Florin Selaru, MD
Gastroenterology
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Florin Selaru
Professional Titles
- Director, Meyerhoff Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
Primary Academic Title
Professor of Medicine
Background
Gastroenterologist Florin Selaru has faculty appointments to the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center; and the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Institute of NanoBioTechnology at The Johns Hopkins University. He is a clinical expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and serves as the director of the Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Selaru earned his medical degree at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania. He completed his internal medicine residency at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and completed his fellowship training in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Selaru’s research focuses on the intersection of clinical medicine, engineering and biology. His research expertise is in the utilization of bioengineering tools to answer clinically relevant questions and to translate findings for use in the clinical setting. He established and leads the Selaru lab, a National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory at Johns Hopkins that focuses on inflammation, fibrosis and cancer.
The Selaru lab specializes in drug and device development for inflammatory and malignant conditions, as well as tissue regeneration solutions. Some specific projects include drug development for fibrosis in the gastrointestinal tract, microrobot development for oral drug delivery, tissue engineering for fistulas and other tissue defects in IBD, and novel drug targeting approaches for inflammation and cancer. Dr. Selaru’s overarching goal is to deliver medical products and technologies to patients with IBD and cancer.
Centers and Institutes
Recent News Articles and Media Coverage
Johns Hopkins Develops Tiny Machines That Deliver Medicine to the Intestines, Inside Tract (Winter, 2021)
Hopkins Researchers Deliver Gene Therapy Directly to the Liver, Inside Tract (Fall, 2018)
A Firmer Grip on Cancer Diagnosis, Inside Tract (Spring, 2015)
Additional Academic Titles
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Oncology
Research Interests
Engineering in medicine, Novel diagnostics and therapeutics for IBD and cancer
Lab Website
Florin Selaru Lab
- Research interests in the Florin Selaru Lab comprise the molecular changes associated with the transition from inflammatory states in the GI tract (colon, stomach, biliary tree) to frank cancers. In addition, our current research--funded by the AGA, FAMRI and the Broad Foundation--works to further the understanding of cancer development and progression in the gastrointestinal tract.
Research Summary
The Selaru lab specializes in drug and device development for inflammatory and malignant conditions, as well as tissue regeneration solutions. Some specific projects include:
(A) Drug development and formulation for fibrotic diseases. Fibrosis in IBD, as well as in pathologic conditions, are major contributors to illness, complications and morbidity. The Selaru lab developed and utilizes a high-throughput drug discovery pipeline to identify small molecules with anti-fibrotic activity. Since fibrosis and wound healing is a process that spans weeks, in collaboration with colleagues in engineering, sustained release formulations are being developed for highly active anti-fibrotic small molecules.
(B) Drug development and formulation for oral, GI tract delivery. In collaboration with colleagues in the School of Engineering, the Selaru lab is developing autonomous microrobots for drug delivery to areas of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as for systemic delivery of drugs given orally. These microrobots are mechano-chemical hybrid microdevices that are able to perform work autonomously without any tethers or batteries.
(C) Development of novel biomimetic materials. Perianal fistulas represent a severe and common complication in IBD. Fistulas are abnormal tracts between the skin and the rectum that drain stool, blood and pus around the anus, and are resistant to treatment. Fistulas are estimated to affect 200,000 IBD patients in the U.S., and over 8,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. In collaboration with colleagues in the School of Engineering, Dr. Selaru’s group is working towards the development of artificial, biomimetic, nanofiber hydrogel tissue regeneration products for fistulas in IBD.
(D) Drug development and formulation for inflammation and cancers arising from inflammation. In collaborative projects with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Selaru lab utilizes state of the art nanomedicine delivery platforms for indications in the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, fibrosis and cancers arising in a background of inflammation (such as cholangiocarcinoma or hepatocellular cancer).
Dr. Selaru’s overarching research goal is to deliver medical products and technologies to patients with IBD and cancer.
Locations
- Johns Hopkins Endoscopy & Surgery Center - Columbia
- 5450 Knoll North Drive, Suite 390, Columbia, MD 21045
- phone: 410-933-7495
- fax: 443-546-1703
Expertise
Education
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Gastroenterology, 2009University of Maryland Medical Center
Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2007University of Maryland Medical Center
Residency, Internal Medicine, 2006Carol Davila University of Medicine
Medical Education, MD, 1999Board Certifications
Gastroenterology
American Board of Internal Medicine, 2009Insurance
- Aetna
- CareFirst
- Cigna
- First Health
- Geisinger Health Plan
- HealthSmart/Accel
- Humana
- Johns Hopkins Health Plans
- MultiPlan
- Pennsylvania's Preferred Health Networks (PPHN)
- Point Comfort Underwriters
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- UnitedHealthcare
- Veteran Affairs Community Care Network (Optum-VACCN)