Rolf Brekken, PhD

Associate Professor
Surgery, Pharmacology
Graduate Program: Cancer Biology
Integrative Biology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

Office Phone: 214-648-5151
Office Fax: 214-648-4940

rolf.brekken@utsouthwestern.edu

Biography

Dr. Rolf Brekken received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in 1991 and graduated from UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 1999. His graduate research was focused in the use of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) as a target for the therapy of solid tumors. In August 2002, he completed his postdoctoral training under Dr. E. Helene Sage in the Department of Vascular Biology at the Hope Heart Institute in Seattle, Washington.

His research interests include angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling in tumors and the development of novel tumor targeting and drug delivery agents for the therapy of pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Brekken is currently the Effie Marie Cain Research Scholar in Angiogenesis Research and is a principal investgator in the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research.

Education

Graduate SchoolUniversity of Texas Southwestern Med Ctr Dallas (1999)
UndergraduateLuther College (1991)

Research Interests

Angiogenesis
Cancer Therapy
Extracellular Matrix
Metastasis
Tumor Microenvironment

Publications

Featured
SPARC promotes pericyte recruitment via inhibition of endoglin-dependent TGF-{beta}1 activity.

Rivera LB, Brekken RA, The Journal of cell biology, 2011 Jun; 193 (7):1305-19

Featured
Loss of fibulin-5 binding to beta1 integrins inhibits tumor growth by increasing the level of ROS.

Schluterman MK, Chapman SL, Korpanty G, Ozumi K, Fukai T, Yanagisawa H, Brekken RA, Disease models & mechanisms, 2010 May-Jun; 3 (5-6):333-42

Featured
Lack of host SPARC enhances vascular function and tumor spread in an orthotopic murine model of pancreatic carcinoma.

Arnold SA, Rivera LB, Miller AF, Carbon JG, Dineen SP, Xie Y, Castrillon DH, Sage EH, Puolakkainen P, Bradshaw AD, Brekken RA, Disease models & mechanisms, 2010 Jan-Feb; 3 (1-2):57-72

Featured
Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 mediates macrophage infiltration into orthotopic pancreatic tumors in mice.

Dineen SP, Lynn KD, Holloway SE, Miller AF, Sullivan JP, Shames DS, Beck AW, Barnett CC, Fleming JB, Brekken RA. , Cancer Research , June 2008; :PMID: 18519694

Smac mimetic-derived augmentation of chemotherapeutic response in experimental pancreatic cancer.

Awasthi N, Kirane A, Schwarz MA, Toombs JE, Brekken RA, Schwarz RE, BMC cancer, 2011 ; 11:15

Smac mimetic increases chemotherapy response and improves survival in mice with pancreatic cancer.

Dineen SP, Roland CL, Greer R, Carbon JG, Toombs JE, Gupta P, Bardeesy N, Sun H, Williams N, Minna JD, Brekken RA, Cancer research, 2010 Apr; 70 (7):2852-61

Lack of host SPARC enhances vascular function and tumor spread in an orthotopic murine model of pancreatic carcinoma

Arnold SA, Rivera LB, Miller AF, Carbon JG, Dineen SP, Xie Y, Castrillon DH, Sage EH, Puolakkainen P, Bradshaw AD, Brekken RA. , Disease Models and Mechanisms , January 2010; :PMID: 20007485

r84, a novel therapeutic antibody against mouse and human VEGF with potent anti-tumor activity and limited toxicity induction.

Sullivan LA, Carbon JG, Roland CL, Toombs JE, Nyquist-Andersen M, Kavlie A, Schlunegger K, Richardson JA, Brekken RA, PloS one, 2010 ; 5 (8):e12031

Cytokine levels correlate with immune cell infiltration after anti-VEGF therapy in preclinical mouse models of breast cancer.

Roland CL, Lynn KD, Toombs JE, Dineen SP, Udugamasooriya DG, Brekken RA , PLoS One , November 2009; :PMID: 19888452

SPARC: a matricellular regulator of tumorigenesis.

Arnold SA, Brekken RA. , J Cell Commun Signal , October 2009; :PMID: 19809893

Honors/Awards

Kavlie Fellow

(2009)

Effie Marie Cain Research Scholar

Endowment for Angiogenesis Research - UTSW (2002)

Junior Investigator Award

Funded by the American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (2002)

Postdoctoral Fellowship

NIH National Research Service Award, F32 - HL10352 (2000)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science

(1992)

American Association for Cancer Research

American Society for Matrix Biology

North American Vascular Biology Association

Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine