Nava Almog, PhD

Associate Investigator
Center of Cancer Systems Biology, GRI

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine

Mailing Address:
Center of Cancer Systems Biology
Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center
736 Cambridge Street, CBR1
Boston, MA 02135   USA
 
Tel: 617.779.6532
Mail: nava.almog [at] tufts.edu
 

Education and Training:

• Post-doctoral training, in the laboratory of Dr. Judah Folkman, Vascular Biology Program, Surgical Research Department, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 2001–2006
• PhD, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Analyzed the regulation of p53 tumor suppressor protein activity by its C' terminus. Supervisor: Dr. Varda Rotter. 1995–2000
• MSc, Department of Microbiology, Hebrew university, Jerusalem, Israel. Cum Laude. Investigated the mechanisms of control of the HIV-1 protease by the p6 protein. Supervisor: Dr. Moshe Kotler. 1991–1994
• BSc, Faculty of Life Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Cum Laude. 1988–1991

Grant Support:   National Cancer Institute, NIH
 

Research Interests:

I am interested in the molecular mechanisms that underlie dormancy of human tumors. I previously established experimental models of human tumor dormancy in animals, isolated several human tumor cell lines that generate microscopic and non-angiogenic tumors, and investigated their molecular characteristics in vitro and the correlation to tumor growth patterns in vivo. Currently employing a whole genome expression profile analysis to characterize common molecular pathways in dormant tumors.

Recent Publications:

• Enderling H, Almog N, Hlatky L, editors. Systems Biology of Tumor Dormancy. New York: Springer; c2013. XVIII, 291p.
  
  
• Almog N. Genes and Regulatory Pathways Involved in Persistence of Dormant Micro-tumors. Adv Exp Med Biol. 734:3-17, 2013.
  
  
• Satchi-Fainaro R, Ferber S, Segal E, Ma L, Dixit N, Ijaz A, Hlatky L, Abdollahi A, Almog N. Prospective identification of glioblastoma cells generating dormant tumors. PLoS One. 7(9):e44395, 2012. Epub 2012 Sep 6.
   
  
• Almog N, Ma L, Schwager C, Brinkmann BG, Beheshti A, Vajkoczy P, Folkman J, Hlatky L, Abdollahi A. Consensus Micro RNAs Governing the Switch of Dormant Tumors to the Fast-Growing Angiogenic Phenotype. PLoS One. 7(8):e44001, 2012. Epub 2012 Aug 31.
   
  
• Enderling H, Hahnfeldt P, Hlatky L, Almog N. Systems biology of tumor dormancy: linking biology and mathematics on multiple scales to improve cancer therapy. Cancer Res. 72(9):2172-5, 2012. Epub 2012 Mar 13.
   
  
• Almog N. Molecular mechanisms underlying tumor dormancy. Cancer Lett. 294(2):139-46, 2010. Epub 2010 Apr 2.
   
  
• Almog N, Klement GL. Platelet Proteome and Tumor Dormancy: Can Platelets Content Serve as Predictive Biomarkers for Exit of Tumors from Dormancy? Cancers 2:842-858, 2010.
   
  
• Fainaru O, Almog N, Yung CW, Nakai K, Montoya-Zavala M, Abdollahi A, D'Amato R, Ingber DE. Tumor growth and angiogenesis are dependent on the presence of immature dendritic cells. FASEB J. 24(5):1411-8, 2010. Epub 2009 Dec 14.
   
  
• Klement GL, Yip TT, Cassiola F, Kikuchi L, Cervi D, Podust V, Italiano JE, Wheatley E, Abou-Slaybi A, Bender E, Almog N, Kieran MW, Folkman J. Platelets actively sequester angiogenesis regulators. Blood. 113(12):2835-42, 2009. Epub 2008 Nov 25.
   
  
• Almog N, Ma L, Raychowdhury R, Schwager C, Erber R, Short S, Hlatky L, Vajkoczy P, Huber PE, Folkman J, Abdollahi A. Transcriptional switch of dormant tumors to fast-growing angiogenic phenotype. Cancer Res. 69(3):836-44, 2009. Epub 2009 Jan 27.
   
  
• Cervi D, Yipp TT, Bhattacharya N, Podust VN, Peterson J, Abou-Slaybi A, Naumov GN, Bender E, Almog N, Italiano JE Jr, Folkman J, Klement GL. Platelet-associated PF-4 as a biomarker of early tumor growth. Blood. 111(3):1201-7, 2008. Epub 2007 Oct 3.
   
  
• Almog N, Henke V, Flores L, Hlatky L, Kung AL, Wright RD, Berger R, Hutchinson L, Naumov GN, Bender E, Akslen LA, Achilles EG, Folkman J. Prolonged dormancy of human liposarcoma is associated with impaired tumor angiogenesis. FASEB J. 20(7):947-9, 2006. Epub 2006 Apr 25.
   
  
• Naumov GN, Bender E, Zurakowski D, Kang SY, Sampson D, Flynn E, Watnick RS, Straume O, Akslen LA, Folkman J, Almog N. A model of human tumor dormancy: an angiogenic switch from the nonangiogenic phenotype. J Natl Cancer Inst. 98(5):316-25, 2006.
   
  
• Almog N, Milyavsky M, Stambolsky P, Falcovitz A, Goldfinger N, Rotter V. The role of the C' terminus of murine p53 in the p53/mdm-2 regulatory loop. Carcinogenesis. 22(5):779-85, 2001.
   
  
• Almog N, Goldfinger N, Rotter V. p53-dependent apoptosis is regulated by a C-terminally alternatively spliced form of murine p53. Oncogene. 19(30):3395-403, 2000.
   
  
• Almog N, Rotter V. An insight into the life of p53: a protein coping with many functions! Review of the 9th p53 Workshop, Crete, May 9-13, 1998. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1378(3):R43-54, 1998.
   
  
• Almog N, Rotter V. Involvement of p53 in cell differentiation and development. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1333(1);F1-27, 1997.
   
  
• Almog N, Li R, Peled A, Schwartz D, Wolkowicz R, Goldfinger N, Pei H, Rotter V. The murine C'-terminally alternatively spliced form of p53 induces attenuated apoptosis in myeloid cells. Mol Cell Biol. 17(2):713-22, 1997.