BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors in the order listed on Form Page 2.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME
POSITION TITLE
Mathewos Z. Tessema
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login)
mtessema
Member, Population Sciences Program
Associate Scientist, Lung cancer Program,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
DEGREE
(if applicable)
YEAR(s)
FIELD OF STUDY
D.V.M.
M.S.
Ph.D.
1998
2001
2004
Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Pathology
Molecular Medicine
A. Professional Experience / Honors / Memberships
Employment
1998 - 1999
Assistant Lecturer of Veterinary Pathology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, Addis Ababa University
1999 - 2001
Graduate Student, Curriculum in Veterinary Pathology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The
Netherlands
2001 - 2004
Graduate Student, Curriculum in Molecular Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover,
Germany
2004 - 2006
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
2006 - 2008
Postdoctoral Fellow, Lung Cancer Program, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute,
Albuquerque, NM
2008 - 2012
Associate Research Scientist, Lung Cancer Program, Lovelace Respiratory Research
Institute, Albuquerque, NM
2012 - Present
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM.
2012 - Present
Full Member, Cancer Population Sciences, University of New Mexico Cancer Center,
Albuquerque, NM.
2012 - Present
Associate Scientist, Lung Cancer Program, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute,
Albuquerque, NM
Ad hoc Reviewer
2006 International Journal of Cancer
2006 Molecular Carcinogenesis
2006 Oncogene
2007 Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
2008 Epigenetics
2009 Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology
2009 Lung Cancer
2009 Mutagenesis
Honors
1991 - 2001
2004 - 2005
2011
2011
2010 2011 20122012201320132013-
Journal of Thoracic Oncology
BMJ Open
Current Medicinal Chemistry
Biomarkers in Medicine
Cancer Letters
PLoS ONE
Expert Review of Respiratory
Medicine
University Fellowship Program (UFP-NUFFIC), The Netherlands
RAC Postdoctoral Fellow Award, University of New Mexico
AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research-Annual Meeting 2011
Highly Rated Poster Presentation (in the top 2%) AACR Annual meeting 2011
Membership
2005 - Present American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB)
2006 - Present American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
B.
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Selected Peer-reviewed Publications
Tessema, M. Z., A. P. Koets, V. P. Rutten and E. Gruys: How does mycobacterium avium subsp.
paratuberculosis resist intracellular degradation? Vet. Q. 23(4): 153-162, 2001.
Tessema, M., F. Länger, J. Dingemann, A. Ganser, H. Kreipe and U. Lehmann: Aberrant methylation
and impaired expression of the p15INK4b cell cycle regulatory gene in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
(CMML). Leukemia 17(5): 910-918, 2003.
Bock, O., M. Tessema, E. Serinsöz, R. von Wasielewski, G. Büsche and H. Kreipe: Aberrant
expression of insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) in Philadelphia chromosome negative chronic
myeloproliferative disorders. Leuk. Res. 28(11): 1145-1151, 2004.
Länger, F., J. Stickel, M. Tessema, H. Kreipe and U. Lehmann: Overexpression of Delta-like (Dlk) in a
subset of myelodysplastic syndrome bone marrow trephines. Leuk. Res. 28(10): 1081-1083, 2004.
Tessema, M., U. Lehmann and H. Kriepe: Cell cycle and no end. Virchows Arch. 444(4): 313-323,
2004. [Invited review]
Stein, M.-P., C. Cao, M. Tessema, Y. Feng, E. Romero, A. Welford and A. Wandinger-Ness: Interaction
and functional analyses of human VPS34/p150 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex with Rab7.
Methods Enzymol. 403: 628-649, 2005.
Tessema, M., F. Länger, O. Bock, A. Seltsam, K. Metzig, B. Hasemeier, H. Kreipe and U. Lehmann:
Down-regulation of the IGF-2/H19 locus during normal and malignant hematopoiesis is independent of
the imprinting pattern. Int. J. Oncol. 26: 499-507, 2005.
Mukherjee, S.*, M. Tessema* and A. Wandinger-Ness: Vesicular trafficking of tyrosine kinase receptors
and associated proteins in the regulation of signaling proteins and vascular function. Circ. Res. 98: 743756, 2006. *Co-first authors.
Tessema, M., P. C. Simons, D. F. Cimino, L. Sanchez, A. Waller, R. G. Posner, A. Wandinger-Ness,
E. R. Prossnitz and L. A. Sklar: Glutathione-S-transferase-green fluorescent protein fusion protein
reveals slow dissociation from high site density beads and measures free GSH. Cytometry A 69A: 326334, 2006.
Traub, F., K. Sickmann, M. Tessema, L. Wilkens, H. H. Kreipe and K. Kamino: Nephroblastomatosis
and loss of WT1 expression associated with trisomy 13. Virchows Arch. 448: 214-217, 2006.
Schwartz, S. L.*, M. Tessema*, T. Buranda, O. Pylypenko, A. Rak, P. C. Simons, Z. Surviladze, L. A.
Sklar and A. Wandinger-Ness: Flow cytometry for real-time measurement of guanine nucleotide binding
and exchange by ras-like GTPases. Anal. Biochem. 381(2): 258-266, 2008. *Co-first authors.
Tessema, M. and S. A. Belinsky: Mining the epigenome for methylated genes in lung cancer. Proc.
Am. Thorac. Soc. 5(8): 806-810, 2008.
Tessema, M., R. Willink, K. Do, Y. Y. Yu, W. Yu, E. O. Machida, M. Brock, L. Van Neste, C. A. Stidley,
S. B. Baylin and S. A. Belinsky: Promoter methylation of genes in and around the candidate lung cancer
susceptibility locus 6q23-25. Cancer Res. 68(6): 1707-1714, 2008.
Wakamatsu, N., J. B. Collins, J. S. Parker, M. Tessema, N. P. Clayton, T. V. Ton, H. H. Hong,
S. Belinsky, T. R. Devereux, R. C. Sills and S. A. Lahousse: Gene expression studies demonstrate that
the K-ras/Erk MAP kinase signal transduction pathway and other novel pathways contribute to the
pathogenesis of cumene-induced lung tumors. Toxicol. Pathol. 36(5): 743-752, 2008.
Tessema, M., Y. Y. Yu, C. A. Stidley, E. O. Machida, K. E. Schuebel, S. B. Baylin and S. A. Belinsky:
Concomitant promoter methylation of multiple genes in lung adenocarcinomas from current, former and
never smokers. Carcinogenesis 30(7): 1132-1138, 2009.
Tessema M, Kling DM, Yingling CM, Do K, Van Neste L, Belinsky S. Re-expression of CXCL14, a
common target for epigenetic silencing in lung cancer, induces tumor necrosis. Oncogene. 2010; 29(37):
5159-5170.
Leng S, Bernauer AM, Hong C, Do KC, Yingling CM, Flores KG, Tessema M, Tellez CS, Willink RP,
Burki EA, Picchi MA, Stidley CA, Prados MD, Costello JF, Gilliland FD, Crowell RE, and Belinsky SA.
The A/G Allele of MGMT Predicts for Gene Methylation and Is Selectively Silenced in Premalignant
Lesions from Smokers and in Lung Adenocarcinomas. Clin Can Res. 2011; 17(7): 2014-2023.
Tellez CS, Juri DE, Do K, Bernauer AM, Thomas CL, Damiani LA, Tessema M, Leng S, and Belinsky
SA. EMT and stem cell-like properties associated with miR-205 and miR-200 epigenetic silencing are
early manifestations during carcinogen-induced transformation of human lung epithelial cells. Cancer
Res. 2011; 71(8): 3087-3097.
19. Tessema M, Yingling CM, Grimes MJ, Thomas CL, Liu Y, Leng S, Joste N, Belinsky SA. Differential
epigenetic regulation of TOX subfamily high mobility group box genes in lung and breast cancers. PLoS
One. 2012; 7(4): e34850.
20. Tessema M, Yingling CM, Thomas CL, Klinge DM, Bernauer AM, Liu Y, Dacic S, Siegfried JM,
Dahlberg SE, Schiller JH, and Belinsky SA. SULF2 Methylation is Prognostic for Lung Cancer Survival
and Increases Sensitivity to Topoisomerase-I inhibitors via Induction of ISG15. Oncogene. 2012; 31(37):
4107–4116.
C. Research Support
Active
1 R21 CA161561-01A1
Tessema (PI)
9/1/12 – 8/31/14
NIH
Biomarkers for Epigenetic Therapy of Lung Cancer
To employ genome-wide gene methylation and expression arrays to discover biomarkers that predict the
response of lung cancer patients to epigenetic therapy, and to explore the utility of detecting methylation of
candidate genes in regional lymph nodes to predict tumor recurrence and assess the impact of adjuvant
epigenetic therapy on the incidence and timing of early tumor recurrence.
Role: PI
1R01CA164782-01
Belinsky (PI)
8/4/11 – 5/31/15
NIH
Epigenetic Changes Link COPD and Lung Cancer
The major objective of this project is to provide novel insights into mechanisms that connect COPD to the
development of lung cancer and to identify biomarkers for early detection of COPD and lung cancer, which is
crucial for effective management of these deadly diseases.
Role: Investigator
R01-CA095568
Belinsky (PI)
2/26/08 – 1/31/13
NIH
Biomarkers to Assess Selenium Chemoprevention of NSCLC
The major objective of this project is to determine whether gene promoter hypermethylation detected in
biological fluids can serve as a molecular marker system to predict the efficacy of selenium as a chemopreventive agent for NSCLC.
Role: Investigator
Pending
1 R01 (NIH Appl. ID: 8614742)
Tessema (PI)
Pending
NIH
Molecular Biomarkers for Lung Adenocarcinoma in African Americans
This project comprehensively evaluates and compares the whole exome and epigenome of lung tumor
normal pairs from African Americans (AA) and non-Hispanic whites to identify cancer driver mutations and
aberrant methylation of genes acquired during lung carcinogenesis and the inherent genetic determinants
(e.g. SNPs) associated with the disproportionally higher incidence and mortality of lung cancer in AA.
Role: PI
Completed
R01-ES008801-06
Belinsky (PI)
2/1/06 – 1/31/11
NIH
Tumor Suppressor Gene Methylation in Lung Adenocarcinoma
To conduct laboratory studies to identify gene methylation profiles in adenocarcinomas from smokers and
never smokers and to identify important factors involved in transcriptional silencing through effects on the
cytosine and histone code.
Role: Investigator