Faculty

Roddy O'Connor, B.Sc., M.S., Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Graduate Group Affiliations

Cell and Molecular Biology

Contact information

3400 Civic Center Blvd
8-105 SPE
Perelman School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Email:
oconnorr@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Publications

Search PubMed for articles

Education:
B.Sc. (Exercise Physiology)
University of Limerick, 1997.
M.S. (Muscle Metabolism)
Georgia State University, 1999.
Ph.D. (Molecular Pharmacology)
Emory University School of Medicine, 2007.

Links
Search PubMed for articles
My lab's website in the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Perelman School of Medicine,
This webinar will focus on understanding the time and cost of custom media and its importance for cell therapy
The first web-link includes two segments of biomedical correspondence for FoxNEWS. I was also the subject of a Penn undergraduate student's documentary.
This webinar focuses on understanding what is in your cell culture media and why owning your formulations is imperative.
Informative webinar providing insight into how unique CAR co-stimulatory domains influence the growth, differentiation, and metabolic function of T cells
Understanding how Artificial Intelligence can expedite media formulation
Informative webinar describing how fuel metabolism supports CAR-T cell differentiation

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

CAR-T cell metabolism; T cell activation, proliferation and differentiation; Lentiviral, retroviral and mRNA-based gene transfer; Post-transcriptional gene suppression by shRNA and microRNA's; Bio-engineered cell culture platforms; Tissue stem cell differentiation;

Description of Clinical Expertise

Clinical Research Coordinator

Description of Other Expertise

Biomedical Expert (Local News Affiliate)

Selected Publications

Akbari B, Hosseini Z, Shahabinejad P, Ghassemi S, Mirzaei HR, O'Connor RS.: Metabolic and epigenetic orchestration of (CAR) T cell fate and function. Cancer Lett 550: 215948, Dec 2022 Notes: No issue.

Zhang H, Yu P, Tomar VS, Chen X, Atherton MJ, Lu Z, Zhang HG, Li S, Ortiz A, Gui J, Leu NA, Yan F, Blanco A, Meyer-Ficca ML, Meyer RG, Beiting DP, Li J, Nunez-Cruz S, O'Connor RS, Johnson LR, Minn AJ, George SS, Koumenis C, Diehl JA, Milone MC, Zheng H, Fuchs SY.: Targeting PARP11 to avert immunosuppression and improve CAR T therapy in solid tumors. Nat Cancer 3(7): 808-820, Jul 2022.

Ghassemi S, Durgin JS, Nunez-Cruz S, Patel J, Leferovich J, Pinzone M, Shen F, Cummins KD, Plesa G, Cantu VA, Reddy S, Bushman FD, Gill SI, O'Doherty U, O'Connor RS, Milone MC.: Rapid manufacturing of non-activated potent CAR T cells. Nat Biomed Eng 6(2): 118-128, Feb 2022.

Durgin JS, Thokala R, Johnson L, Song E, Leferovich J, Bhoj V, Ghassemi S, Milone M, Binder Z, O'Rourke DM, O'Connor RS.: Enhancing CAR T Function with the Engineered Secretion of C. Perfringens Neuraminidase. Mol Ther 30: 1201-1214, Nov 2021.

Mohamed FA, Thangavelu G, Rhee SY, Sage PT, O'Connor RS, Rathmell JC, Blazar BR.: Recent Metabolic Advances for Preventing and Treating Acute and Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease. Front Immunol 12: 757836, Oct 2021 Notes: No issue.

Garcia-Canaveras JC, Heo D, Trefely S, Leferovich J, Xu C, Philipson BI, Ghassemi S, Milone MC, Moon EK, Snyder NW, June CH, Rabinowitz JD, O'Connor RS.: CAR T-Cells Depend on the Coupling of NADH Oxidation with ATP Production. Cells 10(9): 2334, Sep 2021.

Safarzadeh Kozani P, Safarzadeh Kozani P, O'Connor RS.: In Like a Lamb; Out Like a Lion: Marching CAR T Cells Toward Enhanced Efficacy in B-ALL. Mol Cancer Ther 20(7): 1223-1233, Jul 2021.

Tu VY, Ayari A, O'Connor RS.: Beyond the Lactate Paradox: How Lactate and Acidity Impact T Cell Therapies against Cancer. Antibodies (Basel) 10(3): 25, Jun 2021.

Durgin JS, Henderson F Jr, Nasrallah MP, Mohan S, Wang S, Lacey SF, Melenhorst JJ, Desai AS, Lee JYK, Maus MV, June CH, Brem S, O'Connor RS, Binder Z, O'Rourke DM.: Case Report: Prolonged Survival Following EGFRvIII CAR T Cell Treatment for Recurrent Glioblastoma. Front Oncol 11: 669071, May 2021 Notes: No issue.

Rodriguez-Garcia A, Lynn RC, Poussin M, Eiva MA, Shaw LC, O'Connor RS, Minutolo NG, Casado-Medrano V, Lopez G, Matsuyama T, Powell DJ Jr.: CAR-T cell-mediated depletion of immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages promotes endogenous antitumor immunity and augments adoptive immunotherapy. Nat Commun 12(1): 877, Feb 2021.