Philip Santangelo
By: Walter Rich | Categories: Alumni Achievements
Phil Santangelo’s groundbreaking biomedical research is focused on three primary areas: native RNA regulation, RNA virus pathogenesis and RNA therapeutics and vaccines, where the application and development of imaging technology is applied to all three areas. The goal? His lab is developing RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines that could be used to fight the SIV and HIV viruses. His team is using PET/CT imaging tools for interrogating SIV infections to learn vital information that could be applied to approaches seeking to “cure” HIV. To address RNA regulation, localization and dynamics in the cellular milieu, his lab developed single molecule sensitive approaches for imaging native RNAs and RNA dynamics in live cells, as well as the first assay to detect native RNA-protein interactions in situ. To date, the results of these methods have been applied to the cell biology of human respiratory syncytial virus infections and RNA regulation during tumorigenesis.
