Elias Zambidis, MD, PhD

Primary Academic Title

Professor of Oncology

Background

Centers and Institutes

• Cell Engineering, Institute for
• Johns Hopkins Children's Center
• Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

Videos

• Elias Zambidis - Using Stem Cells to Treat Blood Disorders

• Elias Zambidis | Using Stem Cells to Study Cancer

Recent News Articles and Media Coverage

• 'Primitive' stem cells shown to regenerate blood vessels in the eye, EurekAlert!  (March 9, 2020)
• What is fetal tissue research? And why is it important to medicine? NBC News (June 9, 2019)
• The Case of a Man With Two Sets of DNA Raises More Questions, The New York Times (December 12, 2019)
• Researchers turn back the clock on human embryonic stem cells, Phys.org (December 14, 2016)
• Lab-Grown, Virus-Free Stem Cells Repair Retinal Tissue in Mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine (January 23, 2014)
• Converting blood cells to a stem cell state: an interview with Elias Zambidis, News-Medical (September 4, 2012)
• Universal, Virus-Free Method to Turn Blood Cells into "Beating" Heart Cells, Johns Hopkins Medicine (April 8, 2011)

Additional Academic Titles

Professor of Pediatrics

Contact for Research Inquiries

733 N Broadway
Room 755
Baltimore, MD 21205

Phone: (443) 287-2949
ezambid1@jhmi.edu

Research Interests

Bone Marrow Transplantation, Histiocytic Disorders, Pediatric Immune Disorders, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell Biology

Lab Website

Zambidis Laboratory

• The Zambidis Labratory studies the formation of pluripotent stem cells and the subsequent hematopoietic, endothelial and cardiac differentiation, as well as the potential therapeutic uses of pluripotent stem cell-derived cells.

Research Summary

The Zambidis laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering focuses on the study of human developmental biology and the therapeutic applications of human stem cells. His group employs genetic manipulation and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of human hematopoiesis, vasculogenesis, cardiogenesis, and retinal development. For example, Dr. Zambidis’ lab has made important contributions to understanding the developmental biology of human hemato-vascular stem cells. Using normal hESC and hematopoietic disease-affected hiPSC, his group first reported how early mesodermal progenitors and human hemangioblast (bi-potential progenitor of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and endothelium) may give rise to the entire human hematopoietic and vascular systems, and whether such progenitors can be derived and expanded from differentiating hiPSC. His group also completed studies on highly efficient methods for generating nonintegrated, human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from myeloid progenitors. More recent efforts have focused on the derivation of a new class of human pluripotent stem cells in a more primitive naïve ground state than conventional hiPSC and with improved functionalities. His group has employed these novel human stem cells to develop hiPSC-based vascular therapies for ischemic retinopathies. These discoveries have wide impact in both vascular and ocular regenerative medicine, and for regenerating damaged blood vessels in stroke and diabetes. Other major area of focus include the determination of the shared molecular circuits that regulate both malignant transformation and the maintenance of pluripotency. Dr. Zambidis’ research efforts are synchronized with existing infrastructure of the Johns Hopkins bone marrow transplantation (BMT) program. As a BMT physician-scientist, his ultimate goal is to use hESC, hiPSC, and related pluripotent stem cell technologies to not only treat severe degenerative diseases, but also to elucidate the biological nature of cancer and aging.

Google Scholar

http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=VOFU4vQAAAAJ

Selected Publications

• Zambidis ET, Park TS, Yu W, Tam A, Levine M, Yuan X, Pryzhkova M, Peault B, Expression of ACE (CD143) identifies and regulates primitive hemangioblasts derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Blood. 2008; 112: 3601-3614. PMC2572789

• Burridge PW, Thompson S, Millrod MA, Weinberg S, Yuan X, Tung L, Zambidis ET, A universal system for highly efficient cardiac differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells that eliminates interline variability. PLoS One. 2011; 6(4): e18293. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018293. PMC3072973. 

• Park TS, Bhutto I, Zimmerlin L, Huo JS, Nagaria P, Miller D, Rufaihah AJ, Talbot C, Aguilar J, Merges C, Reijo-Pera R, Cooke J, Feldman RA, Rassool F, Lutty G, Zambidis ET, Vascular progenitors from cord blood-derived iPSC possess augmented capacity to regenerate ischemic retinal vasculature. Circulation. 2014; 129(3):359-72. PMC4090244.

• Park TS, Zimmerlin, L., Evans-Moses, R, Thomas, J, Huo, JS, Kanherkar, R, He, A, Ruzgar, N, Grebe, R, Bhutto, I, Barbato, M, Koldobskiy, MA, Lutty, G, Zambidis, ET. Vascular Progenitors Generated from Tankyrase Inhibitor-Regulated Naïve Diabetic Human iPSC Potentiate Efficient Revascularization of Ischemic Retina. Nature Com, 2020, 2020 Mar 5;11(1):1195. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14764-5. PMC7058090.

• Zimmerlin L, Park TS, Huo JS, Verma, Pather, S Talbot Jr. CC, Agarwal J, Steppan D, Peters A, Zang Y, Guo H, Pandiyan K, Zhong X, Guiterez G, Hampton C, Young C, Canto-Soler V, Friedman A, Baylin SB, Zambidis ET, Tankyrase inhibition promotes a stable human naïve pluripotent state with improved functionality. Development. 2016; 143(22): 4368-4380. PMC5201042.

Honors

Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics, 1/1/01

Graduate Program Affiliations

• Cellular and Molecular Medicine
  Immunology

Memberships

• International Society of Stem Cell Research
• American Society of Hematology
• American Association of Pediatrics
• American Society of Clinical Oncology