Background
Dr. Selaru is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine and Oncology, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University. He is also a member of the Institute of Nanobiotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. Since its start in 2009, Dr. Selaru has also been directing his basic and applied science laboratory in cancer research at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Selaru's focus is in bringing cutting edge molecular biology, genetics and engineering to the care of patients with gastroenterological disorders, in particular patients with GI cancers. His laboratory focuses on premalignant conditions such as colonic inflammation that can lead to colon cancer and inflammatory conditions of the hepatobiliary tract (such as primary sclerosing cholangitis or liver cirrhosis/fibrosis) that can lead to cholangiocarcinoma or hepatocellular cancer. The laboratory studies genetic alterations that can be utilized to understand disease progression from normal tissue to inflamed tissue to cancer, as well as to develop markers of early cancer. In addition, the laboratory focuses on epigenetic alterations, such as microRNA. Our recent studies demonstrated a rich, and previously unknown, intercellular communication between cancer cells and stroma, through small vesicles (exosomes) loaded with microRNA species. Last, the laboratory's focus is to bring microdevices and information technology to medicine.
Dr. Selaru's overarching goal is to deliver medical products and technologies to cancer patients, through an integrative approach that combines mathematics and data analysis, clinical gastroenterology, molecular and cell biology, engineering and business administration.