James P. Basilion, PhD

Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
School of Medicine
Case School of Engineering
Professor
Department of Radiology
School of Medicine
Professor
Department of Pathology
School of Medicine
Director
Case Center for Imaging Research
Co-Leader
Cancer Imaging Program
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Research Information

Research Interests

  • Molecular imaging for identification of tumor margins
  • Gold nanoparticles for imaging and drug delivery
  • Quenched activity-based optical imaging probes
  • Imaging complex molecular signatures
  • Targeted Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT)

Molecular imaging, defined as the in vivo characterization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level, is an attempt to image the molecular makeup of the macrofeatures currently visualized using "classical" diagnostic imaging techniques. Classically, detection of malignant tumor cells in a background of normal or hyperplastic benign tissue is often based on differences in physical properties between tissues, which are frequently minimal, resulting in low contrast resolution.

Research Projects

Our laboratory concentrates on research related to the development and application of Molecular Imaging technologies, with specific focus on designing novel tools to image individual and multiple molecular markers of disease thereby increasing the sensitivity and specificity of medical imaging. We are also developing new uses of molecular imaging to define tumor margins during surgery and as theranostic tools to identify cancer for conventional surgical removal followed by PDT ablation of tissue not amenable to surgery.

Awards and Honors

Distinguished Investigator Award
2013
Academy of Radiology Research
Intramural Research Training Award
1996
National Institutes of Health, NICHD

Professional Memberships

Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (AIMBE), 2014
Founding Member, World Molecular Imaging Society (merger of AMI and SMI), Member and Treasurer, 2011-present
Staff Fellow, National Institutes of Health, NICHD, 1994

External Appointments

Co-founder and Board of Directors
Akrotome Imaging, Inc.
2008

Publications

View All Publications

Luo D, Wang X, Zeng S, Ramamurthy G, Burda C, Basilion JP. “Targeted Gold Nanocluster-Enhanced Radiotherapy of Prostate Cancer.” Small. 2019 Aug;15(34):e1900968. doi: 10.1002/smll.201900968. Epub 2019 Jul 2. PMID: 31265213.

Luo D, Wang X, Zeng S, Ramamurthy G, Burda C, and Basilion JP. “Prostate-specific membrane antigen targeted gold nanoparticles for prostate cancer radiotherapy: Does size matter?”. 2019. Chemical Science, 2019, 10, 8119 – 8128

Wang X, Ramamurthy G, Shirke AA, Walker E, Mangadlao J, Wang Z, Wang Y, Shan L, Schluchter MD, Dong Z, Brady-Kalnay SM, Walker NK, Gargesha M, MacLennan G, Luo D, Sun R, Scott B, Roy D, Li J, Basilion JP. Photodynamic Therapy is an Effective Adjuvant Therapy for Image-Guided Surgery in Prostate Cancer. Cancer Res. 2020 Nov 12. pii: canres.0201.2019. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-0201. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 31719100

Walker E, Liu Y, Kim I, Biro M, Iyer SR, Ezaldein H, Scott J, Merati M, Mistur R, Zhou B, Straight B, Yim JJ, Bogyo M, Mann M, Wilson DL, Basilion JP, Popkin DL. A Protease-Activated Fluorescent Probe Allows Rapid Visualization of Keratinocyte Carcinoma During Excision. Cancer Res. 2020 Mar 4. pii: canres.3067.2019. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-3067. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:32132111

 

Perera RH, de Leon A, Wang X, Wang Y, Ramamurthy G, Peiris P, Abenojar E, Basilion JP, Exner AA. Real time ultrasound molecular imaging of prostate cancer with PSMA-targeted nanobubbles. Nanomedicine. 2020 Apr 26;28:102213. doi:10.1016/j.nano.2020.102213. Online ahead of print.PMID: 32348874

Luo D, Johnson A, Wang X, Li H, Erokwu BO, Springer S, Lou J, Ramamurthy G, Flask CA, Burda C, Meade TJ, Basilion JP. Targeted Radiosensitizers for MR-Guided Radiation Therapy of Prostate Cancer. Nano Letters. 2020. PMID 32845644 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02487 

Dong LuoXinning WangEthan WalkerJing WangSarah SpringerJason LouGopalakrishnan RamamurthyClemens BurdaJames P Basilion. Nanoparticles Yield Increased Drug Uptake and Therapeutic Efficacy upon Sequential Near-Infrared Irradiation. ACS Nano. 2020 Nov 24;14(11):15193-15203. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c05425. Epub 2020 Oct 22.

Wang X, Shirke A, Walker E, Sun R, Ramamurthy G, Wang J, Shan L, Mangadlao J, Dong Z, Li J, Wang Z, Schluchter M, Luo D, Wang Y, Stauffer S, Brady-Kalnay S, Hoimes C, Lee Z, Basilion JP. Small Molecule-Based Prodrug Targeting Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jan 22;13(3):417. doi: 10.3390/cancers13030417.PMID: 33499427 

 

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
Pharmacology
The University of Texas at Houston-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
1990
Bachelor of Arts
Biochemistry
University of Pennsylvania
1984