BME Seminer: Landon Locke, PhD - Post-Doctoral Associate in Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Locke will present "Multi-Scale Pulmonary Imaging for Therapeutic Advancement"

Abstract:

Imaging of the lung has the potential to expand our understanding of specific disease states and to provide valuable, clinically-relevant information including early detection of disease and the rapid assessment of treatment response. Yet dedicated imaging techniques capable of elucidating disease mechanisms are currently unrealized in many important pulmonary diseases. The development of new imaging methods for tracking active cellular and key physiological processes in the lung will be crucial to support a patient-oriented, personalized approach to therapy. 

My seminar will highlight two unique pulmonary imaging strategies. The first is the design and testing of a targeted liposome to provide a molecular imaging and drug delivery platform to tumor-associated macrophages that highly express mannose receptor. Through liposome mannosylation and radiolabeling, we evaluated their targeting to lung tumors in vivo with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The second is the development of an imaging method for quantifying pulmonary physiology including measurements of mucociliary clearance and liquid absorption in the airways. We have applied this technique in over 30 adult and pediatric Cystic Fibrosis patients and have shown that it detects physiologic response to a common inhaled osmotic therapy in the airways. This novel radioaerosol imaging approach may be useful for advancing diagnostic capabilities in Cystic Fibrosis, accelerating drug development, and supplying new insight into critical aspects of lung physiology.

Bio:

Landon earned his B.S. in Physics from Wittenberg University in 2004 under the mentorship of Drs. Elizabeth George and Paul Voytas.  He went on to study at the University of Virginia where he received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2011. As a graduate student, Landon was first author on 4 papers and a co-author on 2 others. Landon won several awards while pursuing his Ph.D. which include a Society of Nuclear Medicine Fellowship Award to develop a neutrophil imaging agent for Positron Emission Tomography and the 2008 Siemens New Point of View Preclinical Multimodality Image of the Year. He also filed for a patent with his Ph.D. mentor Dr. Stuart Berr on “Compositions and Methods for Detecting and Treating Cancer”.

Landon came to the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 as a postdoctoral scholar in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine (PACCM). Under the mentorship of Drs. Tim Corcoran and Joe Pilewski, Landon recently published a first author publication in the European Respiratory Journal on his work imaging Cystic Fibrosis lung disease and has been a co-author on 2 other publications. His primary project and foundation of his NIH F32 NRSA award is the development of a novel imaging methodology for quantifying pulmonary physiology including measurements of mucociliary clearance and liquid absorption in the airways. This technology promises to accelerate therapeutic development in Cystic Fibrosis lung disease. He is also collaborating with Dr. Carolyn Anderson, director of Radiology Molecular Imaging Core at Pitt, to develop a novel PET imaging-based method to select patients best suited for adjuvant anti-cancer therapy. 

Since joining Pitt in 2012, Landon has presented his work at the 2013 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference where he was a semi-finalist for the Junior Investigators Best Abstract in Basic Science Award. In addition to his commitment to science, Landon is serving a second term as elected President of the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association which serves to enrich the postdoctoral experience at Pitt through workshops, networking, and social events. Landon is originally from Springfield, Ohio.