Dr. Mimi Sammarco
Program Coordinator
Email: msammarc@tulane.edu
Bio: Dr. Sammarco received her PhD in Genetics from LSU Health Sciences Center in 2005. Dr. Sammarco's primary research interest focuses on the relationship between cell metabolism and cell function during regeneration and after traumatic injury. These projects utilize the mouse digit amputation model of bone and soft tissue regeneration. Our current studies show that cell metabolism modulates gene expression, and that genes involved in regeneration also modulate cell metabolism. A better understanding the synergy between these mechanisms will aid regenerative approaches and help clarify the relationship between cell metabolism and gene expression.
Dr. Ahmed Moustafa
Postdoctoral Researcher
Email: amoustafa@tulane.edu
Bio: Dr. Moustafa got his Master degree in the filed of stem cell biology, In 2016 he got his PhD in the filed of Molecular oncology of prostate cancer . Coming with more than 14-year of teaching experience, I have taught medical, biomedical, and basic sciences for under and graduate students including Molecular Genetics, Genetics, Histology and multiple disciplines. I have taught Human Physiology, Biochemistry, Oncology, Genomics & Transplant, Cell Signaling & Therapeutics, and Molecular Biology courses. I have published 16 articles in peer-reviewed journals of basic and translational sciences in addition to conference presentations and published abstracts. The impact of my research is highly sounded as reported by Google Scholar (H-index: 6, citations: 201) and ResearchGate 23.03 (Score is higher than 77.5% of all members) Active member in several scientific associations and served as a reviewer in a number of peer-reviewed
journals.
During my research training, I had a very good opportunity to join a remarkable prostate cancer research team, which was focusing on the crosstalk between patients’ adipose-derived stem cells and prostate cancer progression. Our findings anticipated that the release of exosomes rewires the steroidal hormone receptor signaling such as AR and ER-Beta in the nucleus of the stem cells, which contributes to tumor progression. Also we identified a unique microRNA signature that differentiate between indolent and aggressive prostate cancer patients. My current research is focused on a novel approach for suppressing the progression of PC, an endeavor that will be especially lifesaving for African American (AA), known to be victims of racial disproportionate incidence and mortality of PC. To this end, we are unravelling the underlying mechanisms by which PC continues to progress despite treatment with hormonal therapy. Male hormone (androgens) signaling is necessary for prostate development and functioning, but in PC it is uncontrolled, fueling disease progression. This can be mitigated by in aggressive PC is commonly treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which reduces total androgen levels by up to 90%. Unfortunately, current evidence suggests that intracrine androgens in the PC tissue itself cannot be fully depleted. As a result, residual androgens within the tumor microenvironment will eventually be sufficient for continued progression, leading to development of castration-resistant PC (CRPC), which is termina, with less than a third of patients survive five years. To prevent progression from aggressive PC to CRPC, ADT must be augmented with a treatment that addresses residual androgens within PC tissue. However, strategies are under survey. Currently he is the postdoc in charge of the sample prep of Visium and Visium for Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) at Tulane Spatial Multiomics Core.
