Bulent Ozpolat MD, PhD

Professor of Nanomedicine, Academic Institute
Full Member, Research Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College

Dr. Bulent Ozpolat holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Houston, TX, USA, under the supervision of Lawrence Lachman. He earned his M.D. degree from Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. During his Ph. D., he specialized in developing DNA-vaccines against HIV, Helicobacter Pylori and HER2+ breast cancer. His work included utilizing immunoliposomes with immunomodulators such as adjuvants and interleukins.  Dr. Ozpolat completed his postdoctoral training at MD Andeson and served as faculty for 15 years in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics. He has authored over 135 publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals and has received numerous research awards and patents, recognizing his research excellence.

Dr. Ozpolat’s research is supported by funding from NIH/NCI, US Congressionally Directed Medical Research &Department of Defense (DOD), Susan Komen, Norman Hackerman Advance Research program (NHARP), Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program.  Currently, he serves as an editor, associate editor, and board member of various scientific journals.

His translational research focuses on developing targeted cancer therapeutics, including small-molecule inhibitors, microRNA-based nanotherapeutics, and specific tumor-targeting nanocarriers for delivering oligonucleotides, non-coding RNAs, peptides, proteins, drugs, and small molecule inhibitors. His research also focuses on identifying novel molecular targets, non-coding RNAs, and immune therapies for solid cancers, including breast, pancreatic, lung, ovarian, and brain tumors.  Specifically, he developed nanocarriers (polymers or metal-based) that target clinically significant survival pathways, including eEF2-kinase (eEF2K), FOXM1, AXL, PIM, TMPRSS2, KRAS, and immune suppressive pathways, such as PDL1 signaling.

Our Research Led to Several Breakthroughs in Cancer Therapy:

  1. Identification of eEF2K as a novel actionable therapeutic in target triple negative breast cancer, pancreatic, lung, ovarian (metastatic), prostate, brain cancers and melanoma. Our research has identified Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 2-Kinase (eEF2K) as a poor prognostic biomarker and a driver of tumorigenesis in aggressive cancers like triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Currently lacking effective targeted therapy, TNBC patients stand to benefit significantly from this discovery.Validation of FOXM1   oncogenic transcription factor as a molecular target in triple negative breast cancer and brain tumors. Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) is a transcription factor in the Forkhead (FOX) family that is required for cancer cell proliferation in normal and neoplastic cells. FOXM1 is highly expressed in many different cancers. We found that  FOXM1 expression is associated with shorter patient-survival in TNBC. More important, we shoed for the first time that  in vivo inhibition of FOXM1 using genetic approaches dramatically blocked the growth of highly aggressive TNBC tumors in mice models with no sign of toxicity ( Hamurcu &Ozpolat 2016), making FOXM1 an attractive target for pharmacological inhibition. FOXM1-inhibiting agents and specific FOXM1-targeted small molecule inhibitors have been developed, however, none of them advanced to clinical trials due to lack of potent and specific compounds . Our goal is to develop potential FOXM1 inhibitors translate these therapeutics to clinical trials, and combine them with existing drugs can maximize the anti-tumor efficacy while minimizing side effects.
  1. Development of Innovative Therapeutics such as non-coding RNA (i.,e microRNA) and small molecule inhibitor-based for therapeutic targeting oncogenic target genes/proteins such as, eEF2K, FOXM1, KRAS, AXL, PIM and TMPRSS2 in cancer.   We have designed and patented/ pending small molecule inhibitors and microRNA—based therapeutics targeting eEF2K, FOXM1, KRAS and  PIM3 paving the way for clinical translation. These novel inhibitors, currently undergoing rigorous evaluation, represent a promising breakthrough in cancer treatment. Preclinical development of eE2K-targeted inhibitors are currently  supported by a NIH/NCI RO1 grant. We believe developing inhibitors for these oncogenic kinases  holds immense potential for cancer patients who do not have alternative therapeutic options.
  1. Revolutionizing Cancer Nanotherapeutics: Our research extends to the frontier of small molecule and non-coding RNA or miRNA-based cancer nanotherapeutics. By harnessing the power of tumor suppressor microRNAs, we have developed innovative single-lipid, nanoliposomal, immunoliposomal,  polymer or metal/ magnetic nanocarriers  that target clinically significant survival pathways technology for precise and effective delivery of anti-cancer therapeutics. Additionally, our work has led to the development of novel patented targeted therapeutics that may work as a monotherapy or maximize anti-cancer therapeutic efficacy of standard chemotherapeutics.

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