Meet the Team
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Dr. Vlad Kalinichenko
Director & Principal Investigator
(vkalin@arizona.edu)
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Dr. Andreas Damianos
Clinical Professor/Research Associate
(adamianos@arizona.edu)
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Dr. Zicheng Deng
Researcher
(dengz1@arizona.edu)
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Jonathan Do
Researcher
(jondo@catworks.arizona.edu)
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Dr. Fatemeh Kohram
Researcher
(fkohram@arizona.edu)
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Dr. Enhong Li
Researcher
(enhongli@arizona.edu)
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Dr. Afzaal Nadeem Mohammed
Researcher
(amohamm5@arizona.edu)
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Dr. Bingqiang Wen
Assistant Research Professor
(bingqiangwen@arizona.edu)
Hear From Our Team
Hear From Our Team
Director & Principal Investigator
(Vkalin@arizona.edu)
Dr. Vlad Kalinichenko
Vlad Kalinichenko, MD, PhD, is a Tenured Professor and Director of Phoenix Children’s Research Institute at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kalinichenko earned his medical degree and a doctorate degree in immunology from Pirogov’s National Medical University in the USSR. He completed his postdoctoral work in developmental biology and molecular genetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and held faculty appointments at the University of Chicago and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Prior to joining Phoenix Children’s Research Institute, Dr. Kalinichenko led the Center for Lung Regenerative Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. In that role, he helped identify new treatments for children with life-threatening respiratory conditions. His lab was one of the first in the world to use pluripotent embryonic stem cells to generate bioengineered lung tissue for potential use in lung regeneration after injury or illness.
Dr. Andreas Damianos
Clinical Professor/Research Associate
(adamianos@arizona.edu)
Dr. Damianos is a new member of the Kalinichenko Lab research team. Stay tuned for his current research summary!
Dr. Zicheng Deng
Researcher
(dengz1@arizona.edu)
My research focuses on development of novel nanoparticle-based delivery systems for future therapies in pulmonary vascular diseases. I have recently developed a unique nanoparticle formulation which can deliver DNAs and RNAs to pulmonary capillary endothelial cells with high efficiency and precision, providing a promising tool for gene therapies and genome editing approaches in congenital monogenic lung diseases. I am currently working on optimizing the nanoparticle stability using mouse and rat models of lung diseases. Additionally, I am developing additional nanoparticle formulations to target fibroblasts and pericytes in pulmonary diseases.
Jonathan Do
Researcher
(jondo@catworks.arizona.edu)
My project revolves around conducting high-throughput screens for FDA-approved drugs targeting the stability of two transcription factors, FOXM1 and TBX4. FOXM1 is implicated in cancer growth but is also upregulated in damaged organs facilitating lung regeneration after injury. TBX4 is involved in differentiation of lung mesenchyme and TBX4 mutations are implicated in the development of acinar dysplasia and pediatric pulmonary hypertension. My goal is to find FDA-approved small molecule compounds that can regulate protein stability of FOXM1 and TBX4. Additionally, I am developing a gene therapy for TBX4 using nanoparticles that are selective for mesenchymal cells.
Dr. Fatemeh Kohram
Researcher
(fkohram@arizona.edu)
My work is about the proangiogenic transcription factor -FOXF1- which has the capacity to induce lung regeneration and treat conditions such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). I currently have three ongoing projects including the delivery of FOXF1 to lung endothelial cells via nanoparticles to test its capacity in treating BPD, running an FDA approved drug screen to find FDA approved drugs that will increase the lifetime of FOXF1 to be used as combination drugs with FOXF1 delivery, and testing a new mouse model of a FOXF1 mutation as a potential model for late onset pulmonary hypertension.
Researcher
(enhongli@arizona.edu)
Dr. Enhong Li
My current research project focuses on using proangiogenic small molecule compounds to treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in rats. In this project, a rat model of BPD is established using neonatal hyperoxia exposure. Small molecule compounds (delivered via nanoparticles) are administered to rat pups following hyperoxic lung injury. The lung phenotype is assessed through various methods including histological and immunohistochemical staining, flow cytometry, measurements of lung mechanics, and single-cell RNA sequencing. The aim of this project is to identify therapeutic small molecule compounds to improve BPD outcomes.
Dr. Afzaal Nadeem Mohammed
Researcher
(amohamm5@arizona.edu)
My research mainly focuses on investigating the therapeutic efficacy of biological and chemical agents in developmental pulmonary disorders. I focus on drugs and chemicals that can activate the transcription factors involved in the normal lung development and lung repair after injury. Several cutting-edge molecular techniques are applied to test the therapeutic efficacy of these novel compounds which may prove to be clinically significant in the future. This research is a significant contribution towards unravelling the pharmacological importance of pro-angiogenic drugs and biological agents which could lead to development of new therapies in rare developmental lung disorders.
Dr. Bingqiang Wen
Assistant Research Professor
(bingqiangwen@arizona.edu)
My current research focuses on generating mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived lungs in interspecies mouse-rat chimeras for potential transplantation to mice with severe lung diseases associated with respiratory failure. The specifics of this project revolve around investigating the molecular mechanisms critical for ACDMPV, a fatal congenital lung disease caused by FOXF1 mutations. The goal of this research is to establish a method for creation of human bioengineered (iPSC-derived) lungs using large animals, such as pigs and sheep, as “bioreactors”. An additional focus is to utilize a gene editing technology to correct FOXF1 mutations and improve the lives of individuals affected by ACDMPV.