Alexander Jares
Alexander.Jares@stonybrookmedicine.edu
B.S., Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology 2010
Yale University
Small molecule conversion of CD34+ umbilical cord blood
Our goal is to utilize human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells, an established source of endothelial cells, to generate expandable stem cells for subsequent endothelial differentiation. Autologous human endothelial cells are of significant clinical interest for the treatment of vascular disorders. However, current strategies do not achieve stand-alone endothelial cell scalability for human applications. Other areas of regulatory concern in the field include genomic instability, low yields in generating target differentiated tissue, and the risk of tumor formation. To address these barriers and improve stability and safety, we generated putatively “dedifferentiated” stem cells from HUCB tissue using small molecule and plasmid approaches.
Fellowships and Awards:
2018 Gold Humanism Honor Society
2016-2018 Co-Chair, Trainee Committee, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
2016- Associate Member, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
2016 Outstanding Young Investigator Award, Department of Pathology, Stony Brook Medicine
2015 Best Poster Award, MSTP Annual Retreat, Stony Brook University
2015 Best Poster Award, Pharmacology Annual Fall Symposium, Stony Brook University
2014-2015 MSTP Admissions Committee member
Recent Publications:
Pinz KG, Yakaboski E, Jares A, Liu H, Firor AE, Chen KH, Wada M, Salman H, Tse W, Hagag N, Lan F, Leung EL, Jiang
X, Ma Y. Targeting T-cell malignancies using anti-CD4 CAR NK-92 cells. Oncotarget. 2017 Nov 22;8(68):112783-112796. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.22626. PMID:
29348865
Chen KH, Wada M, Pinz KG, Liu H, Lin KW, Jares A, Firor AE, Shuai X, Salman H, Golightly M, Lan F, Senzel L, Leung EL, Jiang X, Ma Y. Preclinical targeting of aggressive T-cell malignancies using anti-CD5 chimeric antigen receptor. Leukemia. 2017 Oct;31(10):2151-2160. doi: 10.1038/leu.2017.8. Epub 2017 Jan 12. PubMed PMID: 28074066.
Chen KH, Wada M, Firor AE, Pinz KG, Jares A, Liu H, Salman H, Golightly M, Lan F, Jiang X, Ma Y Novel anti-CD3 chimeric antigen receptor targeting of aggressive T cell malignancies. Oncotarget. 2016 Aug 2. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.11019. PMID: 27494836.
Pinz KG, Liu H, Golightly M, Jares A, Lan F, Zieve G, Hagag N, Schuster M, Firor AE, Jiang X, Ma Y Preclinical targeting of human T-cell malignancies using CD4-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells. Leukemia. Nov 3, 2015. doi:10.1038/leu.2015.311 PMID: 26526988.
Liao W, Huang N, Yu J, Jares A, Yang J, Zieve G, Avila C, Jiang X, Zhang X, Ma Y Direct Conversion of Cord Blood CD34+ Cells Into Neural Stem Cells by OCT4. Stem Cells –Translational Medicine 2015 Jul;4(7):755-63. PMID: 25972144.
Firor A, Jares A, Ma Y From humble beginnings to success in the clinic: Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T-cells and implications for immunotherapy. Experimental Biology and Medicine (Maywood). 2015 May 7; PMID: 25956686.
†Wu C, Hong SG, Winkler T, Spencer D, Jares A, Ichwan B, Nicolae A, Guo V, Larochelle A, Dunbar CE. Development of an inducible caspase-9 safety switch for pluripotent stem cell-based therapies. Molecular Therapy – Methods and Clinical Development. 2014 Nov 12. PMID: 26052521.
Firor AE, Jares A. Nuclear localization of SALL4: a stemness transcription factor. Cell Cycle. 2014 May 15;13(10):1522-3. PMID: 24755779.
†Wu C, Li B, Lu R, Koelle SJ, Yang Y, Jares A, Krouse AE, Metzger M, Liang F, Loré K, Wu CO, Donahue RE, Chen IS, Weissman I, Dunbar CE. Clonal tracking of rhesus macaque hematopoiesis highlights a distinct lineage origin for natural killer cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Apr 3;14(4):486-99. PMID: 24702997.
Yakaboski E*, Jares A*, Ma Y. Stem cell gene SALL4 in aggressive hepatocellular carcinoma: a cancer stem cell-specific target? Hepatology. 2014 Jul;60(1):419-21. *equal contribution PMID: 24327209.
†Wu C*, Jares A*, Winkler T, Xie J, Metais JY, Dunbar CE. High efficiency restriction enzyme-free linear amplification-mediated polymerase chain reaction approach for tracking lentiviral integration sites does not abrogate retrieval bias. Hum Gene Ther. 2013 Jan;24(1):38-47. *equal contribution PMID: 22992116.
Editorial: “Why the House Tax Plan on Tuition Waivers is Bad for Science and for America” with the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Trainee Committee. ASGCT news. December 01, 2017.
Opinion: “In need of new ideas”. Yale Daily News. Jan 22, 2010.
Jares, A. (2018, Jul). Gene therapy: A societal perspective. Angle Journal. Retrieved from http://anglejournal.com/article/2018-06-gene-therapy-a-societal-perspective/
In the News:
“Investments in the NIH, early investigator grants, and programs that train physician-scientists like the Medical Scientist Training Program, are crucial investments in future life-saving therapies,” Alexander Jares, ASGCT Trainee Committee Co-Chair and MD/PhD candidate at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, says.
From “The Congressional Tax Plan is a Half-Measure Improvement for Medical Researchers” by ASGCT Staff – December 21, 2017.
Professional Links:
ORCID Author Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8387-2362
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderjares
My NCBI Bibliography & Complete List of Published Works: