Vishwanatha Lab
Principal Investigator
Jamboor K. Vishwanatha, PhD
Regents Professor and Vice President
Principal Investigator, National Research Mentoring Network
Director, Texas Center for Health Disparities
Center for Diversity and International Programs
University of North Texas Health Science Center
3500 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Dr. Vishwanatha is a Special Assistant to the Provost for the Center for Diversity and International Programs, Professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Director of the Texas Center for Health Disparities, at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, and a co-principal investigator of the National Research Mentoring Network. Dr. Vishwanatha received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of South Carolina in 1983. After postdoctoral training at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts), he joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1987. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992 and Professor in 1998. From 1998 to 2004, Dr. Vishwanatha was the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and in 2003, Dr. Vishwanatha was appointed as the Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies. In August 2004, Dr. Vishwanatha relocated to the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth as Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and became the Dean of the Graduate School in October 2007. In January 2014, Dr. Vishwanatha became a Special Assistant to the Provost for Diversity and International Programs.
Our Research
Dr. Vishwanatha’s lab has been working in the fields of Prostate and Breast Cancer for over twenty years. The lab focus is primarily on specific molecules involved in the molecular progression of cancer. AnnexinA2 (AnxA2) is a 36kDa calcium-dependent phospholipid binding protein that has diversified functions in the cell. Our lab has investigated various aspects of AnxA2 in normal and cancer states –trafficking to the membrane, signaling and role in angiogenesis, migration and metastasis.
Recently, we have identified a novel gene, MIEN1 (C17orf37) as an interactor of AnxA2. MIEN1 is a 12kDa protein that has been shown to be involved in the migration and invasion of cancer. Currently, the lab focuses on identifying the interactors, the regulation and the use of both these proteins as theragnostic targets. Another primary area of research in the JKV lab involves the use of nanotechnology to target and treat cancer. We have patented a formulation and are currently working on making novel curcumin encapsulated formulations, standardizing them to obtain large scale nanoparticles, characterizing the particles, in vitro and in vivo studies to study the effects of the particles and bone targeting using drug encapsulated nanoparticles.
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