Das, Swadesh K.
Dr. Das received his B.S. (1993) and Masters (1994) in Microbiology from the University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He worked as a microbiologist in Bangladesh until 2000. He then pursued further graduate studies at Kobe University in Kobe, Japan, where he received a Master of Agriculture degree in Bio-functional Chemistry (2003) and a Ph.D. degree in Life Science (2006), did post-doctoral training and continued as faculty in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU, USA. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, a member and director of the artificial intelligence efforts of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) and a member of the cancer biology program of the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Das is focused on generating pharmacological and genetic-based anti-tumor drugs. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, most in high-impact journals. Dr. Das and his colleagues have been awarded six U.S. patents and multiple international patents, with additional applications under review. All of these patents are exclusively licensed to biotech startups, InterLeukin Combinatorial Therapies Inc. (ILCT) and InVaMet Therapeutics Inc. (IVMT) in Richmond, VA. Dr. Das is recognized as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.
Nyalwidhe, Julius O.
Dr. Nyalwidhe is Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology and the Leroy T. Canoles Jr Cancer Research Center at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Nyalwidhe earned his PhD and completed his postdoctoral training in Molecular Parasitology and Proteomics at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany. His research focuses on cancer biology and infectious disease pathogenesis. The goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that initiate and mediate progression to aggressive forms of urological cancers and to uncover pathways that modulate host-pathogen interactions to drive infectious disease pathogenesis. His research centers on developing and applying new technologies in the field of mass spectrometry-based multi-omics analysis to understand human disease pathogenesis, and the discovery and development of biomarkers. Ongoing studies in his laboratory focus on understanding the role of glycosylation in the progression to aggressive forms of prostate cancer and the utility of prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) glycoforms and glycoforms of other urinary glycoproteins as diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets for aggressive forms of the disease. He is a member of the Virginia-UCLA-Toronto Biomarker Characterization Center, an NCI-designated center for biomarker research at EVMS. Edit
Semmes, O. John
Dr. Semmes received his Bachelor of Science at Auburn University followed by a Master of Science at University of West Florida. He then obtained his Ph.D. at George Washington University and subsequent completed training as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Semmes is Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology and Associate Dean for Translational Research at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He is the Anthem Distinguished Professor for Cancer Research and Founding Director of the Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center. His laboratory employs cutting-edge proteomic-genomic approaches to characterize oncogene structure/function, uncover mechanisms that drive cellular transformation, and facilitate discovery of potential disease biomarkers. Dr. Semmes has been a principal investigator in the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network since the program's inception and currently leads the Virginia-UCLA-Toronto Biomarker Characterization Center, an NCI-designated center for biomarker development. Dr. Semmes has authored over 180 scientific articles and his research has been continually funded by the NIH.
