Rafal Zielinski, Ph.D.
Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Rafal J Zielinski
Dr. Zielinski's research focuses on the preclinical evaluation of novel therapeutic agents that selectively target DNA and inhibitors of signaling and metabolic pathways critical for tumor development and progression. Dr. Zielinski’s research interest also involves the development of novel targeted drug delivery systems.
Dr. Zielinski developed expertise in preclinical tumor models used for the early determination of drug-candidates efficacy. This involves determining drug toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and tissue-organ distribution of the therapeutics or their metabolites. The spectrum of models used in his research ranges from acute myeloid leukemia, pancreatic, breast sarcoma, ovarian colon, lung, to brain tumors in orthotopic and metastatic settings. Dr. Zielinski routinely uses several in vivo imaging modalities, including optical imaging, PET, CT, MRI, to support efficacy studies
Recently, the results of Dr. Zielinski research were used to support Investigational New Drug Application for the use of Annamycin in combination with Arabinosylcytosine in the treatment of AML patients or use of Annamycin for the treatment of sarcoma patients with lungs metastases
Present Title & Affiliation
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
2006 | Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, POL, PHD, Biology |
2000 | Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, POL, M.Sc, Environmental Protection |
Postgraduate Training
2011-2013 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Houston, TX |
2007-2011 | Visiting Fellowship Award, NIH, CCR, NCI, Radiation Oncology Branch, Molecular Targeting Section, Bethesda, MD |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, 2007 - 2011
Instructor, Department of Molecular Biology, Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, 2001 - 2007
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Research Scientist, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2013 - 2018
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011 - 2013
Visiting Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 2007 - 2011
Graduate Research Assistant, Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, 2000 - 2001
Honors & Awards
2016 | Seahorse Travel Award |
2013 | Award for Basic Scient Investigation Manuscript |
2010 | Fellows and Young Investigators (FYI) Colloquium Travel Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation, Center for Cancer Research (CCR) |
2010 | Fellows Award for Research Excellence, NIH |
2006 | Catholic University President's Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation, Catholic University Lublin |
2005 | Catholic University President's Award for Outstanding Research Activity, Catholic University Lublin |
2002 | Catholic University President's Award for Outstanding Research Activity, Catholic University Lublin |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Olbryt M, Rusin A, Fokt I, Habryka A, Tudrej P, Student S, Sochanik A, Zielinski R, Priebe W. Bis-anthracycline WP760 abrogates melanoma cell growth by transcription inhibition, p53 activation and IGF1R downregulation. Invest New Drugs 35(5):545-555, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28417283.
- Satpathy M, Zielinski R, Lyakhov I, Yang L. Optical imaging of ovarian cancer using HER-2 affibody conjugated nanoparticles. Methods Mol Biol 1219:171-85, 2015. PMID: 25308269.
- Pieczykolan JS, Kubinski K, Maslyk M, Pawlak SD, Pieczykolan A, Rózga PK, Szymanik M, Galazka M, Teska-Kaminska M, Zerek B, Bukato K, Poleszak K, Jaworski A, Strozek W, Swider R, Zielinski R. AD-O53.2--a novel recombinant fusion protein combining the activities of TRAIL/Apo2L and Smac/Diablo, overcomes resistance of human cancer cells to TRAIL/Apo2L. Invest New Drugs 32(6):1155-66, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25182378.
- Ardeshirpour Y, Hassan M, Zielinski R, Horton J, Capala J, Gandjbakhche AH, Chernomordik V. In vivo assessment of HER2 receptor density in HER2-positive tumors by near-infrared imaging, using repeated injections of the fluorescent probe. Technol Cancer Res Treat 13(5):427-34, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24000992.
- Ardeshirpour Y, Chernomordik V, Hassan M, Zielinski R, Capala J, Gandjbakhche A. In vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging for monitoring the efficacy of the cancer treatment. Clin Cancer Res 20(13):3531-9, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24671949.
- Satpathy M, Wang L, Zielinski R, Qian W, Lipowska M, Capala J, Lee GY, Xu H, Wang YA, Mao H, Yang L. Active targeting using HER-2-affibody-conjugated nanoparticles enabled sensitive and specific imaging of orthotopic HER-2 positive ovarian tumors. Small 10(3):544-55, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24038985.
- Hassan M, Chernomordik V, Zielinski R, Ardeshirpour Y, Capala J, Gandjbakhche A. In vivo method to monitor changes in HER2 expression using near-infrared fluorescence imaging. Mol Imaging 11(3):177-86, 2012. PMID: 22554482.
- Kramer-Marek G, Bernardo M, Kiesewetter DO, Bagci U, Kuban M, Aras O, Omer A, Zielinski R, Seidel J, Choyke P, Capala J. PET of HER2-positive pulmonary metastases with 18F-ZHER2:342 affibody in a murine model of breast cancer: comparison with 18F-FDG. J Nucl Med 53(6):939-46, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22582046.
- Kramer-Marek G, Gijsen M, Kiesewetter DO, Bennett R, Roxanis I, Zielinski R, Kong A, Capala J. Potential of PET to predict the response to trastuzumab treatment in an ErbB2-positive human xenograft tumor model. J Nucl Med 53(4):629-37, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22410461.
- Ardeshirpour Y, Chernomordik V, Zielinski R, Capala J, Griffiths G, Vasalatiy O, Smirnov AV, Knutson JR, Lyakhov I, Achilefu S, Gandjbakhche A, Hassan M. In vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging monitors binding of specific probes to cancer biomarkers. PLoS One 7(2):e31881, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22384092.
- Zielinski R, Hassan M, Lyakhov I, Needle D, Chernomordik V, Garcia-Glaessner A, Ardeshirpour Y, Capala J, Gandjbakhche A. Affibody-DyLight conjugates for in vivo assessment of HER2 expression by near-infrared optical imaging. PLoS One 7(7):e41016, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22911732.
- Ardeshirpour Y, Chernomordik V, Capala J, Hassan M, Zielinsky R, Griffiths G, Achilefu S, Smith P, Gandjbakhche A. Using in-vivo fluorescence imaging in personalized cancer diagnostics and therapy, an image and treat paradigm. Technol Cancer Res Treat 10(6):549-60, 2011. PMID: 22066595.
- Zielinski R, Lyakhov I, Hassan M, Kuban M, Shafer-Weaver K, Gandjbakhche A, Capala J. HER2-affitoxin: a potent therapeutic agent for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing tumors. Clin Cancer Res 17(15):5071-81, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21791637.
- Chernomordik V, Hassan M, Lee SB, Zielinski R, Gandjbakhche A, Capala J. Quantitative analysis of Her2 receptor expression in vivo by near-infrared optical imaging. Mol Imaging 9(4):192-200, 2010. PMID: 20643022.
- Lyakhov I, Zielinski R, Kuban M, Kramer-Marek G, Fisher R, Chertov O, Bindu L, Capala J. HER2- and EGFR-specific affiprobes: novel recombinant optical probes for cell imaging. Chembiochem 11(3):345-50, 2010. PMID: 20052708.
- Zheng J, Zhang D, Przytycki PF, Zielinski R, Capala J, Przytycka TM. SimBoolNet--a Cytoscape plugin for dynamic simulation of signaling networks. Bioinformatics 26(1):141-2, 2010. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19887508.
- Zielinski R, Lyakhov I, Jacobs A, Chertov O, Kramer-Marek G, Francella N, Stephen A, Fisher R, Blumenthal R, Capala J. Affitoxin--a novel recombinant, HER2-specific, anticancer agent for targeted therapy of HER2-positive tumors. J Immunother 32(8):817-25, 2009. PMID: 19752752.
- Zielinski R, Przytycki PF, Zheng J, Zhang D, Przytycka TM, Capala J. The crosstalk between EGF, IGF, and Insulin cell signaling pathways--computational and experimental analysis. BMC Syst Biol 3:88, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19732446.
- Maslyk M, Kochanowicz E, Zielinski R, Kubinski K, Hellman U, Szyszka R. Yeast surviving factor Svf1 as a new interacting partner, regulator and in vitro substrate of protein kinase CK2. Mol Cell Biochem 312(1-2):61-9, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18265947.
- Kubinski K, Domanska K, Sajnaga E, Mazur E, Zielinski R, Szyszka R. Yeast holoenzyme of protein kinase CK2 requires both beta and beta' regulatory subunits for its activity. Mol Cell Biochem 295(1-2):229-36, 2007. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16933028.
- Zielinski R, Hellman U, Kubinski K, Szyszka R. Fip1--an essential component of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae polyadenylation machinery is phosophorylated by protein kinase CK2. Mol Cell Biochem 286(1-2):191-7, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16496213.
- Kubinski K, Zielinski R, Hellman U, Mazur E, Szyszka R. Yeast elf1 factor is phosphorylated and interacts with protein kinase CK2. J Biochem Mol Biol 39(3):311-8, 2006. PMID: 16756761.
- Domanska K, Zielinski R, Kubinski K, Sajnaga E, Maslyk M, Bretner M, Szyszka R. Different properties of four molecular forms of protein kinase CK2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Acta Biochim Pol 52(4):947-51, 2005. e-Pub 2005. PMID: 16265593.
- Abramczyk O, Zien P, Zielinski R, Pilecki M, Hellman U, Szyszka R. The protein kinase 60S is a free catalytic CK2alpha' subunit and forms an inactive complex with superoxide dismutase SOD1. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 307(1):31-40, 2003. PMID: 12849977.
- Zielinski R, Pilecki M, Kubinski K, Zien P, Hellman U, Szyszka R. Inhibition of yeast ribosomal stalk phosphorylation by Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 296(5):1310-6, 2002. PMID: 12207917.
- Zielinski R, Kubinski K, Stefaniak E, Szyszka R. Heavy metals biosorption from aqueous solution by simple eucaryotic organisms. Folia Histochem Cytobiol 39 Suppl 2:154-5, 2001. PMID: 11820583.
Abstracts
- Zielinski R, Tworowska I, Skora S, Rusin A, Venugopal R, Arumugam J, Fokt I, Kang Y, Fleming J, Huang Y, Herpai D, Debinski W, Priebe W.. Targeting IL-13RA2 in melanoma and pancreatic cancer. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. (#1927) 78(13):Supplement, 2018.
- Zielinski R, Fokt I, Felix E, Khuong M, Krasinski M, Venugopal R, Arumugam J, Skora S, Priebe W.. Preclinical evaluation of WP1122, a 2-DG prodrug and inhibitor of glycolysis. Proceedings of the Symposia on Cancer Research 2017 Cancer Metabolism, Houston, TX 10/5/2017, 2017.
- Michel K, Zielinski R, C. Walker, D. Schellingerhout, W. Priebe and J. Bankson. Assessing the Efficacy of a Novel Glycolytic Inhibitor, WP1122, by Non-Invasive In Vivo Hyperpolarized Pyruvate MR Spectroscopy. Proceedings of the Symposia on Cancer Research 2017 Cancer Metabolism, Houston, TX, Houston, TX, 10/5/2017, 2017.
- Fokt I, Skora S, Cybulski M, Zielinski R, Nguyen V, Felix E, Priebe W. Design, synthesis, and evaluation of 2-DG prodrugs and potentially useful in vivo inhibitors of glycolysis. Proceedings of the Symposia on Cancer Research 2017 Cancer Metabolism, Houston, TX, Houston, TX, 10/5/2017, 2017.
- Priebe W, Fokt I, Cybulski M, Conrad C, Madden T, Zielinski R, Rusin A.. Latentiation of 2-Deoxy-D-glucose. European Journal of Cancer. Proceedings: 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Munich, Germany; Nov 29- Dec 2, 2016 68(Supplement 1), 12/2016. e-Pub 12/2016 68:Supplement 1, 2016.
- Zielinski R, Fokt I, Rusin A, Skora S, Priebe W.. 2-Deoxy-2-halo-D-glucose derivatives inhibition of glycolysis in pancreatic cancer. Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA (#50) 76(14 Supplement) (#50). e-Pub 7/2016 76(14):Supplement, 2016.
- Zielinski R, Fokt I, Rusin A, Skora S, Priebe W. 2-Deoxy-2-halo-D-glucose derivatives inhibition of glycolysis in pancreatic cancer. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016, New Orleans, LA, 2016.
- Zielinski R, Skora S, Rusin A, Fokt I, Heimberger A, Sawaya R, Priebe W. Combination of topoisomerase II poison Berubicin with STAT3 inhibitor WP1066 blocks potently tumor growth in GMB models. . Proceedings: 20th Annual Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Scientific Meeting, Nov 19-22, 2015; San Antonio, TX (#0873), 11/2015, 2015.
- Zielinski R, Rusin A, Madden T, Conrad C, Johansen M, Fokt I, Skora S, Jayakumar A, Heimberger A, Priebe W.. Development of orally bioavailable formulation of WP1066 and its evaluation in vivo. Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA; Cancer Res 2015 75(15 suppl) (#4540), 8/2015 75(15):supplement, 2015.
- Jayakumar A, Venugopal R, Zielinski R, Rusin A, Fokt I, Skora S, Ni X, Duvic M, Priebe W.. High sensitivity of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) to CABE, a component of propolis. Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA; Cancer Res 2015 75(15 suppl) (#2096), 8/2015 75(15):supplement, 2015.
- Rusin A, Zielinski R, Fokt I, Nguyen V, Skora S, Jayakumar A, Priebe W. WP760, A new highly potent and selective agent against melanoma including BRAFi resistant melanoma. Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA; Cancer Res 2015 75(suppl 15) (#4473), 8/2015 75(15):supplement, 2015.
- Priebe W, Jayakumar A, Radjendirane V, Fleming J, Rusin A, Zielinski R, Skora S, Kang Y, Fokt I.. Transcriptional control of pancreatic cancer and small molecule modulators of transcription. Proceedings of the EACR-AACR-SIC 2015 Special Conference, 20-23 June 2015; Florence, Italy (#440), 6/2015, 2015.
- Zielinski R, Rusin A, Madden T, Conrad C, Johansen M, Fokt I, Skora S, Jayakumar A, Heimberger A, Priebe W.. Development of orally bioavailable formulation of WP1066 and its evaluation in vivo. Proceedings of the AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015, Philadelphia, PA, 4/2015, 2015.
- Rusin A, Zielinski R, Fokt I, Nguyen V, Skora S, Jayakumar A, Priebe W.. Development of novel therapies against BRAFi resistant melanomas. Proceedings of the GAP 2015 Conference, 14-16 April, 2015; Houston, TX, 4/2015, 2015.
- Zielinski R, Rusin A, Priebe A, Arumugam J, Venugopal R, Skora S, Fokt I, Priebe W.. STAT3/STAT5 blockade by WP1066 inhibits ovarian cancer cell proliferation and induces cell death. Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA 74(21) (#3806), 10/2014. e-Pub 74(21), 2014.
- Jayakumar A, Venugopal R, Fleming J, Kang Y, Rusin A, Zielinski R, Skora S, Fokt I, Priebe W. Status of STAT3, STAT5, and NF-κB in pancreatic cancer cell lines, small molecule inhibitors, and potential clinical implications. Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA 74(21) (#2946), 10/2014. e-Pub 10/2014 74(21), 2014.
- Priebe A, Rusin A, Zielinski R, Priebe W.. Inhibition of STAT3 and STAT5 with WP1066 induces ovarian cancer cell. Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium, 9/2014, 2014.
- Satpathy M, Qian W, Zielinski R, Wang L, Xi L, Capala J, Wang A., Lipowska M, et al. Ultimodality imaging of ovarian cancer using HER2 affibody conjugated nanoparticles. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2011; April 6-10, 2013, Washington DC, 2013.
- Zielinski R., Lyakhov I, Hassan M., Chernomordik V.,Garcia-Glaessner A., Ardeshirpour Y., Gandjbakhche A and Capala J.. Affibody – DyLight™ Conjugate for Optical Imaging of HER2-Expressing Tumors. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2011; April 2-6, 2011, Orlando, FL, 2011.
- Zielinski R., Kuban M., Hassan M., Shafer-Weaver K., Alejandra Garcia-Glaessner and Capala J. Affitoxin – a potent therapeutic agent for treatment of HER2-overexpressing tumors. Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 2010, San Antonio, TX, 2010.
- Zielinski R, Lyakhov I, Kuban M, and Capala J. Affitoxin– A Novel Recombinant, HER2-Specific Anti-Cancer Agent for Targeted Therapy of HER2-Positive Tumors. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2010; April 17-21, 2010, Washington, DC, 2010.
- Lyakhov I, Zielinski R, Kuban M, Kramer-Marek G, Fisher R, Chertov O., Bindu L, Capala J. HER2- and EGFR-specific Affiprobes – Novel Recombinant Optical Probes for Cell Imaging. Proceedings of the World Molecular Imaging Congress, September 23-26, 2009, Montreal, 2009.
- Zielinski R, Przytycki P, Przytycka M, and Capala J. Systemic approach to study the crosstalk between EGF, IGF and Insulin Pathways-computational and experimental analysis. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2008; April 12-16, 2008, San Diego, CA, 2008.
- Przytycki P, Zielinski R, Przytycka T and Capala J.. A Systems Biology Approach to Modeling the Interplay of EGF, IGF, and Insulin Cell Signaling Pathways for Multi-Target Molecular Therapy of Cancer. Proceedings of the NIH Research Festival, September 25-28 2007, Bethesda, MD, 2007.
- Zielinski R, Kubiński K, Sajnaga E, Pilecki, M. & Szyszka, R.. Phosphorylation of proteins Fip1 and Spl2 by yeast protein kinase CK2. Proceedings of the 5th Parnas Conference, Kyiv 2005 Ukrainian Biochem. J. 77: 154, 2005.
- Zielinski R., Dereziński D., Mazur E., Syndyrkiewicz M, Hellman U, and Szyszka R.. Protein kinase CK2 phosphorylates protein engaged in mRNA maturation – Fip 1. Proceedings of the Acta Biochim.Polon. 52, XL Meeting of P.T.Biochem 2005., Lublin, p. 66, 2005.
- Kubiński K, Sajnaga E, Zielinski R, and Szyszka R.. Overexpression and characteristic of protein kinase CK2 subunits from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proceedings of the 29th FEBS Meeting, Warsaw 2004, Poland, Eur. J. Biochem. 271, Supplement 1: 89, P3. 2 – 82 271:Supplement 1:89, P3 2-82, 2004.
- Zielinski R., Pilecki M., Kubiński K., Zień P. & Szyszka R.. Yeast Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase as an inhibitor of ribosomal P proteins phosphorylation. Proceedings of the XXI International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, Gothenburg, Sweden 2003 , Yeast 20 (S1): 9 – 37 20(S1):9-37, 2003.
- Zielinski R, Kubiński K. Stefaniak E, and Szyszka R.. The application of microbial biomass to heavy metal removal from aqueos solutions. Proceedings of the 1st Polish Molecular Biotechnology Conference, Gdańsk; Cell. & Molec. Biol. Lett. Vol. 6 (3A): 771 6(3A):771, 2001.
- Priebe W, Zielinski R, Fokt I, Felix E, Aramugam J, Venugopal R, Khuong M, Krasinski M, Skora S. Design and evaluation of WP1122, an inhibitor of glycolysis with increased CNS uptake. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Meeting and Education Day, New Orleans, LA, November 15-18, 2018.
Grant & Contract Support
Title: | Design and synthesis of small molecule inhibitors of proliferative and survival pathways project extension |
Funding Source: | Moleculin, LLC |
Role: | Co-Investigator |
Title: | Targeting Malignant Gliomas with a Novel Inhibitor of the STAT3 Pathway |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | High-grade Astrocytoma-specific Molecular Targeting |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | Targeted Radionuclide Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | Highly Innovated Targeted Therapy on Melanoma |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | Maximizing Local Access to Therapeutic Deliveries in Glioblastoma |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | Pancreatic cancer-specific therapies targeting receptor IL-13RA2 |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Research Scientist |
Title: | Discovery and Development of Novel Anticancer Agents Targeting CNS malignancies |
Funding Source: | CNS Pharmaceuticals |
Role: | Co-Investigator |
Title: | Design and synthesis of small molecule inhibitors of proliferative and survival pathways |
Funding Source: | Moleculin, LLC |
Role: | Co-Investigator |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified April 17, 2024