Chendil Damodaran, Ph.D.

Education:

B.S. in Zoology, University of Madras, India - 1988
M.S. in Environmental Toxicology, University of Madras, India - 1990
Ph.D., in Environmental Toxicology (Cancer Biology) University of Madras, India - 1994

Curriculum Vitae

Current Positions:

Professor and Director of Urologic Research, Department of Urology,University of Louisville
Member, Care & Control Program, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville

Contact Information:

505 S.Hancock Street, CTR - Rm 316
Louisville, KY 40292
Phone: (502) 852-3454
Fax:    (502) 852-2123

Research Description

The current focus of our laboratory is on the identification of minimally toxic natural compounds including dietary supplements with potent anticancer activities and translating them in the clinic for cancer prevention and individualized treatment for cancer patients.  Specifically, our laboratory has identified several natural compounds and synthesized their next generation analogs that target AKT and Notch-1 signaling in genitourinary and gastrointestinal carcinomas.  Some of these compounds have potent antitumor and anti-metastatic activities in cell culture and mouse models of prostate and colon carcinomas.  Our research is supported by National Cancer Institute.  In addition, Dr. Damodaran was a recipient of grants from several funding agencies including, the Early Investigator Award from the American Cancer Society and Susan Komen Research Foundation.  Dr. Damodaran’s passion is to combine the expertise of his clinical colleagues with rigorous basic research investigations from his laboratory for developing novel treatments for cancer prevention and treatment.

Literature Cited:

  1. Damodaran C, Das TP, Papu John AM, Suman S, Morris TJ, Floyd EN, Rai SN, Messer JC, Alatassi H,Ankem MK.  MiR-301a expression: A prognostic marker for prostate cancer.  Urologic Oncology 2016 Aug;34(8):e13-20.  PMID: 27133223. PMCID: PMC4967401.
  2. Pal D, Kolluru V, Chanderashekar B, Baby BV, Aman M, Suman S, Sirimulla S, Sanders MA, Alatassi H, Ankem MK, Damodaran C.  Targeting aberrant expression of Notch-1 in ALDH+ cancer stem cells in breast cancer.  Molecular Carcinogenesis 2017 Mar;56(3):1127-36. PMID: 27753148.
  3. Das TP, Suman S, Papu John AM, Pal D, Edwards A, Alatassi H, Ankem MK, Damodaran D.  Activation of AKT negatively regulates the pro-apoptotic function of death-associated protein kinase 3 (DAPK3) in prostate cancer.  Cancer Letters 2016 Jul 28;377(2):134-9. PMID: 27126362.
  4. Paharim P, Saikia UP, Das TP, Damodaran C, Rohr J.  Synthesis of Psoralidin derivatives and their anticancer activity: first synthesis of Lespeflorin I.  Tetrahedron 2016 Jun 9;72(23):3324-34. PMID: 27698514. PMCID: PMD5044874.
  5. Suman S, Das TP, Moselhy J, Pal D, Kolluru V, Alatassi H, Ankem MK, Damodaran C.  Oral administration of withaferin A inhibits carcinogenesis of prostate in TRAMP model.  Oncotarget 2016 Aug 16;7(33):53751-61. PMID: 27447565. PMCID: PMC5288218.
  6. Pal D, Suman S, Kolluru V, Sears S, Das TP, Alatassi H, Ankem MK, Freedman JH, Damodaran C.  Inhibition of autophagy prevents cadmium-induced prostate carcinogenesis.  British Journal of Cancer 2017 Jun 27;117(1):56-64. PMID: 28588318. PMCID: PMC5520206.
  7. Moselhy J, Suman S, Alghamdi M, Chandrasekhar B,Das TP, AlatassiH, Ankem M, Damodaran C.  Withaferin A inhibits prostate carcinogenesis in a PTEN-deficient mouse model of prostate cancer.  Neoplasia 2017 May 7;19(6):451-9. PMID: 28494348. PMCID: PMC5421823.
  8. Kolluru V, Pal D, Papu John AMS, Ankem MK, Freedman JH, Damodaran C.  Induction of Plac8 promotes pro-survival function of autophagy in cadmium-induced prostate carcinogenesis.  Cancer Letters 2017 Nov 1;408:121-9. PMID: 28844710.   
  9. Gu J, Wang S, Guo H, Tan Y, Liang Y, Feng A1, Liu Q, Damodaran C, Zhang Z, Keller BB, Zhang C, Cai L.  Inhibition of p53 prevents diabetic cardiomyopathy by preventing early-stage apoptosis and cell senescence, reduced glycolysis, and impaired angiogenesis.  Cell Death & Disease 2018 Jan 23;9(2):82. PMID: 29362483. PMCID: PMC5833384.
  10. Chandrasekaran B†, Tyagi A†, Sharma AK‡, Cai L, Ankem M, Damodaran C.  Molecular insights: Suppression of EGFR and AKT activation by a small molecule in non-small cell lung cancer.  Genes & Cancer 2017 Sep;8(9-10):713-24. PMID: 29234489. PMCID: PMC5724805.
  11. Lian X, Gu J, Gao B, Li Y, Damodaran C, Wei W, Fu Y, Cai L.  Fenofibrate inhibits mTOR-p70S6K signaling and simultaneously induces cell death in human prostate cancer cells.  Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications2018 Jan 29;496(1):70-5. PMID: 29305864.
  12. Pal D, Tyagi A, Chandrasekaran B, Alatassi H, Ankem MK, Sharma AK, Damodaran C.  Suppression of Notch1 and AKT mediated epithelial to mesenchymal transition by Verrucarin J in metastatic colon cancer (2018).  Cell Death & Disease 2018 Jul 23;9(8):798. PMID: 30038258. PMCID: PMC6056562.
  13. Dahiya NR, Chandrasekaran B, Kolluru V, Ankem M, Damodaran  C, Vadhanam MV.  A natural molecule, urolithin A, downregulates androgen receptor activation and suppresses growth of prostate cancer.  Molecular Carcinogenesis 2018 Oct;57(10):1332-31. PMID: 30069922.
  14. Al-Eryani L, Waigel S, Tyagi A, Peremarti J, Jenkins SF, Damodaran C, States JC.  Differentially expressed mRNA targets of differentially expressed miRNAs predict changes in the TP53 axis and carcinogenesis-related pathways in human keratinocytes chronically exposed to arsenic.  Toxicological Sciences 2018 Apr 1;162(2):645-54. PMID: 29319823.
  15. Kolluru V, Chandrasekaran B, Tyagi A, Dervishi A, Ankem M, Yan X,Mariying K, Alatassi H, Shaheen SP, Haddad A, Damodaran C.  MiR-301 expression: diagnostic and prognostic marker for prostate cancer.  Urologic Oncology 2019 Sep 5.  pii: S1078-1439(18)30269-2. PMID: 30195463.
  16. Balaji Chandrasekaran B, Deeksha Pal D, Ashish Tyagi A, Srinivasa R. Ramisetti SR, Arun K. Sharma AK,  Murali Ankem M,and Chendil Damodaran C.  The chemopreventive effect of Withaferin A on spontaneous and Inflammation-associated colon carcinogenesis models.  Carcinogenesis 2018 Aug 16. doi: 10/1093carcin/bgy109. PMID: 30124785.

PubMed Information