Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

By Dayo Akinwande

Thanks to the work of researchers like Dr. Bahram Moasser, doctors may soon be able to perform a bit of “preventative maintenance” on their patients. With a simple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam, physicians may be able to tell if a patient is susceptible to—or is already showing early indications of—a deadly disease such as cancer.

Dr. Moasser, an assistant professor in Georgetown’s Department of Chemistry, is developing contrast agents that target disease biomarkers. Biomarkers are key biomolecules that are involved in the biochemical pathway of the disease, such as certain enzymes or cell surface receptors, and they have concentrations that are substantially elevated during the progression of the disease. The study of biomarkers is important to the understanding of the molecular basis of disease and is an emerging science in both diagnostic and therapeutic medicine.

MRI is an imaging modality that has enormous potential for the direct visualization of biomarkers with the benefit of being an essentially non-invasive exam. Part of Dr. Moasser’s research program is aimed at discovering MRI contrast agents for the visualization of MAP kinase, an important biomarker for the evaluation of cancer. MAP kinase is a key enzyme involved in cell division and its level is raised in many cancers. He refers to this kind of biomarker imaging as “targeted diagnostics.”

The ability to identify the increased activity of this enzyme prior to developing symptoms of cancer can be an important early diagnostic tool. A key benefit of this approach is the ability to provide predictive care to an at-risk population, allowing individuals to make informed lifestyle choices based on this knowledge. For this reason, molecular imaging is an important aspect of an emerging view of healthcare called “personalized medicine,” which emphasizes a more proactive and predictive approach to managing people’s health and designing tailor-made treatments for patients. By understanding a patient’s disease state on a molecular level, physicians can prescribe individualized treatment plans, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

“The general goal is to image this particular enzyme, MAP kinase, and pre-symptomatically determine if a patient is at risk or already has early stages of cancer,” Dr. Moasser explains. “If I know that I am at-risk for prostate cancer, but I do not yet show symptoms of the disease, there can be a reliable and non-invasive exam that could determine if I already do. It is an exciting time to be in this field that is at the intersection of chemistry and medicine.”

A big part of discovering new MRI contrast agents involves developing efficient synthetic methods for making libraries of these compounds. This overlaps with another part of Dr. Moasser’s research program, which involves developing catalytic methods for synthesis of new materials. Catalysis is the process in which a chemical reaction is accelerated by the addition of a substance (the catalyst) that is left unchanged in the process. In his work on catalysis, Dr. Moasser seeks to improve the way compounds are synthesized, using less energy and creating less waste by employing abundant natural resources and developing water-based reactions (see related video). Everything from pharmaceuticals to hair products are created using catalysis, so such research could have a wide-ranging impact. Dr. Moasser’s hope is to develop more efficient catalytic processes, including those with biochemical applications.

In his biomedical research, Dr. Moasser collaborates with colleagues in both Georgetown College and the Lombardi Cancer Center at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He is currently working with Dr. Chris (Chip) Albanese (Department of Oncology), Dr. Sarah Stoll (Department of Chemistry), and Dr. Edward Van Keuren (Department of Physics) to develop the Georgetown Center for Imaging and Therapy (GCFIT), a research and education-based bridge between the medical school and main campus. By illustrating with his own experiences, Dr. Moasser stresses the importance of connecting people in the Georgetown community with similar scientific interests.

“If there weren't someone like Chip Albanese right next door,” says Dr. Moasser, “I would have had to go outside the university to collaborate with someone else, and distance and funding would have definitely been a problem. Chip is a first-rate tumor cell biologist and great colleague and friend.”

Dr. Moasser joined the faculty at Georgetown in 2006 from the private sector, where he had spent 11 years at the General Electric Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York. He returned to academia because he wanted to develop the kind of mentoring and teaching relationships that are only possible within an academic setting. The Georgetown students in his lab have fulfilled their end of the bargain, developing and proposing their own ideas and becoming equal collaborators.

“That’s when the penny drops for them,” says Dr. Moasser, describing the students’ eyes lighting up when they discover something new. “It’s a very good feeling for me to see that I had something to do with it.”

And Dr. Moasser is certainly not exempt from that feeling; his eyes light up too and will continue to do so with his work on catalysis and MRI contrast agents.

“The joy of discovering something new is very exciting to me,” says Dr. Moasser, “but discovery for the sake of benefitting society is equally important. There is a reason why we do this stuff. One day, I hope we really impact people’s lives with our work.”

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