Eddie J. Merino

Biography

When I moved to the University of Cincinnati I thought hard about applications for research, and have initiated several cutting-edge projects, especially in the field of anticancer agents. Agents are reactive or induce cytotoxicity are the backbone of many cancer treatments even today with all the targeted therapies. I believe strongly that reactive molecules are not inherently cytotoxic and the power of molecular design of these agents has not been fully explored. For example, one needs to look no further current natural products to show highly selective reactive molecules. Rather than a targeted therapy, we have relied on a pro-drug design strategy to improve agents called ROS-responsive materials. An important question to ask is what does a cancer cell possess that will allow selective activation? Although there is no one answer we focused the finding that many acute myeloid leukemias possess elevated levels of reactive oxygen (ROS). ROS-responsive materials have more than 10-fold selectivity against cancer cells over closely matched normal stem cells. We have published many manuscripts on novel designs and in the process have begun to show underlying biochemical mechanisms of high ROS in cancer. Recently, my team has been utilizing its extensive experience in chemical biology to expand into newer areas. For example, we are participating in several inhibitor projects in cancer and expanding to infectious disease releated research.

Research Interest

Eddie Merino is a chemist with research interests at the junction between chemistry and biology.