Frank Chuang, M.D., Ph.D. is a Clinical Specialist with the UC Davis Integrated Cancer Center, and Associate Director for Biomedical Research at CBST.  Having originally trained in bioengineering at UC Berkeley – and later on in biophysics, immunobiology and clinical medicine at the City University of New York / Mount Sinai School of Biological Sciences – Dr. Chuang has worked extensively on advanced biomedical technologies such as particle-beam radiosurgery of surgically-inoperable brain tumors (at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UCSF and Stanford), and microbead-based immunoassays for point-of-care pathogen detection (at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory).  Leveraging his background in basic biological science, bioengineering, and clinical medicine – Frank has played a vital role in designing and developing projects and programs (including the blueprint for the Clinical Translational Science Center at UC Davis) that are focused on the translation of biotechnology research from benchtop to bedside.

At CBST, Frank provides management support for roughly 30 collaborative, multi-institutional, and multi-investigator biophotonics projects that comprise the Center’s ongoing Research Portfolio.  He continues to participate in science education, including the first-year graduate course on Biophotonic Applications in Medicine and the Life Sciences (EAD/BIM/BPH 255 at UC Davis) and the summer Biophotonics Teacher Research Academy ~ both of which Frank helped to develop.  Abroad, Dr. Chuang has been pursuing CBST’s mission to develop an international biophotonics network by forging close ties with numerous research groups in Canada, Europe, and Asia.  In November 2010 at Oulu, Finland – Frank successfully bid to host the next international Laser Applications in Life Sciences (LALS) conference for the first time in America, at UC Davis in June 2012.

Frank’s personal research interests have evolved over time, and at CBST he has come to specialize in biophotonics research to advance molecular medicine; specifically, on advanced microscopic imaging of live cells and systems to characterize and quantify processes such as infectious disease, stem cell regeneration, cellular autophagy and apoptosis in cancer biology.

Past and present research projects include:

·       Quantitative analysis of cellular autophagy and apoptosis using 3D video fluorescence microscopy (collaboration w/Hsing-Jien Kung and Richard Bold)

·       Characterizing HIV transmission through direct contact between living cells (collaboration w/Thomas Huser, Benjamin Chen, and Satya Dandekar)

·       Stem cell-based treatment of Huntington’s Disease (collaboration w/Thomas Huser and Jan Nolta)

·       Measuring serum protease activity profiles using bioluminescence (collaboration w/Chris Contag and Kit Lam)

·       Intracellular signaling of radiation-resistant breast cancer stem cells (collaboration w/Jian-Jian Li)

·       Compact, dielectric-wall proton accelerator for radiotherapy (collaboration w/George Caporaso, Steve Sampayan, and Dennis Matthews)

·       Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (tr-LIFS) and (auto)fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) (collaboration w/Laura Marcu)

·       Noninvasive detection of nutritional iron deficiency (collaboration w/Kenneth Brown and Caroline Chantry)

·       Cellular mechanisms of traumatic brain injury and repair/recovery (collaboration w/Gene Gurkoff, Bruce Lyeth, and Banyan Biomarkers)

·       Nanoparticle-enhanced x-ray therapy (NEXT) (collaboration w/Ting Guo)

·       Raman-based detection and measurement of hepatitis C infection in human cells (collaboration w/Mark Holodniy and James Chan)

·       Infectious disease in agriculture citrus and grapes (collaboration w/Abhaya Dandekar)

·       Advanced fluorescence microscopy of developmental neurobiology (collaboration w/Stephen Noctor)

 

Selected publications:

Sun Y, Phipps J, Stoy H, Tinling S, Meier J, Chuang FYS, Farwell DG, Marcu L; Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy: In Vivo Application to Diagnosis of Oral Carcinoma. Optics Letters, 34 (13): (2009) *Also published online in the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (VJBO). http://vjbo.osa.org/virtual_issue.cfm

Hübner W, McNerney GP, Dale BM, Chen P, Gordon RE, Chuang FYS, Li XD, Asmuth DM, Huser TR, Chen BK; Quantitative 3D Video Microscopy of HIV Transfer Across T Cell Virological Synapses. Science, 23(5922): pp. 1743-1747: (2009).

Kim RH, Coates JM, Bowles TL, McNerney GP, Sutcliffe J, Jung JU, Gandour-Edwards R, Chuang FYS, Bold RJ, Kung HJ; Arginine Deiminase as a Novel Therapy for Prostate Cancer Induces Autophagy and Caspase-Independent Apoptosis. Cancer Research 69, pp.700-708; (2009).

Tok JBH, Chuang FYS, Kao MC, Rose KA, Pannu SS, Sha MY, Chakarova G, Penn SG, Dougherty GM; Metallic striped nanowires as multiplexed immunoassay platforms for pathogen detection. Angewandte Chemie(International ed 45, 6900-6904 (2006).

Bates TW, Paulson C, Kostova, T, Chuang FYS, Chang J, Descalle M, Bagheri N, Estacio P, Colston B, Milanovich F;  A system for continuous monitoring of person-to-person contact, with reference to utilization in public health investigations. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 2003.  Also available as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Technical Report UCRL-152342

Chuang FYS, Sassaroli M, Unkeless J: Convergence of Fc-gamma Receptor IIA and Fc-gamma Receptor IIIB Signaling Pathways in Human Neutrophils.  J. Immunology, 164: 350-360: 2000.

Fein M, Unkeless J, Chuang FYS, Sassaroli M, DaCosta R, Väänänen H, Eisinger J:  Lateral Mobility of Lipid Analogues and GPI-Anchored Proteins in Supported Bilayers Determined by Fluorescent Bead Tracking.  J. Membrane Biol., 135: 83-92: 1993.

Phillips MH, Kessler M, Chuang FYS, Frankel KA, Fabrikant JI, Levy RP: Image correlation of MRI and CT in treatment planning for radiosurgery of intracranial vascular malformations.  Int J Rad Onc Bio Phys,  20: 881-889: 1991.