Marites Pasuelo Melancon, Ph.D.
Department of Interventional Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
About Dr. Melancon
Dr. Marites Melancon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Interventional Radiology at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Melancon earned her BS degree in Chemistry from the University of San Carlos (Cebu, Philippines) in 1994 and her MS degree in Chemistry at Ateneo de Manila University (Manila, Philippines) in 2000. She received her PhD in Biomedical Science at The University of Texas-Health Science Center at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Science in December 2007. She then trained in the Department of Imaging Physics as an Odyssey Fellow from 2008-2010 and was promoted to Instructor in 2011. She joined Interventional Radiology in 2012 working on the synthesis, characterization and in vivo evaluation of multimodality and multifunctional nanoparticles for image-guided therapy. She is also currently working on radiopaque absorbable medical devices. Her main goal is to apply the "seek and treat" strategy in the development of targeted imaging/therapeutic agents that will eventually be translated to the clinic to improve the management of cancer through early tumor detection and individualized therapy.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Interventional Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Associate Professor, Division of Graduate School of Biomedical Science, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Nanotechnology, absorbable medical device, drug delivery, image-guided therapy, molecular imaging and ablation therapies
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2007 | The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA, PHD, Biomedical Science |
| 2000 | Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, PHL, MS, Chemistry |
| 1994 | University of San Carlos, Cebu, PHL, BS, Chemistry |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Director, Odyssey and Summer Experience Programs, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2016 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2017 | Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority (CSURM) Fellowship, Gordon Research Conference |
| 2016 | Finalist Robert Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award, MD Anderson Postdoc Association |
| 2016 | Early Career Reviewer, NIH Center for Scientific Review (NOIT) |
| 2015 | Council on Cardiovascular Radiology & Intervention Minority Travel Stipend, American Heart Association |
| 2014 | Balik Scientist Awardee, Department of Science and Technology, Manila, Philippines |
| 2010 | Trainee Excellence Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2010 | Student Travel Award, World Molecular Imaging Congress, Kyoto, Japan |
| 2009 | Odyssey Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2009 | Student Travel Award, World Molecular Imaging Congress, Montreal, Canada |
| 2008 | Student Travel Award, World Molecular Imaging Congress, Nice, France |
| 2000 | Dean’s Award for Best Graduate Research, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines |
| 1997 | Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCASTRD) Scholarship, Philippines |
| 1994 | Cum Laude, University of San Carlos, Cebu Philippines |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Damasco JA, Yu G, Kumar A, Perez J, Lirag RCM, Whitley EM, Lin SH, Melancon MP. Alendronate conjugate for targeted delivery to bone-forming prostate cancer. Talanta 256:124308, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36774896.
- San Valentin EMD, Barcena AJR, Klusman C, Martin B, Melancon MP. Nano-embedded medical devices and delivery systems in interventional radiology. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 15(1):e1841, 2023. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35946543.
- Barcena A, Perez JD, Bernardino MR, Damasco JA, Cortez A, San Valentin E, Del Mundo H, Avritscher R, Fowlkes N, Cheng J, Huang S, Melancon MP. Bioresorbable Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Loaded Electrospun Polymeric Scaffold Inhibits Neointima Hyperplasia in a Rat Model of Arteriovenous Fistula. BioRxiv, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Barcena AJR, Perez JVD, Liu O, Mu A, Heralde FM, Huang SY, Melancon MP. Localized perivascular therapeutic approaches to inhibit venous neointimal hyperplasia in arteriovenous fistula access for hemodialysis use. Biomolecules 12(10):1367, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36291576.
- Rana M, Melancon MP. Emerging Polymer Materials in Trackable Endovascular Embolization and Cell Delivery: From Hype to Hope. Biomimetics Journal 7(2):77, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35735593.
- Damasco JA, Huang SY, Perez JVD, Manongdo JAT, Dixon KA, Williams ML, Jacobsen MC, Barbosa R, Canlas GM, Chintalapani G, Melancon AD, Layman RR, Fowlkes NW, Whitley EM, Melancon MP. Bismuth Nanoparticle and Polyhydroxybutyrate Coatings Enhance the Radiopacity of Absorbable Inferior Vena Cava Filters for Fluoroscopy-Guided Placement and Longitudinal Computed Tomography Monitoring in Pigs. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 8(4):1676-1685, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35343679.
- Vardaki I, Corn P, Gentile E , Song JH, Madan N, Hoang A, Parikh N, Guerra L, Lee Y-C, Lin S-C, Yu G, Santos E, Melancon MP, Troncoso P, Navone N, Gallick GE, Efstathiou E, Subudhi SK, Lin S-H, Logothetis CJ, Panaretakis T. Radium 223 treatment increase immune checkpoint expression in extracellular vesicles from the metastatic prostate cancer bone microenvironment. Clinical Cancer Research 27(11):3253-3264, 2021. PMID: 33753455.
- Rojo RD, Perez JV, Damasco JA, Yu G, Lin S-C, Heralde FM, Santos EB, Lin S-H, and Melancon MP. Combinatorial effect of radium-223 and irreversible electroporation on prostate cancer bone metastasis in mice. International Journal of Hyperthermia 38(1):650-662, 2021. PMID: 33882773.
- Melancon MP, Yevich S, Avritscher R, Swigost A, Lu L, Tian L, Damasco J, Dixon K, Munoz N, Dong L, Liu D, Tam AL. A Novel Lipiodol-Irinotecan Nanoemulsion for Intravascular Administration: Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution in the Normal and Tumor Bearing Rat Liver. Drug Delivery 28(1):240-251, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33501859.
- Hagaman DE, Damasco JA, Perez JD, Rojo RD, Melancon MP. Recent Advances in Nanomedicine for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis. Molecules 26(2):384, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33450939.
- Perez JD, Singhana S, Damasco J, Lu L, Behlau P, Rojo R, Whitley E, Heralde F, Melancon A, Huang S, Melancon MP. Radiopaque scaffolds based on electrospun iodixanol/polycaprolactone nanofibrous composites. Materialia 14:100874, 2020.
- Perez JA, Jacobsen M, Damasco J, Huang S, Melancon A, Layman R, Melancon MP. Optimization of the differentiation and quantification of high Z nanoparticles incorporated in medical devices for CT-guided interventions. Medical Physics 48(1):300-312, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Damasco JA, Ravi S, Perez JD, Hagaman DE, Melancon MP. Understanding Nanoparticle Toxicity to Direct a Safe-by-Design Approach in Cancer Nanomedicine. Nanomaterials (Basel) 10(11), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33147800.
- Huang SY, Damasco JA, Tian L, Lu L, Dixon K, Williams M, Eggers M, Melancon AD, Layman RR, Whitley EM, Melancon MP. In vivo performance of gold nanoparticle-loaded absorbable inferior vena cava filters in a swine model. Biomaterials Science 8:3966-3978, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32558854.
- Sheth RA, Wen X, Li J, Pasuelo MJ, Ji X, Wang A, Hsiao C, Chow D, Whitley E, Li C and Gupta S. Doxorubicin‑loaded hollow gold nanospheres for dual photothermal ablation and chemoembolization therapy. Cancer Nanotechnology 11(6):1635, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Avritscher R, Jo N, Polak U, Cortes AC, Nishiofuku H, Odisio BC, Takaki H, Tam AL, Pasuelo MJ, Yevich S, Qayyum A, Kaseb A, Kichikawa K, Gupta S, Goldberg SN, Chang SH. Hepatic arterial bland embolization increases Th17 cell infiltration in a syngeneic rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 43(2):311-321, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31591689.
- Lin M, Paolillo V, Ta RT, Damasco J, Rojo RD, Carl JC, Melancon MP, Ravizzini GC, Le DB, Santos EB. Fully Automated Preparation of 68Ga-PSMA-11 at Curie Level Quantity Using Cyclotron-Produced 68Ga for Clinical Applications. Appl Radiat Isot 155:108936, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31655351.
- Tian L, Wang L, Qiao Y, Lu L, Lee P, Chang A, Ravi S, Rogers TA, Pasuelo MJ. Antitumor efficacy of liposome-encapsulated NVP-BEZ235 combined with irreversible electroporation for head and neck cancer. Molecules 24(19):3560, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31581445.
- Zhao J, Wen X, Tian L, Li T, Xu C, Wen X, Melancon MP, Gupta S, Shen B, Peng W, Li C. Irreversible electroporation reverses resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in pancreatic cancer. Nat Commun 10(899):1-14, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30796212.
- Tian L, Qiao Y, Lee P, Wang L, Chang A, Ravi S, Rogers TA, Lu L, Singhana B, Zhao J, Melancon MP. Antitumor efficacy of liposome-encapsulated NVP-BEZ 235 in combination with irreversible electroporation. Drug Deliv 25(1):668-678, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29482386.
- Tian L, Lu L, Feng J, Melancon MP. Radiopaque nano and polymeric materials for atherosclerosis imaging, embolisation and other catheterization procedures. Acta Pharm Sin B 8(3):360-370, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29881675.
- Qiao Y, Gumin J, MacLellan CJ, Gao F, Bouchard R, Lang FF, Stafford RJ, Melancon MP. Magnetic resonance and photoacoustic imaging for treatment planning of brain tumor mediated by mesenchymal stem cell-labeled with multifunctional nanoparticle. Nanotechnology 29(16):165101, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29438105.
- Tian L, Lee P, Singhana B, Chen A, Qiao Y, Lu L, Martinez J, Tasciotti E, Jacobsen MC, Melancon A, McArthur M, Eggers M, Huang S, Melancon MP. In vivo imaging of radiopaque resorbable inferior vena cava filter infused with gold nanoparticles. Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE 10576(105762S), 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Cao Q, Yan X, Chen K, Huang Q, Pasuelo MJ, Lopez G, Cheng Z, Li C. Macrophages as a Potential Tumor-Microenvironment Target for Noninvasive Imaging of Early Response to Anticancer Therapy. Biomaterials 152:63-76, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29111494.
- Melancon MP, Appleton Figueira T, Fuentes DT, Tian L, Qiao Y, Gu J, Gagea M, Ensor JE, Muñoz NM, Maldonado KL, Dixon K, McWatters A, Mitchell J, McArthur M, Gupta S, Tam AL. Development of an Electroporation and Nanoparticle-based Therapeutic Platform for Bone Metastases. Radiology 286(1):161721, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28825892.
- Huang SY, Eggers M, McArthur MJ, Dixon KA, McWatters A, Dria S, Hill LR, Melancon MP, Steele JR, Wallace MJ. Safety and Efficacy of an Absorbable Filter in the Inferior Vena Cava to Prevent Pulmonary Embolism in Swine. Radiology 285(3):161880, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28708470.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Targeted Nanoshell-based Agent for MRI-Guided Thermal Ablation of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator - CDA |
| Title: | MRI- Guided Thermal Ablation Mediated by Multifunctional Gold-Based Nanoshells |
| Funding Source: | Odyssey Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Molecular Imaging Strategy for Treatment Planning of Brain Tumor Mediated by Stem Cells Labeled with Multifunctional Nanoparticle |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator - CDA |
| Title: | Developing an electroporation and nanoparticle-based therapeutic platform for bone metastases: evaluation of local delivery strategies to optimize intratumoral nanoparticle uptake |
| Funding Source: | Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Visual and Functional Characterization of Nanopore Formation after Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) in the Porcine Vertebral Body |
| Funding Source: | Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Development of Theranostic Agents for Cancer |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Radiopaque enhancement of absorbable IVC filters mediated by gold nano particles using dual-energy computed tomography |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Radiopaque absorbable inferior vena cava filter for dual-energy computed tomography |
| Funding Source: | American Heart Association |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Nanoparticle-Infused Radiopaque Absorbable Medical Device |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHLBI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Nanoparticle-Infused Radiopaque Absorbable Medical Device |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHLBI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Drug Release and Pharmacokinetic after chemoembolization using Irinotican (IRI)- loaded lipiodol Emulsions and drug eluting beads in a rat tumor model |
| Funding Source: | Guerbet |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Transportal Irinotecan Chemoembolization using a Lipiodol Nano-emulsion (TICL) for the Treatment of Colorectal Liver Metastases in Rat |
| Funding Source: | Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Bone-specific delivery of palovarotene for prostate cancer bone metastasis treatment |
| Funding Source: | MDACC |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Endothelial-to-osteoblast transition in prostate cancer bone metastasis |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Biodegradable Radiopaque Polymeric Scaffolds Loaded with Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Image-Guided Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation and Long-Term Patency |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHLBI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Development of a resorbable radiopaque rosuvastatin-eluting polymer to improve rates of arteriovenous fistula maturation and long-term patency for patients on hemodialysis |
| Funding Source: | Society for Interventional Radiology |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Pilot Project Program Grant |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Nanoparticle-Infused Radiopaque Absorbable Medical Device |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |