Nicholas D. Tomko, Ph.D.
Scientist, Contract Research Laboratory
Personal Statement
I was in graduate school when the immune checkpoint inhibitors demonstrated their amazing efficacy and the Nobel Prize was awarded to Dr. James Alison and Dr. Tasuku Honjo for their discovery of “cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.” At the time, my Ph.D. mentor had shown the effects of lipid oxidation products on the complement pathway and toll-like receptors within the eye; and my research had found that a specific lipid oxidation product induced the migration of glioblastoma cancer stem cells. Our focus on the innate immune system and the resurgence of immunology led me to joining CTL because of their pioneering work in ELISPOT that enables us to monitor the immune system’s function with unparalleled sensitivity. The contract research laboratory works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the development of new medicines from preclinical stages through the clinical trials and commercialization. Within this department, I have witnessed our technology’s effect on monitoring the immune system in a vast array of therapeutic treatments ranging from gene therapies and cancer to HIV and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Education and Training
- B.S. 2011, Forensic Science and Chemistry, Eastern Kentucky University
- Ph.D., 2019, Biological Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University
Publications
- Tomko, N., Kluever, M., Wu, C., Zhu, J., Wang, Y., Salomon, R.G. 4-Hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoic acid lactone is a potent inducer of brain cancer cell invasiveness that may contribute to the failure of anti-angiogenic therapies. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 2020 Jan; 146:234-256.
- Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., Wu, C., Zhu, J., Wang, C., Tomko, N., Linetsky, M.D., Salomon, R.G., Ramos-Estebanez, C., Wang, Y., Yu, X. High-Resolution Dynamic Oxygen-17 MR Imaging of Mouse Brain with Golden-Ration-Based Radial Sampling and K-Space-Weighted Image Reconstruction. Magn Reson Med 2018 Jan; 79(1):256-263.
- Wu, C., Wang, X., Tomko, N., Zhu, J., Wang, W.R., Zhu, J., Wang, Y., Salomon, R.G. 2-(ω-Carboxyethyl)pyrrole Antibody as a New Inhibitor of Tumor Angiogenesis and Growth. Anti-Cancer Agents in Med Chem. 2017;17(6):813-820.
Patents
- Salomon, R.G., Crabb, J.W., Cui, Y., Tomko, N. 2018. Anti-CEP antibody or fragment thereof. U.S. Patent 9,957,333, filed April 17, 2015, and issued May 1, 2018.