Steven W. Millward, Ph.D.
Department of Cancer Systems Imaging, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
About Dr. Steven W. Millward
Dr. Steven Millward’s group is working at the chemistry-biology interface to develop new molecular imaging agents to visualize the hallmarks of cancer in living systems. His laboratory is using directed evolution, chemical biology, and metabolomics to design novel compounds that can be directly integrated into optical, nuclear, and MR-based imaging platforms.
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Directed Evolution of Imaging Agents. The ideal molecular imaging agent would have the affinity and target specificity of monoclonal antibodies along with the rapid systemic clearance of small molecules. While peptides have shown promise as in vitro imaging probes, their short half-life, poor stability, and low affinity have traditionally made them unsuitable for in vivo applications. They are using mRNA display in conjunction with chemical modification to select for high-affinity, modification-resistant peptides in ex vivo and in vivo systems.
Visualizing Autophagy in Living Systems. Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic process where cellular components are engulfed and degraded to provide energy in times of metabolic stress. Autophagy has been shown to play both a pro-tumor and anti-tumor role in cancer. While the molecular mechanisms of autophagy are beginning to be understood, there is no easy way to unambiguously image autophagy in living cells and tissues or to determine the extent of autophagic flux. They are using a chemical biology, metabolomics, and directed evolution strategies to visualize this and other related forms of cell death in models of ovarian cancer
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Cancer Systems Imaging, Diagnostic Imaging, UT MD Anderson
Associate Director of Chemistry, Cancer Systems Imaging, UT MD Anderson, Houston, Texas
Regular Faculty, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Molecular Imaging has enormous potential to qualitatively change the way cancer is understood, diagnosed, and treated. The advancement of this field depends greatly on the development of new imaging probes that report the biological activity of cancer-relevant proteins in addition to their absolute concentration in the tumor cell. The peptide-based caspase activity probes described in this proposal represent a new and powerful approach to this problem that can guide cancer treatment in real time. I have worked in the field of peptide discovery, chemistry, and characterization for over ten years; as a graduate student with Prof. Rich Roberts (Caltech) and as a postdoc with Prof. James Heath (Caltech). I have over ten years of experience in peptide synthesis, synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, and cell biology. The focus of my graduate work in the laboratory of Prof. Rich Roberts was the incorporation of unnatural amino acids to increase the proteolytic stability and drug-like properties of mRNA display libraries.
My innovations in this area make me especially suited to develop tetrazole-containing unnatural amino acids to increase the cell permeability and bio-stability of caspase imaging probes. During my postdoctoral work at the NanoSystems Biology Cancer Center (Caltech), I employed in situ click chemistry to design novel branched peptide architectures which were used to image Akt activation in ovarian cancer cells. This work has provided me with extensive experience in azide-based click chemistry making me well-suited to rapidly carry out the tetrazole syntheses described in the proposal. My appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cancer Systems Imaging at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center will enable me to translate fluorescence-based caspase probes into optical and PET imaging agents for pre-clinical development.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2007 | California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, US, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, PhD |
| 2000 | The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, US, Biology, BA |
Postgraduate Training
| 2007-2011 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California |
Experience & Service
Other Professional Positions
Instructor, Cancer Biology, UT MD Anderson, 2017 - Present
Instructor, Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology for Medical Physics I (GS02-1063), The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, 2017 - Present
Co-Founder, EvoRx Technologies, Pasadena, CA, 2011 - Present
Consultant, Integrated Diagnostics, Seattle, WA, 2010 - Present
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, GSBS Student Scholarship Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2017 - Present
Member, UT MDACC Division of Diagnostic Imaging Faculty Functional Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2016 - Present
Member, UT MDACC Radiation Safety Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2016 - Present
Member, UT MDACC Postdoctoral Advisory Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2016 - 2020
Member, Pathways in Systems Imaging Steering Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2016
committee member, UT MDACC CSI Faculty Search Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2015 - Present
committee member, UT MDACC Faculty Academic review Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2015 - Present
Committee Member, UT MDACC Multidisciplinary Research Advisory Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2015 - 2019
Committee Member, NMR Steering Committee, UT MD Anderson, 2014 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research Council of Distinquished Investigators |
| 2017 | UTMDACC President's Recognition for Research Excellence, UT MDACC |
| 2016 | Robert M. Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award-Winner 2016, UT MDACC |
| 2015 | Robert M. Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award Finalist-2015, UT MDACC |
| 2013 - 2014 | Moonshot Knowledge Gap Award, UTMDACC |
| 2009 | Poster Award, NCI Principal Investigators Meeting, NCI Principal Investigators Meeting |
| 2008 - 2011 | NIH/NCI NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship # F32CA136150, NCI |
| 2006 | ASBMB Conference, Graduate Travel Fellowship, ASBMB |
| 2003 - 2004 | NIH Bioorganic Training Grant |
| 2001 | Lucy Mason Clark Fellowship, The California Institute of Technology |
| 2000 | Phi Beta Kappa, The Johns Hopkins University |
| 2000 | General and Departmental Honors from The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins University |
| 2000 | Milton Blumenfeld Scholarship, The Johns Hopkins University |
| 1998 | Howard Hughes Summer Research Fellowship, HHMI |
| 1996 | National Merit Scholar |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2025. Novel Enolase Inhibitors for the Treatment of ENO-1-defiecient Tumors. Invited. 14th Annual Metabolism in Cancer Symposium.
- 2024. Directed Evolution of a PD-L1 Binding Peptide with Antibody-like Affinity. Invited. Texas Chemical Biology Conference. Houston, TX, US.
- 2020. Directed Evolution of Autophagy Inhibitors (Oral Presentation). Invited. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.
- 2020. Evolving New Modules to Imaging and Modulate Tumor Growth and Death. Invited. Department of Chemistry Seminar Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2019. Defining Cancer and Understanding Imaging. Invited. UT MD Anderson.
- 2018. Real-time Interrogation of Aspirin Reactivity, Biochemistry, and Pharmacokinetics. Invited. 7th Annual Metabolism in Cancer Symposium. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Introduction to Grant Proposals. Invited. MD Anderson Academic Insights Seminar Series. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Interrogating Aspirin Metabolism by Hyperpolarized MR Spectroscpy and Imaging. Invited. Cancer Metabolism Working Group Seminar. Houston, TX, US.
- 2015. Using 31P NMR to Investigate the Role of PFKFB2 in Paclitaxel Sensitivity. Invited. UT MDACC. Houston, TX, US.
- 2014. Metabolic Rewiring in Ovarian Cancer Cells During ARHI-mediated Autophagy. Invited. UT MDACC/CSI. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. "Unnatural Selection" by mRNA Display. Invited. UT MDACC. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. Imaging Cox-2 activity using hyperpolarized NSAIDs. Invited. UT MDACC. Houston, TX, US.
- 2012. Design of Fluorescent Probes to Image Protease Activity in Cancer. (Poster). Invited. CPRIT Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session. Houston, TX, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2023. Modulation of Autophagy with Cyclic Peptides. Invited. CPRIT Innovations Conference. Galveston, TX, US.
- 2022. Directed Evolution of PD-L1 Imaging Agents by mRNA Display. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Congress. Miami, FL, US.
- 2015. Directed Evolution of Molecular Imaging Agents. Invited. CPRIT Innovations in Cancer Prevention and Research Conference. Austin, TX, US.
- 2014. In vitro and in vivo imaging of Her2 with cyclic peptides derived from directed evolution. Invited. San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (AACR. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2014. Self-Destruction and Self-Eating: Imaging Apoptosis and Autophagy in Cancer. Invited. IACS/UT MDACC, US.
National Presentations
- 2025. Enolase Inhibitors for the Treatment of GBM. Invited. Glioblastoma Research Organization Summit. Miami, FL, US.
- 2024. How We See the Brain. Invited. Glioblastoma Research Organization Summit. Miami, FL, US.
- 2023. Modulation of Autophagy with Cyclic Peptides. Invited. CPRIT Innovations Conference. Galveston, TX, US.
- 2022. Directed Evolution of PD-L1 Imaging Agents by mRNA Display. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Congress. Miami, FL, US.
- 2020. Directed Evolution of Cyclic Peptides for Inhibition of Autophagy in Ovarian Cancer. Invited. Gordon Research Conference. Ventura, CA, US.
- 2019. Targeting the Enzymatic Activities and Protein-protein Interactions that Govern Programmed Cell Death. Invited. Society of Nuclear Medcine and Molecular Imaging. Anaheim, CA, US.
- 2018. Directed Evolution of PET Radiotracers for Oncology Imaging. Invited. AACR-JNMMI Joint Conference on State-of-the-art Molecular Imaging in Cancer Biology and Therapy. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2016. Investigating the mechanism of cancer chemoprevention by aspirin using hyperpolarized MR and activity-based protein profiling. Invited. 252nd ACS National Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2016. Directed Evolution of PET Imaging Agents by Scanning Unnatural Protease Resistance (SUPR) mRNA Display. Invited. 252nd ACS National Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2016. SUPR-PET: Nuclear Imaging of Her2-positive Breast Cancer with SUPR Peptides. AACR National Meeting. Invited. AACR National Meeting. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2016. Rhodamine Esters as Fluorescent Tumor Painting Agents for Glioblastoma. Invited. AACR National Meeting. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2015. SUPR Peptides as Novel Targeted Molecular Imaging Agents for Her2. Invited. AACR National Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2014. Metabolic Analysis of ARHI-Induced Autophagy by 1H-NMR. (Poster). Invited. 55th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference. Boston, MA, US.
- 2013. Use of Iterative in situ Click Chemistry to develop a capture agent Specific for a Transforming Point Mutation in the Pleckstrin Homology Domain of Akt1 [abstract]. Invited. AACR. Washington, DC. Philadelphia, PA, US.
- 2013. Cell Permeable Probes for Targeted Molecular Imaging of Cell Death (Poster). Invited. American Chemical Society National Conference. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2011. Branched Peptide Inhibitors of Akt1 (Poster). Invited. American Chemical Society: 43rd Western Regional Meeting, Salk Institute, La Jolla. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2011. Branched, Inhibitory Capture Agents for Akt1 (Poster). Invited. Gordon Research Conference: Cancer and Nanotechnology, Colby College. Waterville, ME, US.
- 2011. Molecular Recognition of Cancer Biomarkers: A Versatile Capture Agent for Akt1 Designed by Iterative In Situ Click Chemistry. Invited. American Chemical Society. Pasadena, CA, US.
- 2009. Protein-Catalyzed Formation of Multi-ligand Capture Agents for in vitro Diagnostics (Poster). Invited. NCI Alliance Principal Investigators Meeting. Huntington Beach, CA, US.
- 2006. The Cyclization of High Diversity mRNA Display Libraries (Poster Presenter). ASBMB. Invited. ASBMB Conference. San Francisco, CA, US.
International Presentations
- 2019. Assessing Metabolic Intervention with a Glutaminase Inhibitor in Real-time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Invited. WMIC. Montreal, US.
- 2019. Real-time Imaging of Aspirin Biodistribution and Metabolism in vivo. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Society. Montreal, CA.
- 2019. PET/CT Imaging of Apoptosis Using 18F-labeled Caspase-3 Substrates. Invited. World Molecular Imaging Society. Montreal, CA.
- 2019. Click chemistry on TracerLab: towards GMP manufacturing of high molar activity F-18 PET tracers. Invited. Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences. Beijing, CN.
- 2019. Imaging of apoptosis by PET/CT: a new F18-labeled Caspase-3 substrate. Invited. European Molecular Imaging Meeting (EMIM). Glasgow, GB.
Formal Peers
- 2020. Evolving New Molecules to Imaging and Modulate Tumor Growth and Death. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Imaging Cell Growth and Death. Invited. Waco, TX, US.
- 2013. Evolving “Synthetic” Natural Products by mRNA Display: New Tools for Imaging and Therapeutics. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Uddin, M.N., Grindel, B.J., Engel, B.J., Ong, J.N., Yang, H., Bast, Robert C., Millward S.W.. Affibodies Targeting the Juxtamembrane Domain of MUC16. ACS Chemical Biology. e-Pub 2026.
- Ong JN, Grindel BJ, Rankin SA, Naylon SH, Srinivasamani A, Trusz GJ, Liang X, Uddin MN, Fuller L, Curran M, Roche SP, Takahashi TT, Roberts RW, Millward SW. Using extension-based mRNA display to design antibody-like proteinogenic peptides for human PD-L1. Protein Sci 34(9):e70268, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40852896.
- Whiting N, Hu J, Pudakalakatti S, McCowan CV, Ramezani S, Davis JS, Millward NZ, Engel BJ, Liu JX, Gellci K, Seo H, Brown D, Enriquez JS, Menter DG, Millward SW, Gammon ST, Piwnica-Worms D, Farach-Carson MC, Carson D, Constantinou PE, Bhattacharya P. Targeted Molecular MRI of Colorectal Cancer by Antibody Functionalized Hyperpolarized Silicon Particles. bioRxiv, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40654854.
- Millward SW, Wei P, Piwnica-Worms D, Gammon ST. Can the Discovery of High-Impact Diagnostics Be Improved by Matching the Sampling Rate of Clinical Diagnostics to the Frequency Domain of Diagnostic Information?. Cancers (Basel) 17(9), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40361314.
- Uddin, M.N., Grindel, B.J., Fuller, L.E., Muller, F., Millward SW. Enolase Inhibitors for the Treatment of ENO1-defiecinet Tumors. J Med Chem. e-Pub 2025.
- Jeevarathinam, A.S., Kawelah, M.R., Han. S., Grindel, B.J., Millward SW, Johnston, K.P., Sokolov, K.V.. Comprehensive Protocol for Directional Conjugation of Monoclonal Antibodies to Organic Nanoparticles via Metal-free Click Chemistry and Their Evaluation. Nature Protocols. e-Pub 2025.
- Ong, J., Grindel, B.J., Rankin, S.A., Naylon, S.H., Srinivasamani, A., Trusz, G.J., Liang, X., Uddin, M.N., Fuller, L.E., Curran, M., Roche, S.P., Takahashi, T.T., Roberts, R.W., Millward SW. Design of High Affinity Peptide Ligand for PD-L1 by mRNA Display 34(9):e70268, 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Qiu, X, Gammon, ST, Rasmussen, C, Pisaneschi, F, Kim, CB, Ver Hoeve, J, Millward, S, Barnett, EM, Nork, TM, Kaufman, PL, Piwnica-Worms, D. In vivo scanning laser fundus and high-resolution OCT imaging of retinal ganglion cell injury in a non-human primate model with an activatable fluorescent-labeled TAT peptide probe. PloS one 19(12), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39642160.
- Milanes JE, Yan VC, Pham CD, Muller F, Kwain S, Rees KC, Dominy BN, Whitehead DC, Millward SW, Bolejack M, Abendroth J, Phan IQ, Staker B, Moseman EA, Zhang X, Ma X, Jebet A, Yin X, Morris JC. Enolase inhibitors as therapeutic leads for Naegleria fowleri infection. bioRxiv, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38293107.
- Millward, SW, Wei, Piwnica-Worms P, D, Gammon, ST. Matching Patient Need and Medical Rate Constants in Diagnostic Imaging. NPJ Imaging, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Qiu, X, Gammon, ST, Rasmussen, C, Pisaneschi, P, Kim, CBK, Hoeve V, J, Millward, SW, Barnett, EM, Nork, TM, Kaufman, Piwnica-Worms PL, D. In vivo scanning laser fundus and high-resolution OCT imaging of retinal ganglion cell injury in a non-human primate model with an activatable fluorescent-labeled TAT peptide probe. PLOS ONE, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Gray, JP, Bildik, G, Kim, H, Sutton, MN, Yang, H, Mao, W, Tan, Z, Gasmi-Seabrook, G, Liu, J, Hancock, J, Marshall, C, Kritzer, JA, Ikura, M, Bast, RC, Millward, SW, Lu, Z. Cyclic Peptides Derived from DIRAS3 Disrupt KRAS-RAF Interaction and Nanoclustering. Chemical Science, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Ong, J, Grindel, BJ, Srinivasamani, A, Engel, BJ, Kamalinia, G, Curran, M, Takahashi, TT, Millward, SW, Roberts, RW. Design of a High Affinity Peptide Ligand for PD-L1 by mRNA Display. ACS Chem Biol, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Milanes JE, Yan VC, Pham CD, Muller F, Kwain S, Rees KC, Dominy BN, Whitehead DC, Millward SW, Bolejack M, Shek R, Tillery L, Phan IQ, Staker B, Moseman EA, Zhang X, Ma X, Jebet A, Yin X, Morris JC. Enolase inhibitors as therapeutic leads for Naegleria fowleri infection. PLoS Pathog 20(8):e1012412, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39088549.
- Gray JP, Bildik G, Kim HN, Sutton MN, Wang J, Osuji AO, Batistatou N, Yang H, Mao W, Tan Z, Gasmi-Seabrook GMC, Liu J, Hancock JF, Marshall CB, Kritzer JA, Ikura M, Bast RC Jr, Millward SW, Lu Z. DIRAS3-derived cyclic peptides disrupt KRAS-RAF interaction and KRAS nanoclustering, suppressing KRAS-driven pancreatic and ovarian tumors. iScience 28(11):113686. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 41244592.
- Liang X, Jung SY, Fong LW, Bildik G, Gray JP, Mao W, Zhang S, SW <, Gorfe AA, Zhou Y, Lu Z, Bast RC. Membrane Anchoring of the DIRAS3 N-terminal Extension Permits Tumor Suppressor Function. iScience, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Khadka S, Lin Y, Ackroyd J, Chen Y, Behr E, Behr E, Barekatain Y, Poral A, Tran T, Uddin MN, Sheng Y, Qian W, Arthur K, Chang E, Hsu W, Chaurasia S, Georgiou DK, Asara J, Guo S, Barthel F, Millward SW, DePinho R, Muller F. Anaplerotic Nutrient Stress Drives Synergy of Angiogenesis Inhibitors with Therapeutics Targeting Tumor Metabolism. bioRxiv, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Engel, BJ, Paolillo, V, Uddin, M, Gonzales, KA, McGinnis, K, Sutton, M, Patnana, M, Grindel, B, Gores, GJ, Piwnica-Worms, D, Beretta, L, Pisaneschi, F, Gammon, ST, Millward, S. Gender Differences in a Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Revealed Using Multi-Modal Imaging. Cancers 15(15), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37568603.
- Engel BJ, Paolillo V, Uddin MN, Gonzalez KA, McGinnis KM, Sutton MN, Patanana M, Grindel BJ, Gores GJ, Piwnica-Worms D, Beretta L, Pisaneschi F, Gammon ST, Millward SW. Gender Differences in a Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Revealed by Multi-modal Imaging. Cancers, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Poster CP, LaVigne D, Milanes JE, Knight E, Anderson HD, Morris MT, Yan VC, Pham C, Muller F, Kwain S, Rees KC, Dominy B, Whitehead DC, Millward SW, Morris JC. Enolase Inhibitors as Early Lead Therapeutics Against Trypanosoma brucei 12(11):1290, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Chen C, Chin RL, Hartley GP, Lea ST, Engel BJ, Hsieh C, Prasad R, Roszik J, Shingu T, Lizee GA, Heimberger A, Millward SW, Hu J, Hong DS, Curran MA. Novel Murine Glioblastoma Models that Reflect the Immunotherapy Resistance Profile of Human Disease. Neuro-Oncology, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Yan, VC, Barekatain, Y, Lin, E, Satani, N, Hammoudi, N, Arthur, K, Georgiou, D, Jiang, Y, Sun, Y, Marszalek, J, Millward, SW, Muller, F. Comparative Pharmacology of a Bis-Pivaloyloxymethyl Phosphonate ProdrugInhibitor of Enolase After Oral and Parenteral Administration. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 6(2):245-252, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Yan VC, Pham CD, Ballato ES, Yang KL, Arthur K, Khadka S, Barekatain Y, Shrestha P, Tran T, Poral AH, Washington M, Raghavan S, Czako B, Pisaneschi F, Lin YH, Satani N, Hammoudi N, Ackroyd JJ, Georgiou DK, Millward SW, Muller FL. Prodrugs of a 1-Hydroxy-2-oxopiperidin-3-yl Phosphonate Enolase Inhibitor for the Treatment of ENO1-Deleted Cancers. J Med Chem 65(20):13813-13832, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36251833.
- Barekatain Y, Khadka S, Harris K, Delacerda J, Yan VC, Chen KC, Pham CD, Uddin MN, Avritcher R, Eisenberg EJ, Kalluri R, Millward SW, Muller FL. Quantification of Phosphonate Drugs by 1H-31P HSQC Shows That Rats Are Better Models of Primate Drug Exposure than Mice. Anal Chem 94(28):10045-10053, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35792073.
- Qui X, Gammon ST, Johnson JR, Pisaneschi FW, Millward S, Barnett E, Piwnica-Worms D. Apoptosis Detection in Retinal Ganglion Cells Using Quantitative Changes in Multi-Channel Fluorescence Co-Localization. Biosensors 12(9):693, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Barekatain Y, Sunada K, Harris K, Delacerda J, Yan V, Chen K, Pham C, Uddin MN, Avritcher R, Eisenberg E, Kalluri R, Millward SW, Muller F. Quantification of phosphoate drugs by 1H-31P HSQC shows that rats are better models of primate drug exposure than mice. Analytical Chemistry 94(28), 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Grindel BJ, Engel BJ, Ong JN, Srinivasamani A, Liang X, Zacharias NM, Bast RC, Curran M, Takahasi TT, Roberts RW, Millward SW. Directed Evolution of PD-L1 Targeted Affibodies by mRNA Display. ACS Chem Biol 17(6):1543-1555, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Pollard A, Paolilo V, Radaram B, Qureshy S, Li L, Maity T, Wang L, Wood CG, Karam JA, Pagel MD, Piwnica-Worms D, Millward SW, Fowlkes NW, Norton W, Engel BJ Pisaneshi F, Zacharias NM. FGln Retention in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines and a Lung Metastasis Tumor Model. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Kamalinia G, Grindel BJ, Takahashi TT, Millward SW, Roberts RW. Directing evolution of novel ligands by mRNA display. Chem Soc Rev 50(16):9055-9103, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34165126.
- Zacharias NM, Wang L, Maity T, Li L, Millward SW, Karam JA, Wood CG, Navai N. Prolyl Hydroxylase 3 Knockdown Accelerates VHL-Mutant Kidney Cancer Growth In Vivo. Int J Mol Sci 22(6), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33799686.
- Gray JP, Uddin MN, Chaudhari R, Sutton MN, Yang H, Rask P, Locke H, Engel BJ, Batistatou N, Wang J, Grindel BJ, Bhattacharya P, Gammon ST, Zhang S, Piwnica-Worms D, Kritzer JA, Lu Z, Bast RC, Millward SW. Directed evolution of cyclic peptides for inhibition of autophagy. Chem Sci 12(10):3526-3543, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34163626.
- Enriquez JS, Chu Y, Pudakalakatti S, Hsieh KL, Salmon D, Dutta P, Millward NZ, Lurie W, |Millward, SW||, McAllister F, Maitra A, Sen S, Kilary A, Zhang J, Jiang X, Bhattacharya PK, Shams S. Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance and Artificial Intelligence: Frontiers of Imaging in Pancreatic Cancer. JMIR 9(6), 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Pudakalakatti S, Audia A, Mukhopadhyay A, Enriquez JS, Bourgeois D, Tayob N, Millward NZ, Millward SW, Carson D, Farach-Carson MC, Lang FF, HeimbergerAB, Bhat K, Bhattacharya P. NMR Spectoscopy-based Metabolomics of Platelets to Analyze Brain Tumors. Reports 4(4):32, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Grindel BJ, Engel BJ, Hall CG, Kelderhouse LE, Lucci A, Zacharias NM, Takahashi TT, Millward SW. Mammalian Expression and In Situ Biotinylation of Extracellular Protein Targets for Directed Evolution. ACS Omega 5(39):25440-25455, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33043224.
- Gammon ST, Engel BJ, Gores GJ, Cressman E, Piwnica-Worms D, Millward SW. Mistiming Death: Modeling the Time-Domain Variability of Tumor Apoptosis and Implications for Molecular Imaging of Cell Death. Mol Imaging Biol 22(5):1310, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32519246.
- Kamalinia, G, Engel, BG, Srinivasamani, A, Grindel, BJ, Ong, JN, Curran, M, Takahashi, TT, Millward, SW, Roberts, RW. mRNA Display Discovery of a Novel PD-L1 Binding Peptide. ACS Chem. Biol 15(6):1630-1641, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Engel, BJ, Grindel, BJ, Gray, JP, Millward, SW. Purification of poly-dA Oligonucleotides and mRNA-protein Fusions with dT25-OAS Resin. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett 30(4):126934, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Zacharias NM, Baran N, Shanmugavelandy SS, Lee J, Velez Lujan J, Dutta P, Millward SW, Cai T, Wood CG, Piwnica-Worms D, Konopleva M, Bhattacharya PK. Assessing Metabolic Intervention with a Glutaminase Inhibitor in Real-time by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Mol Cancer Ther, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31387889.
- Yang H, Shu Z, Jiang Y, Mao W, Pang L, Redwood A, Jeter-Jones SL, Jennings NB, Ornelas A, Zhou J, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Bartholomeusz G, Iles LR, Zacharias NM, Millward SW, Lopez-Berestein G, Le XF, Ahmed AA, Piwnica-Worms H, Sood AK, Bast RC, Lu Z. 6-Phosphofructo-2-Kinase/Fructose-2,6-Biphosphatase-2 Regulates TP53-Dependent Paclitaxel Sensitivity in Ovarian and Breast Cancers. Clin Cancer Res, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31391192.
- Sutton MN, Huang GY, Liang X, Sharma R, Reger AS, Mao W, Pang L, Rask PJ, Lee K, Gray JP, Hurwitz AM, Palzkill T, Millward SW, Kim C, Lu Z, Bast RC. DIRAS3-Derived Peptide Inhibits Autophagy in Ovarian Cancer Cells by Binding to Beclin1. Cancers (Basel) 11(4), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31003488.
- Zacharias NM, Ornelas A, Lee J, Hu J, Davis JS, Uddin N, Pudakalakatti S, Menter DG, Karam JA, Wood CG, Hawk ET, Kopetz S, Vilar E, Bhattacharya PK, Millward SW. Real-Time Interrogation of Aspirin Reactivity, Biochemistry, and Biodistribution by Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 58(13):4179-4183, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30680862.
- Zacharias N, Lee J, Ramachandran S, Shanmugavelandy S, McHenry J, Dutta P, Millward S, Gammon S, Efstathiou E, Troncoso P, Frigo DE, Piwnica-Worms D, Logothetis CJ, Maity SN, Titus MA, Bhattacharya P. Androgen Receptor Signaling in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Alters Hyperpolarized Pyruvate to Lactate Conversion and Lactate Levels In Vivo. Mol Imaging Biol 21(1):86-94, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 29748904.
- Whiting, N, Hu, J, Pudakalakatti, S, McCowan, CV, Davis, JS, Millward, NZ, Engel, BJ, Liu, JX, Shanmugavelandy, S, Gellci, K, Menter, DG, Millward, SW, Gammon, ST, Piwnica-Worms, D, Farach-Carson, MC, Carsono, D, Constantinou, PW, Bhattacharaya, P. Marrying Antibodies to Hyperpolarized Silicon Particles for MRI Based Detection of Colorectal Cancer. Nature Communications, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- 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 RC, Millward SW. Caspase-3 Substrates for Non-Invasive Pharmacodynamic Imaging of Apoptosis by PET/CT. Bioconjug Chem 29(9):3180-3195, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30168713.
- Kanikarla-Marie, P, Kopetz, S, Hawk, ET, Millward, SW, Sood, AK, Gresele, P, Overman, M, M, Honn, K, Menter, DG. Bioactive Lipid Metabolism in Platelet "First Responder" and Cancer Biology. Cancer and Metastasis Reviews 37(2-3):439-454, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Ornelas A, Zacharias-Millward N, Menter DG, Davis JS, Lichtenberger L, Hawke D, Hawk E, Vilar E, Bhattacharya P, Millward SW. Beyond COX-1: the effects of aspirin on platelet biology and potential mechanisms of chemoprevention. Cancer Metastasis Rev 36(2):289-303, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28762014.
- Pisaneschi F, Kelderhouse LE, Hardy A, Engel B, Mukhopadhyay U, Gonzalez-Lepera C, Gray JP, Ornelas A, Takahashi TT, Roberts RW, Fiacco SV, Piwnica-Worms D, Millward SW. An automated, resin-based method to enhance the specific activity of fluorine-18 clicked PET radiotracers. Bioconjug Chem 28(2):583-589, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28150941.
- Ornelas A, McCullough CR, Lu Z, Zacharias NM, Kelderhouse LE, Gray J, Yang H, Engel BJ, Wang Y, Mao W, Sutton MN, Bhattacharya PK, Jr BR, Millward SW. Induction of autophagy by ARHI (DIRAS3) alters fundamental metabolic pathways in ovarian cancer models. BMC Cancer 16(1):824, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27784287.
- Fiacco SV, Kelderhouse LE, Hardy A, Peleg Y, Hu B, Ornelas A, Yang P, Gammon ST, Howell SM, Wang P, Takahashi TT, Millward SW, Roberts RW. Directed Evolution of Scanning Unnatural-Protease-Resistant (SUPR) Peptides for in Vivo Applications. ChemBioChem 17(17):1643-51, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27465925.
- Washington MN, Suh G, Orozco AF, Sutton MN, Yang H, Wang Y, Mao W, Millward S, Ornelas A, Atkinson N, Liao W, Bast RC, Lu Z. ARHI (DIRAS3)-mediated autophagy-associated cell death enhances chemosensitivity to cisplatin in ovarian cancer cell lines and xenografts. Cell Death Dis 6(8):e1836, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26247722.
- Deyle KM, Farrow B, Qiao Hee Y, Work J, Wong M, Lai B, Umeda A, Millward SW, Nag A, Das S, Heath JR. A protein-targeting strategy used to develop a selective inhibitor of the E17K point mutation in the PH domain of Akt1. Nat Chem 7(5):455-62, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25901825.
- Howell SM, Fiacco SV, Takahashi TT, Jalali-Yazdi F, Millward SW, Hu B, Wang P, Roberts RW. Serum Stable Natural Peptides Designed by mRNA Display. Sci Rep 4:6008, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25234472.
- Nag A, Das S, Yu MB, Deyle KM, Millward SW, Heath JR. A chemical epitope-targeting strategy for protein capture agents: the serine 474 epitope of the kinase Akt2. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 52(52):13975-9, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24254999.
- Millward SW, Agnew HD, Lai B, Lee SS, Lim J, Nag A, Pitram S, Rohde R, Heath JR. Click chemistry: from small molecule discovery to synthetic antibodies. Integr Biol (Camb) 5(1):87-95, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 22836343.
- Walker CM, Lee J, Ramirez MS, Schellingerhout D, Millward S, Bankson JA. A catalyzing phantom for reproducible dynamic conversion of hyperpolarized [1-13C]-pyruvate. PLoS One 8(8):e71274, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23977006.
- Millward SW, Henning RK, Kwong GA, Pitram S, Agnew HD, Deyle KM, Nag A, Hein J, Lee SS, Lim J, Pfeilsticker JA, Sharpless KB, Heath JR. Iterative in situ click chemistry assembles a branched capture agent and allosteric inhibitor for Akt1. J Am Chem Soc 133(45):18280-8, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21962254.
- Agnew HD, Rohde RD, Millward SW, Nag A, Yeo WS, Hein JE, Pitram SM, Tariq AA, Burns VM, Krom RJ, Fokin VV, Sharpless KB, Heath JR. Iterative in situ click chemistry creates antibody-like protein-capture agents. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 48(27):4944-8, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19301344.
- Millward SW, Fiacco S, Austin RJ, Roberts RW. Design of cyclic peptides that bind protein surfaces with antibody-like affinity. ACS Chem Biol 2(9):625-34, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17894440.
- Millward SW, Takahashi TT, Roberts RW. A general route for post-translational cyclization of mRNA display libraries. J Am Chem Soc 127(41):14142-3, 2005. e-Pub 2005. PMID: 16218582.
- Frankel A, Millward SW, Roberts RW. Encodamers: unnatural peptide oligomers encoded in RNA. Chem Biol 10(11):1043-50, 2003. e-Pub 2003. PMID: 14652071.
- Li S, Millward SW, Roberts R. In vitro selection of mRNA display libraries containing an unnatural amino acid. Journal of American Chemical Society 124(34):9972-3, 2002. e-Pub 2002. PMID: 12188645.
Abstracts
- Gray JP, MdN U, Chaudhari R, Sutton MN, Yang H, Rask P, Locke H, Engel BJ, Batistatou N, Wang J, Grindel BJ, Bhattacharya P, Gammon ST, Zhang S, Piwnica-Worms D, Kritzer JA, Lu Z, Bast Jr RC, Millward SW. Directed Evolution of Cyclic Peptides for Inhibition of Autophagy, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Ornelas A, Zacharias-Millward N, Davis J, Menter D, Hawke D, Bhattacharya PK, Vilar-Sanchez E, Millward SW. Investigating the mechanism of cancer chemoprevention by aspirin using hyperpolarized MR and activity-based protein profiling, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Kelderhouse L, Hardy A, Pisaneschi F, Peleg Y, Hu B, Engel BJ, Gray JP, Ornelas A, Yang P, Gammon S, Howell SM, Piwnica-Worms D, Wang P, Takahashi TT, Roberts RW, Millward SW. Directed Evolution of PET Imaging Agents by Scanning Unnatural Protease Resistance (SUPR) mRNA Display, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Lin Y, Millward S, Gammon S, Satani N, Hammoudi N, Gray JP, Kelderhouse L, Ornelas A, Schroeder H, Muller F. Rhodamine Esters as Fluorescent Tumor Painting Agents for Glioblastoma, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Kelderhouse, LE, Hardy A, Pisaneschi F, Gray JP, Gammon S, Roberts RW, Takahashi TT, Fiacco S, Millward SW. SUPR-PET: Nuclear Imaging of Her2-positive Breast Cancer with SUPR Peptides, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Millward S, Fiacco S, Kelderhouse L, Hardy A, Peleg Y, Hu B, Ornelas A, Yang P, Gammon S, Howell S, Wang P, Takahashi T, Roberts R. Directed Evolution of Molecular Imaging Agents, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Kelderhouse LE, Hardy A, Takahashi TT, Ornelas A, Gammon S, Howell SM, Jalali-Yazdi F, Hu B, Yang P, Wang P, Roberts RW, Fiacco S, Millward SW. SUPR Peptides as Novel Targeted Molecular Imaging Agents for Her2, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Kelderhouse LE, Hardy A, Pan Y, Rhea P, Ornelas A, Gammon S, Yang P, Fiacco S, Millward SW. In vitro and in vivo imaging of Her2 with cyclic peptides derived from directed evolution, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- McCullough C, Zacharias N, Ornelas A, Lu Z, Wang Y, Mao W, Bhattacharya P, Bast RC, Millward SW. Metabolic Analysis of ARHI-Induced Autophagy by 1H-NMR, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Deyel KM, Hee YQ, Millward SW, Heath JR. Use of Iterative in situ Click Chemistry to develop a capture agent Specific for a Transforming Point Mutation in the Pleckstrin Homology Domain of Akt1, 2013. e-Pub 2013.
- Millward SW, Lu Z, Najjar A, Ornelas A, Bast RC, Tong WP. Cell Permeable Probes for Targeted Molecular Imaging of Cell Death, 2013. e-Pub 2013.
- So JC, Rodriguez LG, Tong W, Millward SW. Design of Fluorescent Probes to Image Protease Activity in Cancer, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Millward SW, Henning R, Kwong GA, Pitram S, Agnew HD, Deyle KM, Nag A, Hein J, Lee S, Lim J, Pfeilsticker J, Sharpless KB, Heath JR. Branched Peptide Inhibitors of Akt1, 2011. e-Pub 2011.
- Millward SW, Henning R, Kwong GA, Pitram S, Agnew HD, Deyle KM, Nag A, Hein J, Lee S, Lim J, Pfeilsticker J, Sharpless KB, Heath JR. Branched, Inhibitory Capture Agents for Akt1, 2011. e-Pub 2011.
- Agnew HD, Rohde RD, Millward SW, Nag A, Butler KM, Das S, Yeo W, Hein JR, Pitram SM, Tariq AA, Burns VM, Krom RJ, Lee S, Lim J, Cha J, Tan S, Yeo SY, Zheng Y, Fokin VV, Sharpless KB, Heath JR. Protein-Catalyzed Formation of Multi-ligand Capture Agents for in vitro Diagnostics, 2009. e-Pub 2009.
Book Chapters
Patents
- Capture Agents and Related Compositions, Methods and Systems. Patent Number: U.S. Patent 8,906,830.
- Capture Agents and Related Compositions, Methods and Systems. Patent Number: U.S. Patent 9188584.
- Millward SW, Fiacco S, Pisaneschi F, Piwnica-Worms, D. Azide Scavenger Resin. Patent Number: 62/456169.
- Takahashi, TT, Roberts, RW, Kamalinia, G, Engel, BJ, |Millward, SW||. Peptide Ligands Binding PD-L1. Patent Number: 63/017,360.
- Akt-specific Capture Agents, Compositions, and Methods of Using and Making. Patent Number: US Patent 9239332.
- Gray J, Millward S. Macrocyclic Peptides for Targeted Inhibition of Autophagy. Patent Number: 62/799,388.
- Akt-specific Capture Agents, Compositions, and Methods of Using and Making. Patent Number: US Patent 10,221,214.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 02, 2026