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Surgical and Molecular Neuro-Oncology Unit
John Park, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator
Dr. Park received an Sc.B. from Brown University in 1985 and an M.D.,Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1992. As an undergraduate, he worked under Dr. Ford Ebner and characterized the growth of neocortical brain transplants. His graduate thesis under Drs. Steven Burakoff and Fred Rosen was on the role of the CD43 molecule in the immune response. In 1998, he completed the Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital/Brigham and Women's Hospital neurosurgery residency program and joined the faculty of these institutions. In the laboratory of Dr. Charles Stiles at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he studied the role of immediate early genes in neural stem cell development. He has received awards from the American Brain Tumor Association, the Pediatric Section of the AANS and CNS, the New England Cancer Society, and the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation. Dr. Park joined the NINDS as a tenure track investigator in 2002 and is head of the Surgical and Molecular Neuro-oncology Unit. His laboratory investigates the mechanisms of brain tumor development and chemotherapy resistance. A board certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Park specializes in the surgical treatment of patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors, particularly those in eloquent brain areas.
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Staff:
- Dr. Yong Choi, Ph.D., Research Fellow choiyong@ninds.nih.gov
- Tiffany Hodges, B.S., Clinical Fellow, 301-451-7207 hodgest@mail.nih.gov
- Sariah Khormaee, B.S., Graduate Student khormaees@od.nih.gov
- Andrea Sedlock, B.S., M.S, Biologist, 301-402-6934 andreasedlock@ninds.nih.gov
Research Interests:
Malignant gliomas, the most common primary intrinsic tumors of the brain, are highly lethal and are associated with median survivals of one to three years. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that the cells of origin for these tumors are transformed neural stem cells, commonly referred to as “tumor stem cells.” One focus of the laboratory is the characterization of the normal and aberrant developmental processes used by these cells as they grow and develop into tumors. In particular, we are examining the transcriptional events that drive the differentiation of normal and malignant neural stem cells into astrocytes and glioma cells, respectively. The goal of the research is the identification and development of novel targets and strategies for the treatment of malignant gliomas.
Malignant gliomas are generally resistant to all conventional therapies. A subset of these tumors, anaplastic oligodendrogliomas with loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 1p, however, are frequently responsive to PCV chemotherapy, and the median survivals of patients with these tumors can exceed ten years. A second focus of the lab is the clinical, genetic, biochemical, and functional characterization of a 1p encoded protein which is haploinsufficient in the setting of 1p LOH and renders tumors sensitive to specific classes of chemotherapy. A better understanding of the role of this protein in chemotherapy resistance mechanisms may lead to the rational design of more effective therapeutic strategies.
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Clinical Protocols:
- Diffusion Tensor MRI to Distinguish Brain Tumor Recurrence from Radiation Necrosis 06-N-0085
Selected Publications:
- Liang X-J, Choi Y, Sackett DL, Park JK (2008) Nitrosoureas Inhibit the Stathmin-Mediated Migration and Invasion of Malignant Glioma Cells, Cancer Research 68, 5267-72. Full Text/Abstract
- Jarboe JS, Johnson KR, Choi Y, Lonser RR, Park JK (2007) Expression of Interleukin-13 Receptor alpha 2 in Glioblastoma Multiforme: Implications for Targeted Therapies, Cancer Research 67, 7983-7986. Full Text/Abstract
- Ngo TT, Peng T, Liang XJ, Akeju O, Pastorino S, Zhang W, Kotliarov Y, Zenklusen JC, Fine HA, Maric D, Wen PY, De Girolami U, Black PM, Wu WW, Shen RF, Jeffries NO, Kang DW, Park JK. (2007) The 1p-encoded protein stathmin and resistance of malignant gliomas to nitrosoureas., J Natl Cancer Inst 99(8), 639-52. Full Text/Abstract
- Park DM, Li J, Okamoto H, Akeju O, Kim SH, Lubensky I, Vortmeyer A, Dambrosia J, Weil RJ, Oldfield EH, Park JK*, Zhuang P* (*corresponding authors) (2007) N-CoR pathway targeting induces glioblastoma derived cancer stem cell differentiation, Cell Cycle 6(4), 467-70. Full Text/Abstract
- Akeju O, Peng T, Park JK. (2006) Short hairpin RNA loop design for the facilitation of sequence verification., Biotechniques 40(2), 154-156.
- Lee J, Kotliarova S, Kotliarov Y, Li A, Su Q, Donin NM, Pastorino S, Purow BW, Christopher N, Zhang W, Park JK, Fine HA. (2006) Tumor stem cells derived from glioblastomas cultured in bFGF and EGF more closely mirror the phenotype and genotype of primary tumors than do serum-cultured cell lines., Cancer Cell 9(5), 391-403.
- Lu QR, Park JK, Noll E, Chan JA, Alberta J, Yuk D, Garcia Alzamora M, Louis DN, Stiles CD, Rowitch DH, Black PM (2001) Oligodendrocyte lineage genes (OLIG) as molecular markers for human glial tumors, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98, 10851-6. Full Text/Abstract
All Selected Publications
Contact Information:
Dr. John Park
Surgical Neurology Branch, NINDS
Porter Neuroscience Research Center
Building 35, Room 2B-1002
35 Convent Drive, MSC 3706
Bethesda, MD 20892-3706
Telephone: 301-402-6935 office,
301-402-6935 laboratory,
301-480-0099 fax
Email: parkjo@ninds.nih.gov
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