithelial cells in vivo. Since cancer progression depends on a stepwise accumulation of mutations, it is equally important to determine the effect of risk factors and preventive agents on cells already bearing such mutations. Such cells may respond to various agents in a different manner relative to wild-type cells. To address this issue, Dr. Katdare, in collaboration with Dr. Nitin Telang at Strang Cancer Prevention Center, NY and Dr. Levy Kopelovich at the National Cancer Institute, have developed colon epithelial cell cultures from mice bearing mutations in the APC tumor suppressor gene, typically the first gene to undergo mutation in early premalignant polyps. These cells display altered growth properties in cluture, validating the idea that they represent a qualitatively distinct target population. Drs. Katdare and Telang have also found that chemopreventive agents such as sulindac and 9-cis-retonic acid inhibited some of the abnormal growth properties of the mutant cells. Importantly, culture systems of this sort may provide a powerful means of screening for compounds that are inhibitory to colonic cells carrying specific mutations, but may have little effect on normal epithelium. Another means of examining the effects of chemical carcinogens, dietary components and chemopreventive agents has been through the use of cell or tissue culture model systems, in which the consequences for cell growth rate, transformation parameters, and programmed cell death can be evaluated directly. For this, she holds a U.S. Patent with Nitin Telang, PhD of the Strang Cancer Prevention Center, entitled "Epithelial cell lines from gene knockout mice and methods of use thereof."
Another important area of her research, supported by her 5-year NIH/NCI RO1 grant entitled "APC Mutation and Breast Cancer: Prevention by Curcumin," has led to a new observation that breast epithelial cells bearing mutations of the APC suppressor gene exhibit higher growth rate, aneuploidy, and sensitivity to estrogen-induced hyperproliferation compared to normal cells, and represents a milestone in our understanding differential risk of developing breast cancer. This is the first and only preclinical model to study the role of mutation in the APC gene for breast cancer, and has the potential of significant clinical application. Furthermore, her studies have shown that curcumin, a component of the dietary spice turmeric, effectively inhibits proliferation of the APC-mutated cells without affecting normal cells. She was recently awarded a research grant for a 2 year clinical trial pilot study by the Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation on prevention of prostate cancer in high-risk African-American males by garlic and curcumin. Dr. Katdare's published work on Boc-lysinated-betulonic acid, a compound found in the bark of the white birch tree, as an anti-cancer drug has generated considerable interest. The compound has exhibited up to 92 percent inhibition of prostate tumor growth compared to controls by inducing apoptosis.
Dr. Katdare has demonstrated an impressive ability to obtain extramural funding, particularly in view of current hypercompetitive federal funding mechanisms. Her involvement as a Co-PI on many NIH awards recognizes her ability to collaborate with other senior scientists from well-established laboratories.
She has been a grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program and the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research since 2004. She is an ad-hoc reviewer for Nutrition and Cancer, International Journal of Cancer, Neoplasia, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Letters, Breast Cancer Research, International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and Experimental Biology and Medicine. She has 43 high-quality published peer-reviewed journal articles, of which she is first author of 14 and senior author of many others. Several manuscripts are currently in preparation.
Dr. Katdare was awarded a senior Fulbright Senior Fellowship in 1994-1996 under a senior faculty exchange program to study the role of dietary phytochemicals in the prevention of breast cancer at Cornell University Medical College. Concurrently, she was appointed a Supergen Fellow at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center in New York from 1995 to 1996 to study the mechanism-based efficacy of "Elixir" (a product of Supergen) for breast cancer prevention. Returning to India, in addition to her appointment as Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, she served as an honorary consultant on Nutrition and Cancer Prevention at the INLAKS and Budhrani Hospital, Pune, India, from 1997 to 2002 and as a consultant in Cytogenetics and Cancer at the Institute for Toxicological Studies, Pune, India, from 1997 to 2002.
In 1999, on her sabbatical leave from India, Dr. Katdare was appointed Senior Research Associate in Cell and Developmental Biology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and a Senior Research Associate in the Carcinogenesis and Prevention Laboratory at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center in New York. In 2002, she was promoted to Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in Surgery and Head of the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Laboratory and Molecular Biomarkers Laboratory at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, while her role shifted to Adjunct Research Scientist and Head of the Hormonal Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Laboratory at Strang Cancer Prevention Center. She was promoted to Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in Surgery in 2007.
Dr. Katdare is active in teaching and administrative activities. She serves as Internal Advisory Committee Member for a National Cancer Institute R25 training grant, as Advisory Faculty Member of the Joint and Postdoctoral Committee, as a member of the Research Committee, as Faculty for the National Institutes of Health Clinical Fellow Research Training Grant and as head of the tissue culture, immunocytochemistry, and molecular oncology laboratories. She participates in the weekly multidisciplinary conference of the Breast Service in the Department of Surgery. As NIH R25 Training Grant Co-Principal Investigator with Richard Rivlin, MD, she has mentored more than ten postdoctoral fellows as new investigators in nutrition and cancer prevention. As NIH T32 Training Grant collorator with K. Craig Kent, MD, she has mentored clinical fellows in basic science research, and recently, a visiting Fulbright Scholar on the role of dietary phytochemicals in prevention of breast cancer.
She is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, Women in Cancer Research, the New York Academy of Sciences, a life member of the Society of American Asian Scientists in Cancer Research, and a life member of the International Indian Society of Developmental Biology. Dr. Katdare is highly sought after to speak at national meetings. Dr. Katdare is a member of the following Scientific Review Panels:
- New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Study Section (2004-present).
- Scientific Peer Review Panel Member: Breast Cancer Research Program, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), Department of Defense (2004-present).
- Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund, Breast Cancer Study Section (2007-present).
- She is also a reviewer for:
- Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs (1999-present)
- Nutrition and Cancer (2000-present)
- International Journal of Cancer (2001-present)
- Neoplasia (2001-present)
- Carcinogenesis (2002-present)
- Cancer Letters (2002-present)
- Breast Cancer Research (2004-present)
- The International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (2004-present)
- Experimental Biology and Medicine (2006-present)
- Applied Biotech. Biochem. (2007-)
Dr. Katdare has received many awards and honors in recognition of her important contributions to research, including the NBT of the Commonwealth, being named senior DAAD fellow and winning an award for Best Research Paper in 1997, and the Young Scientist award in 1986.
Bo Liu, PhD
Bo Liu, PhD is an associate research professor of cell biology. Dr. Liu directs the Vascular Surgery Research lab at Weill Cornell Medical College. Under the mentorship of Dr. Craig Kent, chief of Vascular Surgery, Dr. Liu is co-principle investigator of two prestigious NIH R01 grants, working to develop and analyze molecular therapies to enhance vein graft failure.
Dr. Liu's work at Weill Cornell helped launch a new area of research, that of vascular biology and the mechanisms driving neointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury. Dr. Liu secured a Grant-in-Aid from the American Heart Association as Principal Investigator and serves as a key co-investigator on two NIH RO1 grants awarded to Dr. Craig Kent. Dr. Liu has expertise in using state of the art molecular and experimental techniques to test clear hypotheses on pathways linked to vascular injury. She was also a key contributor to obtaining a highly competitive NIH T32 training grant.
Dr. Liu's research has also focused on the fusion of signaling pathways and gene regulation in the behavior of smooth muscle cells and the translation of these findings into clinical practice. She has obtained funding for her important research from Pfizer, the American Heart Association and Methodist Hospital/Cornell University. Dr. Liu is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and often presents her research findings at national and international scientific conferences. Dr. Liu published a seminal article in the Journal of biological Chemistry on the role of protein kinase C in apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle. Her research interests are in the realm of solving the clinically important problem of intimal hyperplasia. Intimal hyperplasia is the leading cause of vascular stent/graft failures and is a large unmet clinical need. Another area of interest is smooth muscle cell behavior and how various signaling pathways affected these, as well as p27 regulation and stent restenosis. She has developed active collaborations with several prominent investigators nationwide. Dr. Liu is active in training medical students, surgical residents and visiting fellows. Among these medical students and residents, four have received national fellowships in recognition of their important research under the tutelage and mentorship of Dr. Liu and Dr. Kent.
While at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center she was involved in identifying novel DNA binding partners for BF-1, a gene that plays an essential role in the development of cerebral hemispheres. These efforts led her to clone FAST-2, a winged helix protein which mediates a potent growth inhibitor TGF-b's signal transduction, and associates with BF-1. These findings were published in Molecular Cell Biology.
Dr. Liu received a PhD in 1993 from SUNY Downstate in New York. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University from 1994-1996 and at the Department of Cell Biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1996-1999. Dr. Liu received her BS and MS from Beijing University, Bejing, China.
Dr. Liu joined Weill Cornell Medical College as a senior research associate in 1999, was promoted to Assistant Research Professor of Cell Biology in 2000 and in 2005 became an Associate Research Professor of Cell Biology. Dr. Liu is a member of the American Heart Association, the North American Vascular Biology Organization and a past member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Neuroscience Society. She has received many honors and awards including being awarded the Individual National Research Service Award from the NIH in 1996, 1997 and 1998. She won the Competitive Graduate Student Fellowship in 1988-1991. She was also given the Brooks Award for Scientific Presentation in 1988.
