Rodrigo A. Somoza Curriculum vitae PERSONAL DATA Date of birth: November 18, 1977 Marital status: Married, two children Nationality: Chilean Address: 19826 Van Aken Blvd, Shaker Height, OH, USA Phone numbers: 1-216-368-0244 (work), 1-216-2253860 (mobile) E-mail: ras286@case.edu rodrigo.somoza@gmail.com PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS - Somatic Stem Cell Biology - Cancer Metastasis - Tissue Engineering (scaffold design, stem cells applications) - Cell Therapy and Tissue Regeneration - Growth Factor Production - Neural Cell Differentiation - CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY September 2012-Present Research Associate, Skeletal Research Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA Stem Cells and Tissue engineering approaches for cartilage regeneration Skeletal Oncology (primary tumor and metastasis biology) Stem Cells and Psoriatic Disease TRAINING AND EDUCATION 2008-2012 Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso/Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile Degree: Philosophy Doctor (Ph.D.) in Biotechnology 1999-2007 Faculty of Science 1
Universidad de Chile, Santiago Title: Molecular Biotechnology Engineer 1999-2007 Faculty of Science Universidad de Chile, Santiago Degree: Bachelor of Sciences (Molecular Biotechnology) 1997-1998 Faculty of Science Universidad de Chile, Santiago Associate Degree, Major in Natural Sciences Aug 2005-Dec 2007 March-July 2005 March-Dec 2002 Disciple to obtain Biotechnology Engineer title at: Instituto de Ciencias, School of Medicine, Clínica Alemana - Universidad del Desarrollo. Thesis Directors: Paulette Conget PhD and Javier Rubio PhD Subject: Neural differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Plasticity or Artifact? Undergraduate trainee at: Instituto de Ciencias, School of Medicine, Clínica Alemana - Universidad del Desarrollo. Sponsor: Javier Rubio PhD Research Unit: Isolation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Undergraduate trainee at: Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Universidad de Chile Sponsor: Ana Preller PhD, Tito Ureta MD Research Unit: Characterization of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Xilose Dehydrogenase Other 2011 (Sep.-Nov.) Research Internship: Cell encapsulation in tissue engineering, Institute of Bioprocess Engineering Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany 2011 (May 16-19) Cell-Based Therapies and Tissue Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA 2008 (November) VII Latin American Course on Biotechnology, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile 1999 Basic Course in Astronomy, Chilean Association of Astronomy and Aviation, Santiago, Chile 2
FELLOWSHIPS - National Doctoral Fellowship, Funding Agency CONICYT, Chile. Period: March 2008 February 2012 - Incentive Program for Scientific Initiation, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Period: March 2011-February 2012 - Higher Education Program Mece 2 Innovation Fund Grant Contract for Foreign Doctoral Thesis, Chile Ministry of Education, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Period: August-November 2011 - Participation in Scientific Events Fellowship, Universidad Católica de Valparaiso Period: May 2011 - Support Program for work Presentations in Congress for Postgraduate Students, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Period: August 2011 RESEARCH SUPPORT Past: Active: - Development of a technology platform to produce stem cells differentiation factors by baculovirus system. Project Development and Applied Research Funding Program, InnovaChile, Corfo. Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria/Inbiocriotec (Chile) Role: Co-PI, Villalobos P. (PI). 03/27/2012-08/30/2012 - Generation of BM-MSC-derived ips cells for articular cartilage repair. Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility Pilot Research Award (CWRU) Role: Co-Investigator, Caplan AI (PI) 09/3/2012- - Bone marrow MSCs/pericytes: Gatekeepers Controlling Skeletal Metastasis. NIH-NCI Role: Co-Investigator, Caplan AI (PI), Correa D (Co-PI) 08/22/12 07/01/17 Pending/In review: - Therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. National Psoriasis foundation Role: Co-PI, Caplan AI (PI) - Novel pericyte treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus. DoD Role: Co-PI 3
- Therapeutic effect analysis of mesenchymal stem cells in a psoriasis mouse model. Pilot and Feasibility Program, Skin Diseases Research Center (CWRU) Role: Co-PI, Caplan AI (PI) PUBLICATIONS Rodrigo Somoza, Paulette Conget, Francisco Javier Rubio (2008). Neuropotency of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Cultures: Clonal Studies Reveal the Contribution of Cell Plasticity and Cell Contamination Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 14:546-555. Acevedo, C., Somoza, R., Weinstein-Oppenheimer, C., Brown, D., Young, M. (2010) Growth Factor Production from Fibrin-Encapsulated Human Keratinocytes. Biotechnology Letters, 32:1011 1017. Rodrigo Somoza, Carlos Juri, Mauricio Baes, Ursula Wyneken, Francisco Javier Rubio (2010).Intranigral transplantation of epigenetically-induced BDNF-secreting human mesenchymal stem cells: implications for cell-based therapies in Parkinson s disease. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 16: 1530-1540. Javier Enrione, Fernando Osorio, Daniel López, Caroline Weinstein-Oppenheimer, Miguel A. Fuentes, Ricardo Cereani, Donald I. Brown, Fernando Albornoz, Elizabeth Sánchez, Patricio Villalobos, Rodrigo A. Somoza, Manuel E. Young, Cristian A. Acevedo (2010). Characterization of a gelatin/chitosan/hyaluronan scaffold-polymer. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, DOI: 10.2225/vol13-issue5-fulltext-15. Rodrigo A Somoza and Francisco Javier Rubio (2012). Cell therapy using induced pluripotent stem cells or somatic stem cells: this is the question. Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy.7(3):191-6 Cristian A. Acevedo, Rodrigo A. Somoza, Caroline Weinstein-Oppenheimer, Samy Silva, Macarena Moreno, Elizabeth Sanchez, Fernando Albornoz, Manuel E. Young, William MacNaughtan, Javier Enrione (2012). Improvement of human skin cells growth by radiation induced modifications of a Ge/Ch/Ha-scaffold. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:317 324 Rodrigo A. Somoza, Jean Walters, Diego Correa, Arnold I Caplan. Chondrogenic differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: challenges and unfulfilled expectations. Tissue Engineering Part B: Reviews. April 2014, ahead of print. Diego Correa, Rodrigo Somoza, Paul Lin, Steven Greenberg, Eran Rom, Jean F. Welter, Lori Duesler, Avner Yayon and Arnold I. Caplan. Sequential stimulation with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2, 9 and 18, modulate the fate of MSC-derived chondrocytes optimizing them for cartilage repair. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. December 2014, ahead of print. Rodrigo A. Somoza, Cristian A. Acevedo, Caroline Weinstein-Oppenhaimer, Patricia A. Luz, Flavio Carrión, Manuel E. Young. TGF-β3 Secretion by Human Dental follicle Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hdf-msc) Encapsulated in Alginate and Fibrin Scaffolds. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine 2014 (in revision). 4
Correa D, Lin P, Somoza R, Schiemann WP, Caplan AI. Bone marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) regulate melanoma cancer cell extravasation at their perivascular niche. Journal of Experimental medicine, (2014) (submitted). PRESENTATIONS IN MEETINGS Rodrigo A. Somoza, Cristian A. Acevedo, Caroline Weinstein-Oppenhaimer, Patricia A. Luz, Flavio Carrión, Manuel E. Young. TGF-B3 Secretion by Human Dental follicle Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hdf-msc) Encapsulated in Alginate and Fibrin Scaffolds. Primer Congreso de Terapia Celular, Santiago, Chile. Rodrigo Somoza, Máximo Hernandez, Miguel A. Fuentes, Ricardo Ceriani, Caroline R. Weinstein-Oppenheimer, Manuel E. Young (2011). Isolation of periapical root and periodontal tissue stem cells from exfoliated teeth, characterization of the CD105+ subpopulation. 20th International conference on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Santiago, Chile. Rodrigo Somoza, Miguel A. Fuentes, Ricardo Ceriani, Fernando Albornoz, Patricia Luz, Flavio Carrión, Máximo Hernandez, Caroline R. Weinstein-Oppenheimer and Manuel E. Young (2011). Mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental tissues are multipotent and have increased osteogenic potential: applications in wound healing and bone regeneration. MSC2011 conference, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Francisco Javier Rubio, Rodrigo Somoza and Carlos Juri (2008). Human mesenchymal stem cells transplanted into the injured substantia nigra improve motor symptoms in an experimental rat model of parkinsonism. IV Annual Meeting of the Neuroscience Society of Chile, Buzios, Brasil. Francisco Javier Rubio, Paulette Conget, Maria Inés Forray, Rodrigo Somoza (2007) Neural phenotype observed in clonal cells derived from cultures of human mesenchymal stem cells is due not only to neural plasticity but also to neural cell contamination 37th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, EE.UU. Francisco Javier Rubio, Rodrigo Somoza, José Tomás San Martin, Carlos Juri (2007) Generation of an asymptomatic animal model in early stages of Parkinsonism for the evaluation of cell replacement therapies: anatomic and functional characterization using rats with a partial lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway III Annual Meeting of the Neuroscience Society of Chile, Los Andes, Chile. Somoza, R., Conget Paulette, Rubio, F.J. (2006) Neural plasticity of human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hmsc): Transdifferentation or contamination with neural progenitors (NPC) XX Annual Meeting of the Cellular Biology Society of Chile, Pucón, Chile. Francisco Javier Rubio, Rodrigo Somoza and Paulette Conget (2006). Mesenchymal stem cells and Parkinson s disease. II Annual Meeting of the Neuroscience Society of Chile Curicó, Chile. 5
Somoza, R., Boehme, J., Parada, V., Rocha, U., Allers, C., Rubio, F.J. (2005) Soluble factors modúlate the gen or proteic expression of neural markers in Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). XIX Annual Meeting of the Cellular Biology Society of Chile, Pucón, Chile. Somoza, R., Preller, A., Ureta, T. (2002) Preliminar Characterization of a Xylose Dehydrogenase from the archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius XLV Annual Meeting of the Biology Society of Chile, Puyehue, Chile. LECTURES Invited Speaker, National Center for Regenerative Medicine Member Retreat: Sequential stimulation with FGF s, modulate the fate of MSC-derived chondrocytes optimizing them for cartilage repair December 2, 2013, Cleveland, USA Invited Speaker, Society of prosthetic and oral rehabilitation: Stem Cells and their Therapeutic Potential, May 8, 2011, Viña del Mar, Chile Invited Speaker, Society of Pediatric Dentistry: Stem cells and their Potential in Today's Medicine and Dentistry, July 18, 2011, Viña del Mar, Chile Invited Speaker, Society of Maxillofacial Surgery: Stem Cells and their Therapeutic Potential, December 5, 2010, Viña del Mar, Chile TEACHING ACTIVITIES - Teaching activities at school of biological sciences, biotechnology engineering, Universidad Andres Bello Course: Stem cells and tissue engineering Period: March 2012-present - Teaching activities at school of chemistry and pharmacy, Universidad de Valparaiso Course: Immunology Period: March 2012-present - Teaching activities at Universidad de Valparaiso Course: PCR Basics (Master`s in Clinical Analysis) Period: July 2011-June 2012 - Teaching activities at Biotechnology Center, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Course: Theoretical and practical course for the implementation of the polymerase chain reaction as a bioanalysis tool (Strategies for human resources restructuring) Period: October 2009-October 2010 - Teaching activities at School of Medicine, Kinesiology and Medical Technology, Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo Courses: Chemical Biology (Kinesiology and Medical Technology School) Period: March 2007-December 2007 6
Chemistry and Biochemistry Laboratory Exercises (Medicine School) Period: March 2006 - December 2007 RESEARCH POSITIONS September 2012-Present Research Associate, Skeletal Research Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA Stem Cells and Tissue engineering approaches for cartilage regeneration March 2009-July 2012 Researcher-PhD(c), Biotechnology Center, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile TGF-β3 secretion by Mesenchymal Stem Cells and applications in Tissue Engineering March 2012-July 2012 Researcher-PhD(c), Biotechnology Center, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile Optimization of tridimensional culture conditions for osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells March 2011-July 2012 Researcher-PhD(c), Biotechnology Center, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile Gelatin/Chitosan/Hyaluronan polymer modifications for skin and bone regeneration March 2010-February 2011 Biotechnology Center, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Establishment of a strategy for the reconversion of low demand human resources to improve their competitiveness in new areas of application of biotechnology. Innovation Fund for Competitiveness FIC 2009 Region of Valparaíso March 2007-February 2008 Researcher, Instituto de Ciencias, School of Medicine, Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo. Generation of an experimental rat model of parkinsonism and the study of the neuromodulatory effects of Mesenchymal stem cells transplanted into the substantia nigra of the rat model OTHER ACTIVITIES 2006-2007 Collaborator for the implementation and diffusion of the collegial organization of Biotechnologist of Chile LANGUAGES 7
- Spanish: Native - English: 375 points (75%) Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency 2+ advanced level of work 820 points TOEIC Exam SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT Databases of scientific information available on the Internet, such as databases of protein and gene sequences and publications. Word processors, spreadsheets and programs for images processing. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Sports: Tennis, Soccer, Table Tennis Hobbies: Writing, Reading, Car and helicopter radio control models 8