Farhad Vesuna, PhD
Highlights
Languages
- English
Gender
MaleJohns Hopkins Affiliations:
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Farhad Vesuna
Primary Academic Title
Instructor in Radiology and Radiological Science
Background
Dr. Farhad Vesuna is an Instructor of Radiology and Radiological Science in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Cancer Image Research Division. His areas of research expertise is in the field of breast cancer development with a focus metastatic progression. He has worked on deciphering the role of the TWIST1 gene and its targets in breast cancer, such as the estrogen receptor and E-cadherin.
Dr. Vesuna earned his Ph.D. from University of Mumbai.
Recent News Articles and Media Coverage
TWIST protein plays a major role in controlling estrogen resistance in breast cancer, Summit Professional Education, November 2011.
Potential new 'twist' in breast cancer detection, Science Daily, December 2009.
Experimental drug delivers one-two punch to prostate cancer cells, EurekAlert!, November 2016.
Contact for Research Inquiries
720 Rutland Ave
Traylor 217C
Baltimore, MD 21205
Phone: (410) 955-7426
Research Interests
bioinformatics, Breast cancer, colorectal cancer, DDX3X, lung cancer, medulloblastoma, metastasis, patient-derived xenografts (PDX), prostate cancer, transcription factors, TWIST1
Research Summary
Dr. Vesuna’s primary research interest is in the field of breast cancer development with a focus metastatic progression. He has worked on deciphering the role of the TWIST1 gene and it’s targets in breast cancer, such as the estrogen receptor and E-cadherin.
Dr. Vesuna is also involved in studying the role of the DDX3X gene in breast, lung, prostate, and brain cancer development as well as developing chemotherapeutic molecules for targeting this gene in various cancers.
Selected Publications
Twist is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin gene expression in breast cancer. Vesuna F, van Diest P, Chen JH, Raman V. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Mar 7;367(2):235-41
Twist modulates breast cancer stem cells by transcriptional regulation of CD24 expression. Vesuna F, Lisok A, Kimble B, Raman V. Neoplasia. 2009 Dec;11(12):1318-28
Twist contributes to hormone resistance in breast cancer by downregulating estrogen receptor alpha. Vesuna F, Lisok A, Kimble B, Domek J, Kato Y, van der Groep P, Artemov D, Kowalski J, Carraway H, van Diest P, Raman V. Oncogene. 2012 Jul 5;31(27):3223-34
RK-33 Radiosensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells by Blocking the RNA Helicase DDX3. Xie M, Vesuna F, Tantravedi S, Bol GM, Heerma van Voss MR, Nugent K, Malek R, Gabrielson K, van Diest PJ, Tran PT, Raman V. Cancer Res. 2016 Nov 1;76(21):6340-6350.
Genomic pathways modulated by Twist in breast cancer. Vesuna F, Bergman Y, Raman V. BMC Cancer. 2017 Jan 13;17(1):52.
Patents
- Compositions and Methods for Characterizing Breast Cancer, US Pat. 20,130,059,903, 1/1/13
- Compositions and Methods for Characterizing Breast Cancer, WO Pat. 2,011,113,047, 1/1/11
Honors
- Young Investigator Award, American Assoc. of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research, 1/1/09
- Young Investigator Award, American Assoc. of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research, 1/1/07
- Junior Research Fellowship, University of Bombay, India, 1/1/00
- Lady Tata Memorial Senior Research Scholarship, 1/1/98
- Daxina Post-Graduate Scholarship, University of Mumbai (Bombay), India, 1/1/92
Memberships
- American Association for Cancer Research,
The mission of the AACR is to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration.