Paul W. Cook

Biography

 In 1987 Dr. Cook earned his doctorate in cell physiology from UC Berkeley, where he received the Chancellor’s Patent Fund Research Award. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU), Dr. Cook and collaborators conducted the first complete characterization of autocrine-driven proliferation in a normal, non-transformed cell type (human keratinocytes). Subsequent purification and characterization of an autocrine-acting growth factor from human keratinocyte-conditioned medium demonstrated its identity to be that of amphiregulin (AR / AREG), a heparin-binding, heparin-inhibited EGF-related ligand. At OHSU, Dr. Cook was awarded an American Cancer Society research fellowship.   Dr. Cook joined California Biotechnology (Scios-Nova) as a scientist in Cell Biology and Tissue Repair before returning to OHSU in 1994 as a research assistant professor of dermatology and molecular medicine. During his tenure at OHSU as an assistant professor, Dr. Cook received the Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award. With collaborators at the Mayo Clinic and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Cook demonstrated that the constitutive expression of AR in the epidermis of transgenic mice induced a severe, early-onset skin pathology with almost all the clinical and pathophysiological features of psoriasis.   In 2000, Dr. Cook joined Cascade Biologics as a research scientist and then was appointed manager of Research & Development. Because the use of animal-derived products in cell culture systems can increase the risk of contaminating cell-based therapeutics with xenopathogens such as prions and viruses, Dr. Cook’s work at Cascade Biologics focused on the development of animal component-free (ACF) cell culture systems. Dr. Cook undertook key experiments in 2001-2003 that led to the world’s first efficient ACF undefined (plant-extract-based/HKGS-V2-EpiLife®) and first efficient ACF chemically-defined ACF (S7-EpiLife®) normal animal cell (human keratinocyte) culture systems. Both of these ACF cell culture systems were capable of promoting the efficient primary isolation and expansion, and the sustained serial propagation of, normal human keratinocytes. Dr. Cook’s novel research also created the first example of engineered animal tissue (reconstructed human epidermis) generated under chemically-defined ACF conditions. The collective chemically defined ACF cell culture technologies developed by Dr. Cook during his tenure at Cascade Biologics have been utilized for improved cell- and engineered tissue-based therapies that avoid the inherent pathogenic risks associated with generating therapeutic cell preparations in cell culture systems that include human and non-human derived animal products such as human serum, plasma or platelet lysate, bovine serum, bovine serum albumin, bovine pituitary extract, and murine feeder layer cells.   In January 2008, Dr. Cook and Dr. Rolf W. Winter launched AvantBio Corporation, a new company that leverages expertise in bioscience and chemistry to develop new products for the cell therapeutic, bioresearch and fluoro-chemical reagent (AvantFluor) markets.   At present, under Dr. Cook’s direction, AvantBio has now developed new and improved 100x cell culture supplement formulations that can support the efficient primary isolation (from  tissue) and serial propagation of clinically-relevant cell types that have proven difficult to efficiently propagate under chemically-defined ACF conditions (i.e. no serum, plasma, serum derived albumin, pituitary extracts, amniotic membranes or feeder layer cells required).  The clinically-relevant cell types include mesenchymal cells, such as normal human (dermal, corneal) fibroblasts (precursor to iPS cells), human mesenchymal  stem cells, hair follicle dermal papilla cells and epithelial cells such as normal human skin/oral-derived keratinocytes and normal human corneal epithelial cells

Research Interest

 In 1987 Dr. Cook earned his doctorate in cell physiology from UC Berkeley, where he received the Chancellor’s Patent Fund Research Award. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU), Dr. Cook and collaborators conducted the first complete characterization of autocrine-driven proliferation in a normal, non-transformed cell type (human keratinocytes). Subsequent purification and characterization of an autocrine-acting growth factor from human keratinocyte-conditioned medium demonstrated its identity to be that of amphiregulin (AR / AREG), a heparin-binding, heparin-inhibited EGF-related ligand. At OHSU, Dr. Cook was awarded an American Cancer Society research fellowship.   Dr. Cook joined California Biotechnology (Scios-Nova) as a scientist in Cell Biology and Tissue Repair before returning to OHSU in 1994 as a research assistant professor of dermatology and molecular medicine. During his tenure at OHSU as an assistant professor, Dr. Cook received the Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award. With collaborators at the Mayo Clinic and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Cook demonstrated that the constitutive expression of AR in the epidermis of transgenic mice induced a severe, early-onset skin pathology with almost all the clinical and pathophysiological features of psoriasis.   In 2000, Dr. Cook joined Cascade Biologics as a research scientist and then was appointed manager of Research & Development. Because the use of animal-derived products in cell culture systems can increase the risk of contaminating cell-based therapeutics with xenopathogens such as prions and viruses, Dr. Cook’s work at Cascade Biologics focused on the development of animal component-free (ACF) cell culture systems. Dr. Cook undertook key experiments in 2001-2003 that led to the world’s first efficient ACF undefined (plant-extract-based/HKGS-V2-EpiLife®) and first efficient ACF chemically-defined ACF (S7-EpiLife®) normal animal cell (human keratinocyte) culture systems. Both of these ACF cell culture systems were capable of promoting the efficient primary isolation and expansion, and the sustained serial propagation of, normal human keratinocytes. Dr. Cook’s novel research also created the first example of engineered animal tissue (reconstructed human epidermis) generated under chemically-defined ACF conditions. The collective chemically defined ACF cell culture technologies developed by Dr. Cook during his tenure at Cascade Biologics have been utilized for improved cell- and engineered tissue-based therapies that avoid the inherent pathogenic risks associated with generating therapeutic cell preparations in cell culture systems that include human and non-human derived animal products such as human serum, plasma or platelet lysate, bovine serum, bovine serum albumin, bovine pituitary extract, and murine feeder layer cells.   In January 2008, Dr. Cook and Dr. Rolf W. Winter launched AvantBio Corporation, a new company that leverages expertise in bioscience and chemistry to develop new products for the cell therapeutic, bioresearch and fluoro-chemical reagent (AvantFluor) markets.   At present, under Dr. Cook’s direction, AvantBio has now developed new and improved 100x cell culture supplement formulations that can support the efficient primary isolation (from  tissue) and serial propagation of clinically-relevant cell types that have proven difficult to efficiently propagate under chemically-defined ACF conditions (i.e. no serum, plasma, serum derived albumin, pituitary extracts, amniotic membranes or feeder layer cells required).  The clinically-relevant cell types include mesenchymal cells, such as normal human (dermal, corneal) fibroblasts (precursor to iPS cells), human mesenchymal  stem cells, hair follicle dermal papilla cells and epithelial cells such as normal human skin/oral-derived keratinocytes and normal human corneal epithelial cells