Overview

Tushar C. Patel, M.B., Ch.B., seeks to harness the power of RNA for next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics.

As principal investigator of the RNA Nanotherapeutics Laboratory, Dr. Patel is working to identify new target molecules and mechanisms for liver disease and cancers through the study and use of extracellular vesicles, noncoding RNA and RNA nanotechnology. The laboratory practices curiosity-driven science with impact through identifying more-effective treatments and new tests to be able to make earlier diagnosis of these conditions.

Our research focuses on:

• Developing new therapeutic approaches for liver cancers.
• Using extracellular vesicles and RNA for diagnosis and therapy.
• Understanding the roles RNA plays in liver cancers.

Current medical and disease models we're investigating include liver injury, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and immunocompetent, orthotopic and synthetic transgenic models of liver cancer. In addition to biochemical, molecular and cell biology methods, we use cutting-edge technologies such as RNA nanotechnology, nanovesicle preparation, digital PCR, mass cytometry, superresolution microscopy and holo-tomographic microscopy, nanopore sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and RNA sequencing.

Ongoing research in our lab centers around these questions:

• How can we use extracellular vesicles to treat human diseases?
• What are the roles of extracellular vesicles and extracellular RNA in cell signaling?
• How do these particles contribute to the growth of liver cancers?
• How can this knowledge be helpful to improve diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases and liver cancer?

In answering these questions, we seek transformative advances to enable the monitoring and improvement of human health and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases using RNA-based therapies and biological nanoparticles.

The knowledge and technologies these studies create would provide new opportunities in clinical translational medicine by developing novel RNA-based diagnostic approaches and therapeutics.

About Dr. Patel

Dr. Patel is a transplant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a professor of cancer biology and a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He has the distinction of being the Alfred D. and Audrey M. Petersen Professor of Cancer Research. Dr. Patel is also the former dean of research at Mayo Clinic in Florida. He has received several research grants, including funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has published extensively on liver cancer.