Overview

John Condeelis' research interests are in optical physics, cell biology and biophysics, cancer biology and mouse models of cancer. He and his collaborators developed the multiphoton imaging technology and animal models used to identify invasion and intravasation micro-environments in mammary tumors. Integration of intravital multiphoton imaging with computational /systems analysis of living breast tumors identified the dominant tumor cell phenotypes contributing to invasion and dissemination during metastasis. This led to the discovery and verification of the paracrine interaction between tumor cells and macrophages in vivo, the role of macrophages in the migration of tumor cells during HGF- dependent tumor cell streaming to blood vessels and the mechanism of tumor cell dissemination from primary tumors via TMEM (Tumor MicroEnvironment of Metastasis) doorways to distant metastatic sites. Based on these results, cell collection techniques, including the in vivo invasion assay, were developed for the collection of co-migrating macrophages and tumor cells, and disseminating tumor cells via the blood circulation. This led to the discovery of the mouse and human invasion signatures, and the TMEM doorway, MenaCalc and MenaINV markers for assessing risk of metastasis and prediction of response in breast cancer patients to both chemotherapy, and receptor tyrosine kinase and tyrosine kinase inhibitors used to suppress metastasis.

John Condeelis has devised optical microscopes for uncaging, biosensor detection and multiphoton imaging for these studies, and has used novel caged- enzymes and biosensors to test, in vivo, the predictions of the invasion signatures regarding the mechanisms of tumor cell dissemination and metastasis. He is one of the founding co-directors of the Integrated Imaging Program (IIP) dedicated to the integration and validation of clinical imaging platforms, including digital pathology, with high resolution optical imaging in the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center (GLBPC). He is now the co-Director of the Integrated Imaging Progam for Cancer Research (IIPCR) which has extended the work in the GLBPC and IIP to clinical applications.. The IIPCR is dedicated to curing metastatic cancer. He has authored more than 370 scientific papers on various aspects of his research.