Dr. Ramasamy Paulmurugan, Assistant Professor (Research), Radiology - Diagnostic Radiology

Specializing in breast cancer therapeutics and early diagnostics since 2006, Dr. Ramasamy Paulmurugan conducts research with cell culture and animal studies, specifically studying expression profile of MircoRNA in blood to use as a diagnostic marker in cancer early detection. By regulating the level of MicroRNA, Dr. Paulmurugan is able to manipulate the levels of an expressed proteinÑexplicitly those that affect cancer cells.

Dr. Paulmurugan has been at the Canary Center at Stanford for over a year. Recently, his work with breast cancer has shifted to examine the chemicals and raw material in plastics. The substance is bisphenol-a, or BPA, widely used in the making of the hard, clear, and nearly unbreakable plastic called polycarbonate. Studies and tests show that trace amounts of BPA are leaching from polycarbonate containers into foods and liquids. When BPA seeps off plastics and is absorbed in the body, it easily combines with estrogen receptors in cells and mimics estradiol, the predominant sex hormone present in females. This combination throws off a woman's menstrual cycle and causes a high exposure to cell division. This cell division has been linked to breast cancer.

To read more about Dr. Paulmurugan's research, click here.

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Dr. Zhen Cheng, Canary Center at Stanford

Dr. Zhen Cheng joined the Canary Center at Stanford team last fall. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed his post-doc at Harvard University. In 2003 Dr. Cheng joined Dr. Sam Gambhir (Director, Canary Center at Stanford) at Stanford University. All of Dr. Cheng’s research prior to joining the Canary Center at Stanford had been related to cancer imaging; according to Dr. Cheng, developing tests for cancer early detection "was the natural step."

The overall objective of Dr. Cheng's laboratory is to develop novel molecular imaging probes and techniques for non-invasive detection of cancer and its metastasis at the earliest stage, so that cancer can be cured or transformed into a chronic, manageable disease. By designing new chemistry for early detection probes, Dr. Cheng utilizes many of the tools available to him at the Canary Center, including the BD FACSAria III, the IVIS Lumina, and various peptide synthesizers. Dr. Cheng has ten members of his lab at the Canary Center—eight post docs and two research scientists.

Additionally, Dr. Cheng is a member of the Stanford Cancer Center, the Bio-X Program, and the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS).

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BD FACS Aria III

The Cell and Molecular Biology Core of the Canary Center at Stanford has recently acquired a fluorescence activated cell sorter. The BD FACS Aria III is a powerful instrument designed to separate and collect unique subpopulations of cells from complex mixtures of cells. Using the FACS, Canary researchers are able to perform a process called directed evolution and sort through very large libraries for members that bind cancer targets with the highest affinity and selectivity. These cancer targets are often over-expressed on tumors or the vessels that supply them. By engineering new peptide probes that bind to these targets, we are developing better and more sensitive molecular tools to detect cancer at the earliest possible stage.

The instrument is capable of high throughput experimentation and can interrogate up to 90,000 cells per second for desired bioactivity. One by one, cells pass through a laser beam where each cell is monitored using fluorescent dyes and a series of optical filters. When the instrument detects the bioactivity it is searching for, highly charged deflection plates are activated just as the cell is passing by, which redirects the flow path of the identified cell into a sterile collection tube.

By repeating this process using successively more stringent selection conditions, only the best cells remain. These cells are then taken to the next level of development in cancer early detection.

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Kenneth H. Lau, Proteomics Core Life Sciences Research Associate

Mr. Lau joins the Proteomics Core Facility at the Canary Center at Stanford as a Life Sciences Research Associate. At the Center, Mr. Lau will focus on biomarker discovery and validations using proteomics approaches.

Mr. Lau has been employed in protein science and proteomics for more than twenty-five years. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California-Davis in 1978, he began his professional career in 1979 in the Biochemistry Department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. At the Chinese University he specialized in natural products purification and analysis.

In 1985, Mr. Lau returned to California where he entered a career in protein science. He carried out Edman sequencing and quantitative amino acid analysis in support of a variety of projects centered on protein purification and characterization. Specifically, Mr. Lau worked with Bay Area biotechnology companies, Scios, Inc. and Sugen, Inc. He later joined Pfizer, Inc. in San Diego where he continued in the protein biochemistry field and gained mass spectrometry experience.

At Pfizer, Ken gained extensive experience in a variety of column chromatographic techniques and in mass spectrometry (both electrospray and MALDI). He developed numerous methods and assays employing analytical techniques, such as Western blot analysis, SDS-PAGE, HPLC, peptide mapping, and post-translational modification analysis.

In 2005, Ken moved to Stanford University where he served until November of 2009 as the lead Research Assistant in the Biotechnology Core Facility of the Department of Pediatrics. Here he developed and optimized quantitative proteomics methods utilizing sophisticated labeling chemistries in combination with chromatographic-MALDI mass spectrometry. At Stanford, Ken actively supported numerous on-going research projects and contributed to grant applications in support of many principal investigators in the Department of Pediatrics.

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Deputy Director, Daniela Starcevic

We are pleased to welcome the new Deputy Director of the Canary Center, Dr. Daniela Starcevic. Dr. Starcevic received her Ph.D. from the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Yale University. While at Yale University, Dr. Starcevic studied the biochemistry of cancer onset and progression; specifically she contributed to our understanding of how mistakes in our genetic material eventually lead to cancer. After completing her Ph.D., she became a Patent Agent registered to practice before the United States Patent Office and worked at an intellectual property law firm helping government, academic and industrial clients define and legally protect their inventions.

After a few years of working as a Patent Agent, Dr. Starcevic elected to pursue her postdoctoral research, citing her legal work as "too far away from actual science." Her postdoctoral research brought her to Stanford University where she worked on identifying and characterizing biomarkers for squamous cell carcinoma.

Most recently Dr. Starcevic led the effort on behalf of a major venture healthcare fund to identify potential start-ups based on cancer diagnostic technologies developed at Stanford.

Her interests always close to cancer therapy, diagnostics, prevention, and education, Dr. Starcevic joined the Canary Center at Stanford in November of 2009. She concedes that not all cancers can be prevented-and for that reason, the need for early detection tools is vitally important.

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Chemistry Core Hoods

The Chemistry Core at the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection has recently installed 2 new hoods for all chemical processing in the laboratory. Dr. Jelena Levi explains that all chemical probes used in Canary's research will be created in the Chemistry Core hoods. These probes will be used for different imaging modalities, such as photo-acoustic imaging and optical imaging. The hoods also permit the networking and fusion of the Chemistry Core, the Proteomics Core, and the Molecular Biology Core within the Canary Center at Stanford. The Proteomics and Molecular Biology Cores will determine valuable targets in detecting cancer early, then the Chemistry Core will build the appropriate probes to identify said target.

Example of Use:

1. Proteomics Core discovers a protein expressed only on cancer cells at an early stage
2. Chemist from the Chemistry Core then designs a molecule that is attracted to said protein (using the chemistry hood)
3. Chemist adds a signal to "see" the protein (e.g. fluorescent dye)
4. In-vitro testing begins to determine if the molecule binds well to the protein
5. If in-vitro testing is a success, tests on mice are then conducted at the James H. Clark Center in the Bio-X Program at Stanford
6. If tests on mice are effective, then human testing begins

For more information on the Canary Center at Stanford, please visit: http://canarycenter.stanford.edu/

For information on Center tours, please call 650-646-3198