WebmedCentral Editor
View all WebmedCentral Editors
 
No Image

Dr. Luca Cucullo

Assistant Professor
TTUHSC
1300 Coulter Drive
 

Brief Biography:


I am an Assistant Professor/ in the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Science at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. My research interests are largely focused on translational neuroscience and comprise the following:
1) Cross interactions between the cellular elements of the neurovascular unit;
2) Multidrug resistance at the BBB
3) Environmental and cellular modulation of blood-brain barrier functions;
4) Rheological and pro-inflammatory changes in ischemia and stroke and their role in the pathogenesis of secondary brain injury and neuroinflammation.
My current major research focus revolves around tobacco smoke (TS) toxicity at the BBB as a prodromic factor for the pathogenesis and progression of cerebrovascular impairment and brain disorders. This research encompasses both the study of neuroinflammatory mechanisms and cerebrovascular pathophysiology.
In addition, I am exploring the potential application of low frequency, low intensity AC electrical stimulation to reduce neoplastic cell division and drug resistance in malignant tumor cells.
Beyond my work at TTUHSC, I serve as scientific advisor (and co-founder) for Flocel Inc. (Cleveland, OH) a biotech company involved in the development of advanced artificial capillary systems for real time studies of the blood-brain barrier.

 

Academic positions:


Positions and Employment
* 2011-present Assistant professor, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Amarillo TX
* 2007-2011: Assistant professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
* 2005-2011: Staff, Project Scientist, Cerebrovascular Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland OH
* 2004-2011: Lab Manager, Cerebrovascular Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland OH.
* 2003-2005: Senior Research Associate, Cerebrovascular Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland OH
* 2000-2003: Post-doctoralResearch Fellow, Cerebrovascular Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland OH

Professional experience and service
* 2012-present: Associate editor for Oxidants and Antioxidants in Medical Science
* 2010: Alternatives Research and Development Foundation; Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research; Epilepsia (Reviewer)
* 2007: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke(NINDS) (Ad hocReviewer)
* 2005-2008: Philip Morris External Research Program (Reviewer)
* 2005-present: Ad hoc reviewer activity for the following international journals:

Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, Microcirculation, Epilepsia, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Glia, Molecular Brain Research, Brain Research, Brain, Stroke, La revue de Médecine Vétérinaire, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of the Chinese institute of chemical engineers, Journal of neurochemistry, European Journal of Neurology, International Journal of Biomedical Science (IJBS), Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Disruptive Science and Technology.
2004-present:Co-founder and Scientific Advisor: Flocel Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, (http://www.flocel.com/about/bios/bios.html)

 

Research interests:


My research interests are largely focused on translational neuroscience and comprise the study of cross interactions between the cellular elements of the neurovascular unit; the development of multidrug resistance at the BBB; environmental and cellular modulation of blood-brain barrier functions; markers of BBB disruption; rheological and pro-inflammatory changes in ischemia and stroke and their role in the pathogenesis of secondary brain injury and neuroinflammation. Furthermore, I initiated a study exploring the potential application of low frequency, low intensity AC electrical stimulation to reduce neoplastic cell division and drug resistance in malignant tumor cells.

More recently I focused on the study of tobacco smoke (TS) toxicity at the BBB as a prodromic factor for the pathogenesis and progression of cerebrovascular impairment and brain disorders. This research encompasses both the study of neuroinflammatory mechanisms and cerebrovascular pathophysiology.

Beyond my work at TTUHSC, I am the co-founder and scientific advisor for Flocel Inc. (Cleveland, OH) a biotech company involved in the development of advanced artificial capillary systems for real time studies of the blood-brain barrier.  Furthermore i serve as a consultant ad hoc for several start-up bio-tech companies as well as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals and funding institutions.

 

Any other information:


Memberships
* 2011-present: Member of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
* 2000-present: Member of Society for Neuroscience
Honors and Awards
* 2011: 1R01DA029121-01A1 NIH/NIDA Testing tobacco smoke toxicity at the blood-brain barrier
* 2010: Alternative Research & Development Foundation Award for the project entitled "A New Dynamic in vitro Model of the Human Brain Vascular Network ".
* 2008: The Cleveland Clinic Mentor Recognition Award for the Science Internship Program.
* 2007: The Cleveland Clinic Mentor Recognition Award for the Science Internship Program.
* 2007: Project Award (first place), Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Staff Retreat. “Humanized Dynamic In Vitro Blood Brain Barrier Model: A Convenient Design for Neurovascular Studies”.
* 2007: Invited speaker at the 7th international Conference on Cerebral Vascular Biology (CVB) Ottawa, Canada June 24 – 28.
* 2006: The Cleveland Clinic Mentor Recognition Award for the Science Internship Program.
* 2005: Philip Morris External Research Program (4 years, $777,350) for the project entitled "A humanized model of the cerebral vasculature to study the effects of smoking on blood-brain barrier endothelial cells".
* 2004: Alternative Research & Development Foundation Award for the project entitled "A new Dynamic in vitro blood-brain barrier model for extensive pharmacological study at the blood-brain barrier".
* 2004: The Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award for the development of “Electrical Stimulation protocols to Inhibit Tumor Cell Proliferation”.

Peer-reviewed Publications:
1. P. Naik, L. Cucullo. In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier models: Current and Perspective Technologies. J Pharm Sci. 2011 Dec 27.[Epub ahead of print]
2. Hossain, P. Mazzone, W. Tierney and L. Cucullo. In Vitro Assessment of Tobacco Smoke Toxicity at the BBB: Do Antioxidant Supplements Have a Protective Role?BMC Neurosci. 2011 Sep 24;12(1):92
3. Cucullo L., Hossain M., Puvenna V., Marchi N. and Janigro D. The role of shear stress in Blood-Brain Barrier endothelial physiology. BMC Neuroscience 2011 May 11;12:40.
4. N. Marchi, A. Johnson4, V. Puvenna, H. L. Johnson, W Tierney, C. Ghosh, L. Cucullo,P.F. Fabene,and D. Janigro. Modulation of peripheral cytotoxic cells and ictogenesis in a model of seizures Epilepsia. 2011 Sep;52(9):1627-34
5. L. Cucullo, N. Marchi, M. Hossain and D. Janigro. A Dynamic In vitro BBB model for the study of immune cell trafficking into the CNS. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab.2011 Feb;31(2):767-77
6. P. Mazzone, W. Tierney, M. Hossain, V. Puvenna, D. Janigro and L. Cucullo. Pathophysiological Impact of Cigarette Smoke Exposure on the Cerebrovascular System with a Focus on the Blood-brain Barrier: Expanding the Awareness of Smoking Toxicity in an Underappreciated Area. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health (2010)
7. Pham N., Fazio V., Cucullo L., Teng Q.,Biberthaler P., Bazarian J. and Janigro D.Extracranial Sources of S100B Do Not Affect Serum Levels. PLoS One. 2010 Sep 10;5(9). pii: e12691
8. Ghosh C., Gonzalez-Martinez J., Hossain M., Cucullo L., Fazio V., Janigro D., and Marchi N. Pattern of P450 expression at the human blood-brain barrier: Roles of epileptic condition and laminar flow. Epilepsia. 2010 Aug;51(8):1408-17 PM:20074231
9. Hossain M., Sathe T., Fazio V., Mazzone P., Weksler B., Janigro D., Rapp E., and Cucullo L. Tobacco smoke: a critical etiological factor for vascular impairment at the blood-brain barrier. Brain Res. (2009) 1287, 192-205. PM:19539613
10. Cucullo L., Couraud P.O., Weksler B., Romero I.A., Hossain M., Rapp E., and Janigro D. Immortalized human brain endothelial cells and flow-based vascular modeling: a marriage of convenience for rational neurovascular studies. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab (2008) 28, 312-328. PM:17609686
11. Cucullo L., Hossain M., Rapp E., Manders T., Marchi N., and Janigro D. Development of a humanized in vitro blood-brain barrier model to screen for brain penetration of antiepileptic drugs. Epilepsia (2007) 48, 505-516. PM:17326793
12. Santaguida S., Janigro D., Hossain M., Oby E., Rapp E., and Cucullo L. Side by side comparison between dynamic versus static models of blood-brain barrier in vitro: a permeability study. Brain Res. (2006) 1109, 1-13. PM:16857178
13. Janigro D., Perju C., Fazio V., Hallene K., Dini G., Agarwal M.K., and Cucullo L. Alternating current electrical stimulation enhanced chemotherapy: a novel strategy to bypass multidrug resistance in tumor cells. BMC. Cancer (2006) 6, 72. PM:16545134
14. Awasthi S., Hallene K.L., Fazio V., Singhal S.S., Cucullo L., Awasthi Y.C., Dini G., and Janigro D. RLIP76, a non-ABC transporter, and drug resistance in epilepsy. BMC. Neurosci. (2005) 6, 61. PM:16188027
15. Cucullo L., Dini G., Hallene K.L., Fazio V., Ilkanich E.V., Igboechi C., Kight K.M., Agarwal M.K., Garrity-Moses M., and Janigro D. Very low intensity alternating current decreases cell proliferation. Glia (2005) 51, 65-72. PM:15779084
16. Cucullo L., Aumayr B., Rapp E., and Janigro D. Drug delivery and in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier. Curr. Opin. Drug Discov. Devel. (2005) 8, 89-99. PM:15679176
17. Marchi N., Hallene K.L., Kight K.M., Cucullo L., Moddel G., Bingaman W., Dini G., Vezzani A., and Janigro D. Significance of MDR1 and multiple drug resistance in refractory human epileptic brain. BMC. Med. (2004) 2, 37. PM:15473912
18. Cucullo L., Hallene K., Dini G., Dal Toso R., and Janigro D. Glycerophosphoinositol and dexamethasone improve transendothelial electrical resistance in an in vitro study of the blood-brain barrier. Brain Res. (2004) 997, 147-151. PM:14706866
19. Marroni M., Agrawal M.L., Kight K., Hallene K.L., Hossain M., Cucullo L., Signorelli K., Namura S., Bingaman W., and Janigro D. Relationship between expression of multiple drug resistanceproteins and p53 tumor suppressor gene proteins in human brain astrocytes. Neuroscience (2003) 121, 605-617. PM:14568021
20. Marroni M., Kight K.M., Hossain M., Cucullo L., Desai S.Y., and Janigro D. Dynamic in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier. Gene profiling using cDNA microarray analysis. Methods Mol. Med. (2003) 89, 419-434. PM:12958437
21. Krizanac-Bengez L., Kapural M., Parkinson F., Cucullo L., Hossain M., Mayberg M.R., and Janigro D. Effects of transient loss of shear stress on blood-brain barrier endothelium: role of nitric oxide and IL-6. Brain Res. (2003) 977, 239-246. PM:12834884
22. Cucullo L., Marchi N., Marroni M., Fazio V., Namura S., and Janigro D. Blood-brain barrier damage induces release of alpha2-macroglobulin. Mol. Cell Proteomics. (2003) 2, 234-241. PM:12714567
23. Marroni M., Marchi N., Cucullo L., Abbott N.J., Signorelli K., and Janigro D. Vascular and parenchymal mechanisms in multiple drug resistance: a lesson from human epilepsy. Curr. Drug Targets (2003).4,297-304. PM:12699350
24. Marchi N., Fazio V., Cucullo L., Kight K., Masaryk T., Barnett G., Vogelbaum M., Kinter M., Rasmussen P., Mayberg M.R., and Janigro D. Serum transthyretin monomer as a possible marker of blood-to-CSF barrier disruption. J. Neurosci. (2003) 23, 1949-1955. PM:12629200
25. Cucullo L., McAllister M.S., Kight K., Krizanac-Bengez L., Marroni M., Mayberg M.R., Stanness K.A., and Janigro D. A new dynamic in vitro model for the multidimensional study of astrocyte-endothelial cell interactions at the blood-brain barrier. Brain Res. (2002) 951, 243-254. PM:12270503
26. Desai S.Y., Marroni M., Cucullo L., Krizanac-Bengez L., Mayberg M.R., Hossain M.T., Grant G.G., and Janigro D. Mechanisms of endothelial survival under shear stress. Endothelium (2002) 9, 89-102. PM:12200960
27. Dombrowski S.M., Desai S.Y., Marroni M., Cucullo L., Goodrich K., Bingaman W., Mayberg M.R., Bengez L., and Janigro D. Overexpression of multiple drug resistance genes in endothelial cells from patients with refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia (2001) 42, 1501-1506. PM:11879359
BOOK CHAPTERS:
1. Cucullo L., Marchi N., Fazio V., Nguyen M., and Janigro D. “Blood-brain barrier, blood flow and Neoplasms: the role of astrocytes” in Epilepsy: Mechanisms, Models, and Translational Perspectives. CRC-press, June 2010.ISBN: 978-1-4200855-9-4
2. Cucullo L. “Prenatal development of the human BBB”, in Mammalian Brain Development,D. Janigro Editor, Humana Press, (Totowa,NJ) 2009; 53-75.ISBN 978-1-60761-286-5
3. Cucullo L.,Oby E., Hallene K., Aumayr B., Rapp ED.,AND Janigro D. Artificial blood-brain barrier in Dermietzel, Spray, Nedergaard (Eds): Blood-Brain Interfaces-From Ontogeny to Artificial Barriers, February 2006.ISBN 3-527-31088-6 - Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.
4. Cucullo L. “Vascular differentiation and cell cycle”, in Cell Cycle in the Central Nervous System, D. Janigro Editor, Humana Press, (Totowa, NJ) 2006; 319-329. ISBN 1-58829-529-X
Abstracts: total includes over 85

 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


I personally think that Open Access journals are the best format/approach to facilitate knowledge divulgation, promote intercommunication between scientist and the establishment of novel cooperative research.