Vladimir Ponomarev, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; New York, NY
Research Interests:
Dr. Ponomarev is a physician-scientist who focuses on the development of new multi-modal imaging approaches for specific applications, such as sequential in vivo imaging studies in cancer biology, cancer immunotherapy, and radiation sciences.
His research aims to develop:
- New approaches for repetitive in vivo optical, nuclear, and MR imaging of the fate of cancer-specific immune cells after their adoptive transfer for antitumor immunotherapy (done initially in animals and then in patients);
- Novel assessments of targeted drug therapies based on imaging of specific signal transduction pathways pre- and post-treatment, with the goal of rapid translation into relevant clinical studies.
- New multi-modal genetic reporter systems for different imaging technologies to be combined during the course of the same study and in a way that harnesses the best features and utilities of each of the modality.
Research Interests:
Our group aims to advance the understanding of fundamental biological processes at the interface between metabolic and signal transduction networks in cancer, and to leverage this knowledge towards the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches that will improve patient care.
We are currently focused on three research areas:
- Elucidating the interplay between mutant KRAS signaling, metabolism and immunomodulatory mechanisms in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- Identification and targeting of innate and adaptive resistance mechanisms to radioligand therapy in prostate cancer
- Development of novel therapeutic approaches to modulate cancer metabolism