Innovative Nanotechnology: Transforming Skin Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

The Tew laboratory maintains an interest in using redox pathways as a platform to develop therapeutic strategies through drug discovery/development and biomarker identification. We interrogate how reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) impact cancer cells and develop novel drugs that impact on glutathione based pathways. Our research efforts have been integral to studies that have identified glutathione S-transferases (GST) as important in drug resistance, catalytic detoxification and as arbiters of kinase-mediated cell signaling events. In addition, we have been instrumental in defining how GSTP contributes to the process by which cells respond to ROS by selective addition of glutathione to specific protein clusters, so called S-glutathionylation. Each of these research areas has had broad impact on a number of cancer disciplines. Moreover, we have also been seminally involved in the Phase I to III clinical testing of three oncology drugs, Telcyta, Telintra and NOV-002. Other ongoing translational efforts have produced two ongoing clinical trials to measure the effectiveness of serum S-glutathionylated serine proteinase inhibitors as possible biomarkers for exposure to hydrogen peroxide mouthwashes and radiation.

Dr. Ashutosh Pareek, Professor at Banasthali Vidyapith with over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical sciences, holds gold medals for his Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Pharmacy. Dr. Pareek specializes in neuropharmacology and innovative drug delivery systems, focusing on neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. His research includes developing advanced drug delivery systems for immunomodulators like naringenin. Dr. Pareek leads a research team working on these critical health issues and has published over 45 research papers and authored five technical books. He holds an international formulation patent and has received numerous awards, including the Zee National Achievers Award 2023. His work is funded by national and international agencies such as ICMR, DST-SERB, DBT, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the International Brain Research Organization. He serves as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology and Frontiers in Oncology and reviews for leading journals by Elsevier, Springer, and Bentham.

Dr. Ajit Prakash completed his B.Sc. Biotechnology at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, and M.Sc. Genomics at Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, India. Further, Dr. Ajit obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2016 from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He carried out his first postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge, UK. Following this he worked at Lovely Professional University as an assistant professor for almost a year and then finally relocated to the USA for his second postdoc at the University of North Carolina, Chaple Hill, USA. After 5 years of postdoctoral research at UNC, he is currently working as a Research Associate at UNC, Chapel Hill, USA. In addition to 3 book chapters and a book which are under publication, Dr. Ajit has published 16 high-impact research papers/book chapters in the fields of protein biochemistry, structural biology, and molecular biology related to disease conditions like cancer, and neurological disorders.