Introducing Cohort 7

Jessica Rove, MD

Colorado Chest Tube

Juan-Pablo Idrovo, MD

Gastrostomy Tube Guardian

Rui Zhao, PhD

Developing a First-in-Class Allosteric Eya2 Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitor for Brain Cancer Therapy

Sujatha Venkataraman, PhD

Development of Gated Dual-antigen Targeting CAR-T Cell Therapy to Treat ATRT, an Aggressive Brain Tumor in Children

Zhirui Wang, PhD

Bivalent CD47 Immunotoxin for Targeted Therapy of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Other CD47+ Cancers

Cohort 6

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Email Address:MINA.PANTCHEVA@CUANSCHUTZ.EDU

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

This project is dedicated to addressing the critical requirement for novel therapeutic solutions aimed at preventing the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and safeguarding vision in individuals with glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness globally. Current IOP-lowering therapies have limitations, and about 10% of patients do not respond to them. The researchers propose an innovative approach utilizing adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV-2) for targeted delivery of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) specifically to RGCs, as sHSPs have anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.

The core objective is to explore the potential of AAV-2-mediated expression of sHSPs in shielding RGCs within animal models of glaucoma. This investigation is undertaken with the ultimate objective of developing a novel therapeutic strategy to combat this vision-threatening disease. Collaborators: Ram Nagaraj, PhD and Mi-Hyun Nam, PhD

Learn more about Dr. Pantcheva

Cohort 5

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Email Address:MINA.PANTCHEVA@CUANSCHUTZ.EDU

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Learn more about Dr. Pantcheva

Cohort 4

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Email Address:MINA.PANTCHEVA@CUANSCHUTZ.EDU

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Learn more about Dr. Pantcheva

SPARK Colorado

Tools & Resources

Schools & Colleges

CU Denver

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

CU Campuses

Meet our SPARK Fellows

Introducing Cohort 7

Jessica Rove, MD

Juan-Pablo Idrovo, MD

Rui Zhao, PhD

Sujatha Venkataraman, PhD

Zhirui Wang, PhD

Cohort 6

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 5

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 4

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 3

Cohort 2

Cohort 1

CU Innovations

Meet our SPARK Fellows

Introducing Cohort 7

Jessica Rove, MD

Juan-Pablo Idrovo, MD

Rui Zhao, PhD

Sujatha Venkataraman, PhD

Zhirui Wang, PhD

Cohort 6

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 5

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 4

Mina Pantcheva, MD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Cohort 3

Cem Altunbas, PhD

Kimberley Bruce, PhD - PI

Tom Flaig, MD - PI

Jay Hesselberth, PhD - PI

Cristos Ifantides, MD, MBA

Kristi Kuhn, PhD - PI

Maria Nagel, PhD - PI

Devatha Nair, PhD

Zhirui Wang, PhD

Cohort 2

Ulli Bayer, PhD

Heide Ford, PhD - PI

Marsha Guess, MD - PI

Mingxia Huang, PhD

Robert Hodges, PhD - PI

Juan-Pablo Idrovo, MD - PI

Dan LaBarbera, PhD

Tim McKinsey, PhD

Andrew Monte, MD

Steve Moulton, MD - PI

Karin Payne, PhD - PI

Phil Reigan, PhD

Joshua Seinfeld, MD - PI

Kunhua Song, PhD

Mike Verneris, MD - PI

Cohort 1

Evalina Burger, MD - PI

Valeria Canto-Soler, PhD - PI

Michael Chapman, MD - PI

Michael Glode, MD - PI

Richard Johnson, MD - PI

Melanie Joy, PhD

James Lambert, PhD - PI

Shi-Long Lu, MD, PhD - PI

Max Mitchell, MD - PI

Jeffrey Olson, MD - PI

Mark Petrash, PhD - PI

Nicholas Walter, MD - PI

Martin Zamora, MD - PI

CU Innovations