Principal Investigators
Jan Schnitzer, M.D., Director
Dr. Schnitzer is the Director of PRISM since July 2009. Prior to PRISM, he was Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (1999-2009), where his laboratory received grant support (>$55 million) from NCI, NHLBI, DOD, and California state agencies (TRDRP and CBCRP). Prior to SKCC in 1999, Dr. Schnitzer was an Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1990 to 1994, he was an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Schnitzer received a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and an M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He did his postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Cell Biology under the mentorship of the Nobel laureate Dr. George Palade. Dr. Schnitzer has received many awards including the Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, the CaP Cure Award in Cancer, and the Kleinerman Lectureship Award for Pulmonary Pathobiology. Over the last decade, he has served as an Associate Editor of several journals and on the Scientific Advisory Board of several companies. He regularly reviews manuscripts for more than 15 journals including Science, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Cell Biology, Cancer Cell and Nature Medicine. He has served on several NIH study sections for R01 and R21/33 grants as well as program projects and basic/comprehensive cancer centers. He serves on the Board of US-HUPO and recently was elected to a 3 year term as Council Member for the international Human Proteome Organization (HUPO).
Email: jschnitzer@prism-sd.org
Martin Latterich, Ph.D., Professor
Dr. Latterich brings over 17 years of academic and technology development experience to PRISM. He and his laboratory focus on applying systems biology to study cancer, degenerative disease and aging. Dr. Latterich uses genomic sequencing, epigenomic profiling, RNA profiling and proteomics to capture the dynamic changes taking place during development of disease, followed by genetic and biochemical validation methods in well-defined experimental model systems. He previously served on the faculty of the University of Montreal, McGill University and the Salk Institute. Dr. Latterich also held senior management positions at several biotechnology companies, including Illumina. He has made significant contributions to the field of cell biology, clinical biomarker discovery, proteomics and genomics. His grant-funded work has been recognized by the 2003 Tier I Canada Research Chair, the 1998 Pew Scholar Award and the 1997 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award. Dr Latterich has edited one book on RNAi, is author on over 32 publications in leading scientific journals and is listed on 10 patent applications. He is Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Proteome Science, as well as served on several national and international study sections. He was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular and cell biology in the laboratory of Dr. Randy Schekman at the HHMI and University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Latterich earned his Ph.D. in cell biology and a B.Sc. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Durham University, U.K.
Email: mlatterich@prism-sd.org
Jacqueline Testa, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dr. Testa is an expert in tumor and cell biology. Her qualifications include over 15 years experience in hybridoma technology and monoclonal antibody discovery. She has extensive knowledge of immunohistochemistry, molecular biology and protease biochemistry as well as vast experience in the use of various models of tumor growth and metastasis.
Email: jtesta@prism-sd.org
Philippe Valadon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Valadon has extensive experience with phage display techniques, monoclonal antibody production via hybridoma technology and phage library techniques, and recombinant antibody generation. Dr. Valadon received his medical degree at Paris Medical School in 1986 and was honored as a Laureat of the Faculty of Medicine Necker-Enfants Malades in 1992. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University Pierre & Marie Curie the same year in Molecular Pharmacology and carried out his postdoctoral training in Matthew Scharff’s Laboratory at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, where his main focus was the molecular study of peptidic mimotopes of polysaccharides using peptide libraries displayed on bacteriophage. In 2000, Dr. Valadon joined the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center to collaborate with Dr. Jan Schnitzer on the development of antibodies for vascular targeting. He joined PRISM as an Assistant member in July, 2009.
Email: pvaladon@prism-sd.org
Scientific Staff
Adrian Chrastina, Ph.D., Research Scientist
Dr. Chrastina’s research projects are focused on synthesis, radiolabeling and functional characterization of metallic, lipid and polymer based nanoparticles for imaging and drug delivery applications. His hands-on expertise includes in vivo CT-SPECT imaging, surface chemistry/bioconjugations, perfusion of isolated tissues (heart, lung), intratumoral hypoxia, pharmacokinetic analysis and photodynamic therapy.
Email: achrastina@prism-sd.org
Malgorzata Czarny, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Czarny is an expert in Electron & Confocal Microscopy, has more then 10 years experience in cell biology techniques, including live-cell imaging and transmission electron microscopy. She runs the fluorescence & light imaging facility.
Email: mczarny@prism-sd.org
Noelle Griffin, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Griffin has a solid background in gel and mass spectrometry based proteomics, in particular, the application of these technologies to address biological questions. She has experience in all aspects of sample preparation, instrument operation and data analysis for mass spectrometry. Since joining the lab in 2006, she has developed the normalized spectral index quantification system for label-free mass spectrometry. Her other projects include mapping and characterizing the proteome of caveolae isolated from endothelial plasma membranes from rat lungs in order to better understand these membrane trafficking microdomains. In addition, she is characterizing the plasma membranes proteomes of tumor and normal human lungs to identify potential novel lung-specific tumor targets.
Email: ngriffin@prism-sd.org
Michael Levin, Ph.D., Research Director, Nanotechnology
Email: mlevin@prism-sd.org
Yan Li, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Li achieved her Master degree in Clinic Immunochemistry from the Chinese Academy for Medical Sciences in Beijing, China and her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Southampton in the UK. She has strong and broad experience in gene manipulation and expression, protein purification and characterization, and method development. She set up and supervised two automated DNA sequencing Labs prior to joining the Schnitzer lab. Since 1999, Dr. Li has been engaged in the field of new target discovery using mass spectrometry-based technologies. Dr. Li began working with Dr. Schnitzer in 2000 and has established and optimized multiple gel-based mass spectrometry strategies for large-scale, membrane protein profiling. One of these methods, G2DC (gel-based 2D-LC/MS/MS), is now routinely used for all protein discovery efforts at PRISM. Her projects include characterizing the vascular endothelial plasma membrane proteome of multiple organs from normal and tumor-baring rats to identify organ- and tumor-specific vascular accessible targets. She is also responsible for day-to-day running of the mass spectrometry facility.
Email: Yli@prism-sd.org
Yanzheng Liu, Ph.D., Research Scientist
Dr. Liu’s work focuses on developing targeted viral vector for gene delivery and cancer gene therapy. Using viral vectors as search-and-destroy missiles to selectively infect and kill abnormal cells while leaving health ones alone holds great promise for the treatment of a broad range of human diseases.
Email: yliu@prism-sd.org
Kerri Massey, Ph.D, Scientific Writer
Dr. Massey received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego. She has since applied her extensive experience in molecular and cellular biology as the Scientific Writer at PRISM. She assists with the preparation and administration of grants, as well as the preparation of manuscripts, abstracts, posters, IACUC protocols, and related projects. She has authored several review articles and chapters.
Email: kmassey@prism-sd.org
Marshall Pope, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Pope joined PRISM in July 2009, as part of the proteomics group, to develop methods of detecting and quantifying post-translational modifications. He has a background in quantification and protein analysis, especially using nanobore liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometers. Prior to PRISM he was director of the Michael Hooker Center for Proteomics in the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill and spent five years as a senior R&D manager at Life Technologies. He's actively influenced the maturation of proteomics through commercial products and 23 papers over that period. In real life, he enjoys geeky subjects, family outings, grilling, and simple carpentry projects.
Email: mpope@prism-sd.org
Halina Witkiewicz, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Witkiewicz’s experience has been shaped by academic, clinical and industrial environments. She attained her PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Gdansk and her M.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Maria Curie-Sklodowska in Lublin. She held postdoctoral positions at University of Innsbruck (Austria) and University of Calgary (Canada). She has also conducted research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (MN), the University of Loma Linda, UCSD, Salmedix (a biotech company in San Diego), and the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. She has received awards from the Polish Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Technology; and fellowships from European Molecular Biology Organization, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and Mayo Clinic. Her research interests include higher order spatial organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes; structural modifications of chromatin in correlation with gene activation or repression; viruses and plasmids as vectors for gene transfer; gene therapy; the role of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in normal and pathological tissue remodeling; biologic reconstruction of articular cartilage; the mechanisms of late aseptic osteolysis around orthopaedic implants; and tumor and vascular biology. Dr. Witkiewicz has extensive experience in electron microscopy and performs all aspects of the electron microscopy imaging, including sample preparation, standard resin and ultra-thin cryosectioning of tissue samples for immunocytochemistry, image collection, and data analysis and archiving.
Email: hwitkiewicz@prism-sd.org
Ming Yi, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Yi studies the role of annexin A1 in tumor development and vascular function using in vivo, in vitro and in silico methods including genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology analytical tools.
Email: myi@prism-sd.org
Phil Oh, Research Specialist
Phil Oh has a Bachelors degree in Biochemistry from Vassar College and a Masters degree in Microbiology from Columbia University. He studied maltose transport, Varicella-Zoster Virus and HIV prior to joining the Schnitzer lab in 1990. He worked with Dr. Schnitzer at UCSD, then Harvard University/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, then the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, prior to joining him at PRISM in July, 2009. Oh and Schnitzer were the first to isolate caveolae in 1995 and this work led to the seminal research to define the unique protein signatures present in lung and tumor vasculature. Their discoveries have led to numerous patents. He is an experienced cell biologist and protein biochemist. He is highly proficient in numerous laboratory techniques including tissue subfractionation and protein purification for SDS-PAGE, 2D gel electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry-based proteome analysis. He has considerable experience in antibody and drug targeting in vivo including intravital microscopy and whole body organ imaging in animals using the X-SPECT with X-ray CT system. His current research focuses on exploiting caveolae to enhance gene and drug delivery for the treatment of various diseases. He is also developing new animal tumor models that more closely mimics human clinical cancer. Currently, he is the Safety Officer of PRISM and leads the tissue subfractionation group while still working at the bench.
Email: poh@prism-sd.org
Dalia Halawani, Graduate Student (McGill University)
Dalia focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism by which valosin-containing protein (VCP/p97) functions in degenerative disorders. Her current focus is on employing cellular disease models coupled with biophysical and proteomic assay technologies to understand the detailed mechanism of VCP function in hereditary inclusion body myopathy with Paget disease of Bone and frontotemporal dementia, as well as other degenerative diseases.
Email: dalia.halawani@mail.mcgill.ca
Emily Holland, Research Technician
Emily performs tissue perfusions for subfractionation and isolates the luminal endothelial cell plasma membranes from rat and human lungs using the silica nanoparticle coating techniques developed in our lab. She performs all of the quality control analysis for the isolated membranes.
Email: eholland@prism-sd.org
Fred Long, Research Scientist
Fred is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the computer systems that support the proteomics, systems, and imaging analysis platforms. He works with scientists to design database management systems that capture, retrieve, analyze and integrate information in a logical and efficient manner. He creates, maintains, upgrades, and manages all databases.
Email: flong@prism-sd.org
Han Nguyen, Research Technician
As part of the Protein Engineering group, Han assists Dr. Valadon in generating monoclonal antibodies; performing tissue cell culture, ELISA screening of hybridomas and phage libraries as well as characterizing all of the monoclonal antibodies to establish their monospecificity.
Email: hnguyen@prism-sd.org
James Price, Research Technician
James holds a B.S. in cell biology and biochemistry from the University of California at San Diego. He assists Dr. Valadon with generating antibody fragments against cancer targets. He also performs tissue culture and fluorescence microscopy.
Email: jprice@prism-sd.org
Alexina Wempren, Research Technician
Alexina works in conjunction with Dr. Testa, and is responsible for processing, cataloging and archiving all tissues used in the lab for histology. Ms. Wempren also carries out tissue staining by histochemistry, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence with antibodies and digitally records the images for computer data entry, storage and archiving.
Email: awempren@prism-sd.org
Dale Winger, Research Technician/Network Administrator
Dale has over 17 years experience in all aspects of intravital microscopy. He has been directly involved in the development of the intravital microscopic model used in the lab as well as in the re-design of the dorsal skinfold chamber system. He also administrates IT with the day-to-day operation of PRISM's information systems; to include desktop support, server administration, and web design.
Email: dwinger@prism-sd.org
Debi Winger, Laboratory Assistant
Email: debiw@prism-sd.org
Visiting Oncologists
Namsu Lee, M.D., Visiting Oncologist.
Dr. Lee is a visiting scientist from the Samsung Center in the Republic of Korea. He is
interested in the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on tumor
angiogenesis and has joined PRISM to expand his research efforts using Intravital Microscopy (IVM).
Email: nlee@prism-sd.org
Soonil Lee, M.D., Visiting Oncologist.
Dr. Lee is a visiting scientist from the department of Hemato-oncology
at Dankook University Hospital in the Republic of Korea. He is
interested in the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on tumor
angiogenesis and has joined PRISM to expand his research efforts using
Intravital Microscopy (IVM).
Email: slee@prism-sd.org
Support Staff
Jean Remmer, Vice President, Research Administration
Email: jremmer@prism-sd.org
Susan Digiacomo, Administrator
As the Administrator for PRISM, Susan is responsible for Payroll, Purchasing and Accounts Payable. She is also the Administrative Assistant to the Director of PRISM. Susan spends her days greeting new faces that walk through the door at PRISM with a smile!
Email: sdigiacomo@prism-sd.org