Research Program: Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Medical School

faras003@umn.edu
612-625-4260 — office
612-626-2267 — lab
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Dr. Farassati obtained his Ph.D. degree at the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He holds a Pharm.D. degree from Tabriz Medical Sciences University (Tabriz, Iran). Dr. Farassati joined the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in 2005.

Research Interests

Cancer gene therapy with special focus on oncolytic viruses: Dr. Farassati's laboratory is highly focused on development of the first generation of "Signal-Smart" oncolytic herpes mutants, which are capable of targeting cancer cells on the basis of over-activation of pro-oncogenic signaling pathways such as Ras pathway.

Cell signaling research as a basis for development of novel gene therapy strategies against malignancies: A wide spectrum of projects are pursued in Dr. Farassati's laboratory in order to elucidate the difference between normal and cancer cells in terms of cell signaling events. The ultimate goal is to target cancer cells on the basis of their signaling characteristics with novel gene therapy strategies such as gene-specific silencing.

Selected Publications

Farassati F, Yang AD, Lee PWK. Oncogenes in Ras signaling pathway dictate host-cell permissiveness to herpes simplex virus 1. Nat Cell Biol. 2001;3:745-50 (selected for international press release).

Norman K, Farassati F, Lee PW. Oncolytic viruses and cancer therapy. Cytokines Growth Factor Rev. 2001;12:271-82.

Farassati F, Lee PWK. Ras signaling, a gateway for HSV-1 infection, The Scientific World Journal , Jun 18;3(6):533-5 (2003).

Frahm S, Kurtz A, Kluwe L,Farassati F, Friedrich RE, Mautner VF. Sulindac derivatives inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in primary cells from malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of NF1-patients. Cancer Cell Int. 2004;4:4.

Mashour GA, Drissel SN, Frahm S, Farassati F, Martuza RL, Mautner VF, Kindler-Röhrborn A, Kurtz A. Differential modulation of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor growth by Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, Oncogene 2005;24:2367-74.

Mangrum WI, Farassati F, Kadirvel R, Kolbert CP, Raghavakaimal S, Dai D, Ding YH, Grill D, Khurana VG, Kallmes DF. mRNA expression in rabbit experimental aneurysms: a study using gene chip microarrays. Am J Neuroradiol. 2007;28:864-9.

Patel MR, Jacobson BA, De A, Frizelle SP, Janne P, Thumma SC, Whitson BA, Farassati F, Kratzke RA. Ras pathway activation in malignant mesothelioma. J Thoracic Onco. 2007;2:789-95.

Dudek AZ, Zwolak P, Jasinski P, Terai K, Gallus NJ, Ericson ME, Farassati F. Protein kinase C-beta inhibitor enzastaurin (LY317615.HCI) enhances radiation control of murine breast cancer in an orthotopic model of bone metastasis. Invest New Drugs 2008;26:13-24 .