Amer M. Najjar, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatrics
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
- Application of enhanced bioluminescent, fluorescent and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging tools to monitor
- Understand, and improve adoptive immunotherapy
· Development of positron emission tomography (PET) reporter variants: Development of differential PET imaging reporters to simultaneously image dual population interactions in vivo. Ongoing studies aim to further evaluate the feasibility of HSV1-tk variants and phylogenic forms of thymidine kinase as PET reporters to achieve higher signal sensitivity and enhanced substrate specificity. In silico molecular modeling is utilized to identify residue mutations that enhance radiotracer substrate binding and enzymatic conversion.
· Optimization and standardization of tumor and stem cell transduction protocols. Development of retroviral and lentiviral vectors expressing reporter genes for PET, fluorescent and bioluminescent imaging. Optimization of standard protocols to stably and efficiently transduce tumor cells, T cells and hematopoietic stem cells. These protocols are being applied in numerous internal and collaborative studies.
· Application of PET imaging tools to immunotherapy. Clinical imaging of adoptively transferred T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors is critical to understanding the distribution, targeting, and persistence of the cells in vivo. This information will determine the optimal T cell dose in clinical immunotherapy applications. Studies are underway in primates and mice to image adoptively transferred T cells and their activation status in vivo.
· Mouse models of immunotherapy. Studies are underway to develop lentiviral in-situ transduction methods to retarget T cells towards erbB2+ tumors in transgenic Her2NG and NSG mouse models. Retargeting of primary human T cells against CD19+ B cell leukemia using nonviral genetic modification are also being investigated.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 1993 | University of Houston, Houston, Texas, US, Ph.D. in Biochemistry |
| 1988 | Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, US, BS in Microbiology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2004-2006 | Research Fellowship, Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2000-2004 | Research Fellowship, Vascular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2015 - 2016
Instructor, Cancer Systems Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2013 - 2015
Instructor, Experimental Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2006 - 2013
Other Professional Positions
Laboratory Manager, Columbia Analytical Services, Houston, TX, 1999 - 2000
Environmental Consultant, Columbia Analytical Services, Houston, TX, 1999 - 2000
Training Instructor, Columbia Analytical Services, Houston, TX, 1999 - 2000
Mass Spectrometry Facility Director, Ionics International, Inc, Houston, TX, 1995 - 1999
Senior Scientist, Ionics International, Inc, Houston, TX, 1993 - 1995
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2021. Advanced 3D Imaging and Correlative Pathology with Xerra Cryo-Fluorescence Tomography. The Image Guided Cancer Therapy (IGCT) Research Program. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Multimodality imaging applications for immunotherapy and tumor response assessments. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2016. Enhancing Immunotherapy Outcomes Through Imaging. Pediatrics Research Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2016. Understanding Kinetics and Mechanisms and of Adoptive Cell Therapy through Imaging. Conference. Understanding Kinetics and Mechanisms and of Adoptive Cell Therapy through Imaging. Houston, TX, US.
- 2016. Understanding Kinetics and Mechanisms and of Adoptive Cell Therapy through Imaging. Weekly Research Meeting. Houston, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2023. Imaging in Immunotherapy. Boston, MA, US.
- 2018. Gaining Insight into the Mechanisms of Adoptive T cell Therapy through PET Imaging. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2015. Application of Sleeping Beauty Technology for Cancer Immunotherapy. Palm Beach, FL, US.
International Presentations
- 2026. Long-Term Fate of Adoptively Transferred NK Cells in a Primary Osteosarcoma Model. Poster. Emerging Cell Therapies Keystone Conference. Banff, CA.
Formal Peers
- 2018. Clinical Fellow Benchtop Research Training Course. Houston, Texas, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Targeting metabolic vulnerabilities of leptomeningeal disease |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Targeting Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Leptomeningeal Disease |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00028356 |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Targeting Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Leptomeningeal Disease |
| Funding Source: | HOPE Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Osteosarcoma-specific glycoforms of CD24 |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00027077 |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Deciphering the role of CD24 glycoforms in osteosarcoma progression |
| Funding Source: | CPRIT |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Harnessing Innate Immunity as an Adjuvant to Adoptive Cell Therapy for High-Grade Glioma |
| Funding Source: | LindonLight Collective |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2024 - Present |
| Title: | CD24-targeted therapy to overcome immune evasion of metastatic osteosarcoma |
| Funding Source: | Sarcoma SPORE |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2021 - Present |
| Title: | Development of Adoptive Cell Therapy for Refractory Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas |
| Funding Source: | CPRIT |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2020 - Present |
| Title: | PDGFR-specific CAR T cells for the Treatment of Refractory Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2019 - 2022 |
| Title: | NK cell Therapy for Refractory or Relapsed Osteosarcoma |
| Funding Source: | MDACC Multi-Investigator Research Program (MRP) |
| Role: | Project 2 MPI |
| Date: | 2019 - 2021 |
| Title: | PDGFRα-specific CAR T cells for High-Grade Gliomas |
| Funding Source: | Institutional Research Grant (IRG) |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2018 - 2024 |
| Title: | Pediatric Solid Tumors Comprehensive Data Resources Core |
| Funding Source: | CPRIT |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | RP180819 |
| Date: | 2017 - 2020 |
| Title: | Numeric Expansion of CD-19 Specific T cells in magnetic 3D Culture |
| Funding Source: | NIAID |
| Role: | SBIR MPI |
| ID: | AI136225-01 |
| Date: | 2013 - 2017 |
| Title: | In Situ Redirection of T Cell Specificity and Imaging of Targeted CAR Expression |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIBIB |
| Role: | MPI |
| ID: | 1R01EB017206-01 |
| Date: | 2012 - 2017 |
| Title: | Imaging T cells by Positron Emission Tomography |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 5-R01-CA163587 |
| Date: | 2011 - 2016 |
| Title: | Improving Cord Blood Transplantation |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Core Leader |
| ID: | P01 CA1486000 01 A1 |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Bachiller M, Perez-Amill L, Battram AM, Carné SC, Najjar A, Verhoeyen E, Juan M, Urbano-Ispizua A, Martin-Antonio B. NK cells enhance CAR-T cell antitumor efficacy by enhancing immune/tumor cells cluster formation and improving CAR-T cell fitness. J Immunother Cancer 9(8), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34433634.
- Saberian C, Amaria RN, Najjar AM, Radvanyi LG, Haymaker CL, Forget MA, Bassett RL, Faria SC, Glitza IC, Alvarez E, Parshottam S, Prieto V, Lizée G, Wong MK, McQuade JL, Diab A, Yee C, Tawbi HA, Patel S, Shpall EJ, Davies MA, Hwu P, Bernatchez C. Randomized phase II trial of lymphodepletion plus adoptive cell transfer of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, with or without dendritic cell vaccination, in patients with metastatic melanoma. J Immunother Cancer 9(5), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34021033.
- Aparecido da Silva T, Hauser PJ, Bandey I, Laskowski T, Wang Q, Najjar AM, Kumaresan PR. Glucuronoxylomannan in the Cryptococcus species capsule as a target for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy. Cytotherapy 23(2):119-130, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33303326.
- Perez-Amill L, Sune G, Antonana-Vildosola A, Maria C, Najjar A, Bonet J, Fernandez-Fuentes N, Inoges, S, Lopez A, Bueno C, Juan M, Urbano-Ispizua A, Martin-Antonio B. Preclinical development of a humanized chimeric antigen receptor against B cell maturation antigen for multiple myeloma. Haematologica 106(1):173-184, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 31919085.
- Najjar AM. Radiolabeling and Imaging of Adoptively Transferred Immune Cells by Positron Emission Tomography. Methods Mol Biol 2097:267-272, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31776932.
- Martin-Antonio B, Sune G, Najjar A, Perez-Amill L, Antonana-Vildosola A, Castella M, Leon S Velasco-de Andres M, Lozano F, Lozano E, Bueno C, Estanyol JM, Munoz-Pinedo C, Robinson SN, Urbano-Ispizua A. Extracellular NK histones promote immune cell anti-tumor activity by inducing cell clusters through binding to CD138 receptor. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 7(1), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31619273.
- Engel BJ, Gammon ST, Chaudhari R, Lu Z, Pisaneschi F, Yang H, Ornelas A, Yan V, Kelderhouse L, Najjar AM, Tong WP, Zhang S, Piwnica-Worms D, Bast Jr RC, Millward SW. Caspase-3 Substrates for Noninvasive Pharmacodynamic Imaging of Apoptosis by PET/CT. Bioconjugate Chemistry 29(9):3180-3195, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30168713.
- Najjar AM, Manuri PR, Olivares S, Flores L, Mi T, Huls H, Shpall EJ, Champlin RE, Turkman N, Paolillo V, Roszik J, Rabinovich B, Lee DA, Alauddin M, Gelovani J, Cooper LJ. Imaging of Sleeping Beauty-Modified CD19-Specific T Cells Expressing HSV1-Thymidine Kinase by Positron Emission Tomography. Mol Imaging Biol 18(6):838-848, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27246312.
- Hurton, L, Singh, H, Najjar, AM, Stefan, K, Mi, T, Maiti, SN, Olivares, S, Rabinovich, BA, Huls, H, Forget, MA, Datar, V, Kebriaei, P, Lee, DA, Champlin, RE, Cooper, L. Tethered IL-15 augments antitumor activity and promotes a stem-cell memory subset in tumor-specific T cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113(48):E7788-E7797, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27849617.
- Torikai H, Mi T, Gragert L, Maiers M, Najjar A, Ang S, Maiti S, Dai J, Switzer KC, Huls H, Dulay GP, Reik A, Rebar EJ, Holmes MC, Gregory PD, Champlin RE, Shpall EJ, Cooper LJ. Genetic editing of HLA expression in hematopoietic stem cells to broaden their human application. Sci Rep 6:21757, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26902653.
- Caruso HG, Hurton LV, Najjar A, Rushworth D, Ang S, Olivares S, Mi T, Switzer K, Singh H, Huls H, Lee DA, Heimberger AB, Champlin RE, Cooper LJ. Tuning Sensitivity of CAR to EGFR Density Limits Recognition of Normal Tissue While Maintaining Potent Antitumor Activity. Cancer Res 75(17):3505-18, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26330164.
- Bonomi R, Mukhopadhyay U, Shavrin A, Yeh HH, Majhi A, Dewage SW, Najjar A, Lu X, Cisneros GA, Tong WP, Alauddin MM, Liu RS, Mangner TJ, Turkman N, Gelovani JG. Novel Histone Deacetylase Class IIa Selective Substrate Radiotracers for PET Imaging of Epigenetic Regulation in the Brain. PLoS One 10(8):e0133512, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26244761.
- Parmar S, Liu X, Najjar A, Shah N, Yang H, Yvon E, Rezvani K, McNiece I, Zweidler-McKay P, Miller L, Wolpe S, Blazar BR, Shpall EJ. Ex vivo fucosylation of third-party human regulatory T cells enhances anti-graft-versus-host disease potency in vivo. Blood 125(9):1502-6, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25428215.
- Martin-Antonio B, Najjar A, Robinson SN, Chew C, Li S, Yvon E, Thomas MW, Mc Niece I, Orlowski R, Muñoz-Pinedo C, Bueno C, Menendez P, Fernández de Larrea C, Urbano-Ispizua A, Shpall EJ, Shah N. Transmissible cytotoxicity of multiple myeloma cells by cord blood-derived NK cells is mediated by vesicle trafficking. Cell Death Differ 22(1):96-107, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25168239.
- Kumaresan PR, Manuri PR, Albert ND, Maiti S, Singh H, Mi T, Roszik J, Rabinovich B, Olivares S, Krishnamurthy J, Zhang L, Najjar AM, Huls MH, Lee DA, Champlin RE, Kontoyiannis DP, Cooper LJ. Bioengineering T cells to target carbohydrate to treat opportunistic fungal infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(29):10660-5, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25002471.
- Song AS, Najjar AM, Diller KR. Thermally induced apoptosis, necrosis, and heat shock protein expression in 3D culture. J Biomech Eng 136(7), 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24658653.
- Robinson SN, Thomas MW, Simmons PJ, Lu J, Yang H, Parmar S, Liu X, Shah N, Martín-Antonio B, Bollard C, Dotti G, Savoldo B, Cooper LJ, Najjar A, Rezvani K, Kaur I, McNiece IK, Champlin RE, Miller LP, Zweidler-McKay PA, Shpall EJ. Fucosylation with fucosyltransferase VI or fucosyltransferase VII improves cord blood engraftment. Cytotherapy 16(1):84-9, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24094497.
- Parmar S, Liu X, Tung SS, Robinson SN, Rodriguez G, Cooper LJ, Yang H, Shah N, Yang H, Konopleva M, Molldrem JJ, Garcia-Manero G, Najjar A, Yvon E, McNiece I, Rezvani K, Savoldo B, Bollard CM, Shpall EJ. Third-party umbilical cord blood-derived regulatory T cells prevent xenogenic graft-versus-host disease. Cytotherapy 16(1):90-100, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24480547.
- Shah N, Martin-Antonio B, Yang H, Ku S, Lee DA, Cooper LJ, Decker WK, Li S, Robinson SN, Sekine T, Parmar S, Gribben J, Wang M, Rezvani K, Yvon E, Najjar A, Burks J, Kaur I, Champlin RE, Bollard CM, Shpall EJ. Antigen presenting cell-mediated expansion of human umbilical cord blood yields log-scale expansion of natural killer cells with anti-myeloma activity. PLoS One 8(10), 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24204673.
- Wang J, Najjar AM, Zhang S, Rabinovich B, Willerson JT, Gelovani JG, Yeh ET. Molecular Imaging of Mesenchymal Stem Cell: Mechanistic Insight into Cardiac Repair following Experimental Myocardial Infarction. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging 5(1):94-101, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22135400.
- Perin EC, Tian M, Marini FC, Silva GV, Zheng Y, Baimbridge F, Quan X, Fernandes MR, Gahremanpour A, Young D, Paolillo V, Mukhopadhyay U, Borne AT, Uthamanthil R, Brammer D, Jackson J, Decker WK, Najjar AM, Thomas MW, Volgin A, Rabinovich B, Soghomonyan S, Jeong HJ, Rios JM, Steiner D, Robinson S, Mawlawi O, Pan T, Stafford J, Kundra V, Li C, Alauddin MM, Willerson JT, Shpall E, Gelovani JG. Imaging long-term fate of intramyocardially implanted mesenchymal stem cells in a porcine myocardial infarction model. PLoS One 6(9):e22949, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21912635.
- Yeh HH, Ogawa K, Balatoni J, Mukhopadhyay U, Pal A, Gonzalez-Lepera C, Shavrin A, Soghomonyan S, Flores L, Young D, Volgin AY, Najjar AM, Krasnykh V, Tong W, Alauddin MM, Gelovani JG. Molecular imaging of active mutant L858R EGF receptor (EGFR) kinase-expressing nonsmall cell lung carcinomas using PET/CT. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(4):1603-8, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21220318.
- Steiner D, Gelovani J, Savoldo B, Robinson SN, Decker WK, Brouard N, Najjar A, Xing D, Yang H, Li S, Marini F, Zweidler-McKay PA, Bollard CM, Shpall EJ, Dotti G, Simmons PJ. Noninvasive Bioluminescent Imaging Demonstrates Long-Term Multilineage Engraftment of Ex Vivo-Expanded CD34-Selected Umbilical Cord Blood Cells. Stem Cells 27(8):1932-40, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19544439.
- Dotti G, Tian M, Savoldo B, Najjar A, Cooper LJ, Jackson J, Smith A, Mawlawi O, Uthamanthil R, Borne A, Brammer D, Paolillo V, Alauddin M, Gonzalez C, Steiner D, Decker WK, Marini F, Kornblau S, Bollard CM, Shpall EJ, Gelovani JG. Repetitive noninvasive monitoring of HSV1-tk-expressing T cells intravenously infused into nonhuman primates using positron emission tomography and computed tomography with 18F-FEAU. Mol Imaging 8(4):230-7, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19728977.
- Singh H, Najjar AM, Olivares S, Nishii R, Mukhopadhyay U, Alauddin M, Manuri PR, Huls H, Lee DA, Dotti G, Bollard C, Simmons PJ, Shpall EJ, Champlin RE, Gelovani JG, Cooper LJ. PET imaging of T cells derived from umbilical cord blood. Leukemia 23(3):620-2, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 18830258.
- Najjar AM, Nishii R, Maxwell DS, Volgin A, Mukhopadhyay U, Bornmann WG, Tong W, Alauddin M, Gelovani JG. Molecular-genetic PET imaging using an HSV1-tk mutant reporter gene with enhanced specificity to acycloguanosine nucleoside analogs. J Nucl Med 50(3):409-16, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19223410.
- Ross J, Najjar AM, Sankaranarayanapillai M, Tong WP, Kaluarachchi K, Ronen SM. Fatty acid synthase inhibition results in a magnetic resonance-detectable drop in phosphocholine. Mol Cancer Ther 7(8):2556-65, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18723500.
- Park SI, Zhang J, Phillips KA, Araujo JC, Najjar AM, Volgin AY, Gelovani JG, Kim SJ, Wang Z, Gallick GE. Targeting SRC family kinases inhibits growth and lymph node metastases of prostate cancer in an orthotopic nude mouse model. Cancer Res 68(9):3323-33, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18451159.
- Najjar AM, Körbling M, de Lima MJ, Thomas E, Khanna A, Gu J, Gelovani JG, Broaddus R. Fusion of circulating blood cells with solid-organ tissue cells in clinical stem cell transplants: a potential therapeutic model?. Regen Med 3(2):157-64, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18307399.
Review Articles
- Najjar AM, Johnson JM, Schellingerhout D. The Emerging Role of Amino Acid PET in Neuro-Oncology. Bioengineering (Basel) 5(4), 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30487391.
Abstracts
- Marini F, Nishii R, Aycox P, McCue D Mukhopadhyay U, Najjar AM, Alauddin M, Gelovani JG, Kornblau S. Noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of sleeping beauty (SB) modified CD19-specific T cells expressing HSV1-thymidine kinase. International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer, Washington, D.C, 2010. e-Pub 2010.
- Singh H, Najjar AM, Olivares S, Mukhopadhyay U, Alauddin M, Dotti G, Shpall EJ, Champlin RE, Gelovani JG, Cooper LJN. PET imaging of CD19-specific umbilical cord blood derived T cells. Society of Molecular Imaging, Montreal, Canada, 2009. e-Pub 2009.
- Tian M, Silva G, Marini FC, Zheng Y, Baimbridge F, Quan X, Jackson J, Paolillo V, Mukhopadhyay U, Alauddin MM, Borne A, Uthamanthil R, Brammer D, Najjar AM, Soghomonyan S, Jeong HJ, Rios JM, Mawlawi O, Pan T, Stafford RJ, Kundra V, Li C, Shpall E, Perin E, Gelovani JG. Long-term monitoring of persistence, migration and differentiate of HSV1-tk expressed mesenchymal stem cells in an ischemia-reperfusion porcine model with 18F-FEAU PET/CT and MRI. Society of Molecular Imaging, Montreal, Canada, 2009. e-Pub 2009.
- Marini F, Nishii R, Aycox P, McCue D Mukhopadhyay U, Najjar AM, Alauddin M, Gelovani JG, Kornblau S. Preclinical molecular imaging and monitoring of causative T-cells during Graft Versus Host Disease Formation and during Anti-GVHD Treatment using repetitive [18F] FEAU/PET imaging. Society of Molecular Imaging, Montreal, Canada, 2009. e-Pub 2009.
- Perin EC, Marini FC, Silva G, Fernandes M, Bainbridge F, Angeli F, Vela D, Zheng Y, Buja M, Uthamanthil R, Borne A, Kornblau S, Thomas M, Robinson S, Decker W, Steiner D, Najjar AM, Mawlawi O, Tian M, Nishii R, Yoas K, Shpall EJ, Gelovani JG. Repetitive [18F]FEAU PET/CT imaging for Monitoring the Migration and Engraftment of an sr39HSV1-tk Reporter Gene-Expressing Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) after NOGA-assisted Transendocardial Implantation in a Porcine Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction. World Molecular Imaging Congress, Society of Molecular Imaging, Nice, France, 2008. e-Pub 2008.
- Najjar AM, Nishii R, Maxwell D, Volgin A, Mukhopadhyay U, Kiyono Y, Bornmann W, Alauddin M, Gelovani JG. Differential Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Using a Herpes Simplex Virus-1 Thymidine Kinase Variant with Enhanced Acycloguanoside Substrate Specificity. Joint Molecular Imaging Conference. Providence, RI, 2007. e-Pub 2007.
- Dafni H, Najjar AM, Gelovani JG, Ronen S. Double- and single-step imaging of metabolically-biotinylated and avidin-fused cell surface receptors. Society of Molecular Imaging Fourth Annual Meeting, Hawaii, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Ross J, Tong WP, Najjar AM, Ronen S. Phosphocholine levels are modulated downstream of MAPK and PI3K signaling via inhibition of fatty acid synthase. . International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Pocono Manor, PA, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Alauddin M, Balatoni J, Najjar AM, Volgin A, Gelovani JG. Synthesis and Preliminary Screening of 3’-Deoxy-3’-[18F]-Fluoro-1-β-D-Xylo-Furanosyluracil ([18F]-FMXU) in Cancer Cells. Society of Molecular Imaging Fourth Annual Meeting, Cologne, Germany, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
- Dafni H, Najjar AM, Gelovani JG, Ronen S. Metabolic Biotinylation as a Molecular Imaging Method: Imaging the PDGFR-β Cell Surface Receptor. Society of Molecular Imaging Fourth Annual Meeting, Cologne, Germany, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
- Najjar A, Edwards M, Shenaq S, Gelovani JG. Noninvasive Imaging of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Neuronal Differentiation. International Society of Stem Cell Research Third Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
- Dafni H, Najjar AM, Gelovani JG, Ronen S. Metabolic Biotinylation as a Molecular Imaging Method: Imaging the PDGFR-β Cell Surface Receptor. Society of Molecular Imaging Fourth Annual Meeting, Cologne, Germany, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
- Alauddin M, Balatoni J, Najjar AM, Volgin A, Gelovani JG. Synthesis and Preliminary Screening of 3’-Deoxy-3’-[18F]-Fluoro-1-β-D-Xylo-Furanosyluracil ([18F]-FMXU) in Cancer Cells. Society of Molecular Imaging Fourth Annual Meeting, Cologne, Germany, 2005. e-Pub 2005.
- Nui T, Najjar AM, Robinson SN, Yang H, Decker W, McMannis JD, Ng J, Thomas M, Xing D, Champlin RE, Gelovani JG, Shpall EJ. High Efficiency Transduction of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Using Retroviral Gene Transfer with Triple Reporter Genes. Blood 104(11): 150b, 2004. e-Pub 2004.
- Totan S, Yuksel E, Najjar AM, Shenaq SM. The Molecular Aspects of Keloid Formation: Heat Shock Proteins and rho Kinase Signaling Pathway. Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society Fifteenth Congress. e-Pub 2004.
- Totan S, Yuksel E, Najjar AM, Shenaq S. The Role of Heat Shock Proteins and Rho Kinase in Regulation of Denervated Wound Healing. . J. Amer. Coll. Surg. 197(3): S61, 2004. e-Pub 2004.
- Najjar AM, Shenaq S. Inhibition of Vascular Inflammation by Isoprostanes is Mediated by Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPAR). Plastic Surgery Research Council Forty Ninth Annual Meeting, Ann Arbor, MI, 2004, 2004. e-Pub 2004.
- Najjar AM, Shenaq S. Nuclear Localization Signal Peptide-DNA Conjugation to Enhance Nonviral Endothelial Cell Transfection. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy’s Fifth Annual Retreat, Clear Lake City, TX, 2003. e-Pub 2003.
Book Chapters
- Najjar A. Radiolabeling and Imaging of Adoptively Transferred Immune Cells by Positron Emission Tomography. In: Cell Reprogramming for Immunotherapy. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 267-272, 2020.
- Najjar AM, Fromme L, Yaghoubi S. Reporter Gene Imaging in Positron Emission Tomography. In: Molecular Imaging. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
- Najjar AM, Moyes J SE, Cooper L JN. DNA Plasmids for Non-viral Gene Therapy of Cancer. In: Cancer Gene Therapy by Viral and Non-Viral Vectors. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 39-59, 2014.
Patents
- Gelovani JG, Tong WP, Najjar AM, Li C. AGENTS FOR IMAGING APOPTOSIS. Patent Number: 20090170131.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 22, 2026