Professional Profile

Appu Rathinavelu, Ph.D.

Photo Associate Dean, Institutional Planning and Development
Executive Director, Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research
Professor
Dept: Pharmaceutical Sciences
Phone: 954-262-0411
Email: appu@nova.edu
Campus: Fort Lauderdale

Biosketch:
Dr. Rathinavelu joined NSU in 1992 and is currently holding the Associate Dean for Institutional Planning and Faculty Development position at the College of Pharmacy. He is also serving as the Executive Director of the Rumbaugh Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research (RGI). Dr. Rathinavelu was able to initiate his cancer research in 1993 and from that time onwards his research efforts are focused on discovering new therapeutic targets and novel drugs for cancer treatment. He has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed research articles, serves on the editorial board of scientific journals and has conducted peer review of several scientific manuscripts for publications. He has also co-authored a text book, written two book chapters and presented more than 75 scientific papers in National and International conferences. Among other scientific achievements, so far Dr. Rathinavelu has received four patents, one for the discovery of novel assay methods to measure kinases and phosphatases in biological samples. In the spring of 2011 he received 2 patents for the two newly discovered anti-cancer drugs, named F16 and JFD that can starve the cancer and shrink them through anti-angiogenic mechanisms. In the Spring of 2014 one of his anti-angiogenic drugs received the Japanese patent also. Dr. Rathinavelu and his team are planning to enter into collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical companies and take these drugs to early stage clinical trials. Dr. Rathinavelu and his team are currently focused on discovering novel methods for predicting treatment outcomes and developing drug combinations that will be useful for more potent and less toxic treatment of cancers. As part of these efforts his research team is trying to establish unique methodologies for detecting a Gene Expression Profiles (GEP) that might underlie the predisposition of certain individuals for developing breast, prostate, lung and pancreatic cancers. In addition, Rathinavelu's laboratory is attempting to identify active compounds such as Phycocyanin that are naturally found in plants and blue green algae, which are found in Florida’s Everglades, which can potentiate the effectiveness of chemotherapy. The Phycocyanin related invention is also waiting for U.S. patent approval.
 
Research Interests:
Drug Discovery, Drug screening, Pre-clinical testing, Natural Products research, Genomics and Biotechnology. Rathinavelu's work also includes identification of gene defects, studying the effect of tumor micro environment on gene expression pattern and cellular mechanisms that enhance angiogenesis, cancer metastasis and drug resistance.

  [Back to College of Pharmacy Faculty/Staff list]