e-mail-rbraun@med.wayne.edu

Education:
1984, B.S., Chemical Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN
1986, M.S., Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
1992, Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Training:
1986-1987, DAAD Scholarship Fellow (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), Physiologisches Institut, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany
1993-1996, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
1996 - 1998, Research Associate, Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Professional and Faculty Appointments:
1998 - 2001, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
2001 - 2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy/Cell Biology and Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
2007 - present, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy/Cell Biology and Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detriot, MI

Major Research Interests:
-Biological mass transport, especially in retina and tumors
-Treatment of choroidal melanoma
-Tumor oxygenation and blood flow
-Ocular oxygenation and blood flow
-Tumor drug delivery

Current Research:
The major focus of this laboratory is the study of blood flow and oxygen transport in tumors and in the eye. Techniques used in the laboratory include intravital microscopy, i.e., microscopy of tissues in living anesthetized animals, measurement of blood flow with laser Doppler flowmetry, measurement of tissue oxygen levels using oxygen microelectrodes, and imaging of tumors with high frequency ultrasound.

One of our currently funded research projects involves the use of high-frequency ultrasound to monitor the growth of choroidal melanoma noninvasively in an animal model. Choroidal melanoma is a solid eye tumor arising from pigmented cells of the choroid, which is the dense network of blood vessels at the back of the eye. More than 1500 cases are diagnosed annually in the United States, making it the most common ocular tumor among the adult population. Depending on the tumor cell type and the size of the tumor, mortality five years after diagnosis ranges from 35 to 90%. Despite the deadliness of this disease, the optimal treatment of this tumor is still under debate. Current standard therapies typically result in patient vision loss. We believe that current therapies can be optimized and new therapies can be developed to improve control of the tumor, while sparing patient vision. In this work, we are using a recently developed, hand-held ultrasound device to noninvasively track the growth of human choroidal melanomas growing in the eyes of immuno-compromised rats. The ability to measure tumor growth in the same animal before and after treatment will allow us to better design and optimize new treatment strategies for choroidal melanoma.

In a second project, we are investigating drugs that can inhibit the use of oxygen in breast tumors. Tumor cells that exist in areas where the oxygen levels are low are not killed as easily by radiation. To improve the efficacy of radiotherapy, we are trying to develop new methods to increase oxygen levels within the tumor. One way to accomplish this is to decrease the amount of oxygen that the tumor uses. We are currently investigating drugs that can selectively inhibit mitochondria in breast cancer with the goal of increasing tumor oxygen levels and tumor radiosensitivity.

Selected Publications:

1.	BRAUN RD, Gradianu M, Vistisen KS, Roberts RL, Berkowitz BA: Manganese-enhanced MRI of human choroidal melanoma xenografts. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48(3): 963-7, 2007. Medline
2.	BRAUN RD, Beatty AL: Modeling of oxygen transport across tumor multicellular layers. Microvasc Res. 73(2):113-23, 2007. Medline
3.	Lanzen J, BRAUN RD, Klitzman B, Brizel D, Secomb TW, Dewhirst MW: Direct demonstration of instabilities in oxygen concentrations within the extravascular compartment of an experimental tumor. Cancer Research 66: 2219-2223, 2006. Medline
4.	BRAUN RD, Abbas A: Orthotopic human choroidal melanoma xenografts in nude rats with aggressive and nonaggressive PAS staining patterns. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 47: 7-16, 2006. Medline
5.	BRAUN RD, Abbas A, Bukhari SO, Wilson W, III: Hemodynamic parameters in blood vessels in choroidal melanoma xenografts and rat choroid. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 43: 3045-3052, 2002. Medline
6.	Kong G, BRAUN RD, Dewhirst MW: Characterization of the effect of hyperthermia on nanoparticle extravasation from tumor vasculature. Cancer Research 61: 3027-3032, 2001. Medline
7.	BRAUN RD, Lanzen JL, Snyder SA, Dewhirst MW: Comparison of tumor and normal tissue oxygen tension measurements using OxyLite or microelectrodes in rodents. American Journal of Physiology 280: H2533-H2544, 2001. Medline
8.	BRAUN RD, Lanzen JL, Turnage JA, Rosner G, Dewhirst MW: Effects of the interaction between carbogen and nicotinamide on R3230Ac tumor blood flow in Fischer 344 rats. Radiation Research 155, 724–733, 2001. Medline
9.	Kong G, BRAUN RD, Dewhirst MW: Hyperthermia enables tumor-specific nanoparticle delivery: effect of particle size. Cancer Research 60: 4440-4445, 2000. Medline
10.	BRAUN RD, Lanzen JL, Dewhirst MW: Fourier analysis of fluctuations of oxygen tension and blood flow in R3230Ac tumors and muscle in rats. American Journal of Physiology 277: H551-H568, 1999. Medline

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