Stefan Ochiana, PhD

Research Scholar
The Gabriela Chiosis Lab
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Stefan Ochiana, PhD

Research Scholar
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Stefan Ochiana, PhD

Education

PhD, Organic Chemistry, Northeastern University
BS, Biochemistry, Saint Vincent College

Area(s) of Expertise

Organic and Medicinal Chemistry

Projects

Discovery and development of Hsp90/Grp94 inhibitors and the design and synthesis of chemical probes for the biological evaluation of these targets.

Stefan Ochiana received his PhD in  organic chemistry in 2013 from Northeastern University. He subsequently joined the Chiosis laboratory for his postdoctoral training to gain more experience in hit-to-lead and lead optimization medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. Stefan is currently working on two projects aimed at the discovery and development of orally bioavailable Hsp90/Grp94 drugs for the treatment of cancer. The targeting of molecular chaperones  with small-molecule inhibitors is at the cutting edge of targeted therapies and promises to be a fruitful area of research in the treatment of cancer. The prospect of training in this field bodes well with his career goals.

During his postdoctoral training he expects to add to his current drug discovery background by learning new techniques relating to preclinical drug development, discover and synthesize improved pharmacological agents and validate the mechanisms of actions for these agents with the help of his biology colleagues. Specifically, he is receiving training in computational analyses to aid his synthetic efforts. In addition, during his time in the Chiosis laboratory  he will also be exposed to proper tissue culture technique and the humane use of animals in research, techniques for handling mice and for administrations of drugs by iv, ip and po route. Stefan has already begun his training in establishment of xenografts, drug administration, dose and schedule design, tumor volume measurements and tissue and tumor harvesting, drug evaluation in tumors by LC/MSMS methods, and analysis of pharmacodynamic changes in tumors. His training at Memorial Sloan Kettering will allow him to get a well rounded understanding of cancer research and its application.

 

CURRENT: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-ochiana-phd-928b3b16

https://www.finnegan.com/en/professionals/stefan-o-ochiana-ph-d.html

 

Publications

  1. Zong H, Gozman A, Caldas-Lopes E, Taldone T, Sturgill E, Brennan S, Ochiana SO, Gomes-DaGama EM, Sen S, Rodina A, Koren J, 3rd, Becker MW, Rudin CM, Melnick A, Levine RL, Roboz GJ, Nimer SD, Chiosis G, Guzman ML. A Hyperactive Signalosome in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Drives Addiction to a Tumor-Specific Hsp90 Species. Cell Rep. 2015;13(10):2159-73. PubMed PMID: 26628369; PMCID: PMC4699804.
  2. Patel HJ, Patel PD, Ochiana SO, Yan P, Sun W, Patel MR, Shah SK, Tramentozzi E, Brooks J, Bolaender A, Shrestha L, Stephani R, Finotti P, Leifer C, Li Z, Gewirth DT, Taldone T, Chiosis G. Structure-activity relationship in a purine-scaffold compound series with selectivity for the endoplasmic reticulum Hsp90 paralog Grp94. J Med Chem. 2015;58(9):3922-43. PubMed PMID: 25901531; PMCID: PMC4518544.
  3. Taldone T, Ochiana SO, Patel PD, Chiosis G. Selective targeting of the stress chaperome as a therapeutic strategy. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2014;35(11):592-603. PubMed PMID: 25262919; PMCID: PMC4254259.
  4. Rodina A, Taldone T, Kang Y, Patel PD, Koren J, 3rd, Yan P, DaGama Gomes EM, Yang C, Patel MR, Shrestha L, Ochiana SO, Santarossa C, Maharaj R, Gozman A, Cox MB, Erdjument-Bromage H, Hendrickson RC, Cerchietti L, Melnick A, Guzman ML, Chiosis G. Affinity purification probes of potential use to investigate the endogenous Hsp70 interactome in cancer. ACS Chem Biol. 2014;9(8):1698-705. PubMed PMID: 24934503; PMCID: PMC4134716.
  5. Jhaveri K, Ochiana SO, Dunphy MP, Gerecitano JF, Corben AD, Peter RI, Janjigian YY, Gomes-DaGama EM, Koren J, 3rd, Modi S, Chiosis G. Heat shock protein 90 inhibitors in the treatment of cancer: current status and future directions. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2014;23(5):611-28. PubMed PMID: 24669860; PMCID: PMC4161020.
  6. Taldone T, Patel PD, Patel M, Patel HJ, Evans CE, Rodina A, Ochiana S, Shah SK, Uddin M, Gewirth D, Chiosis G. Experimental and structural testing module to analyze paralogue-specificity and affinity in the Hsp90 inhibitors series. J Med Chem. 2013;56(17):6803-18. PubMed PMID: 23965125; PMCID: PMC3985615.
  7. Kucine N, Marubayashi S, Bhagwat N, Papalexi E, Koppikar P, Sanchez Martin M, Dong L, Tallman MS, Paietta E, Wang K, He J, Lipson D, Stephens P, Miller V, Rowe JM, Teruya-Feldstein J, Mullighan CG, Ferrando AA, Krivtsov A, Armstrong S, Leung L, Ochiana SO, Chiosis G, Levine RL, Kleppe M. Tumor-specific HSP90 inhibition as a therapeutic approach in JAK-mutant acute lymphoblastic leukemias. Blood. 2015;126(22):2479-83. PubMed PMID: 26443624; PMCID: PMC4661170.
  8. Ochiana, S.O.; Taldone, T; Chiosis, G. Designing Drugs against Hsp90 for Cancer Therapy. The Molecular Chaperones Interaction Networks in Protein Folding and Degradation. Springer. 2013. Submitted. 
  9. Woodring, J.L.; Bland, N.D.; Ochiana, S.O.; Campbell, R.K., Pollastri, M.P. Synthesis and assessment of catechol diether compounds as inhibitors of trypanosomal phosphodiesterase B1 (TbrPDEB1). Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2013. 23(21):5971-5974.
  10. Taldone, T.; Patel, D.P; Patel, M.; Patel, H.J.; Evans, C.E.; Rodina, A.; Ochiana, S.; Shah, S.K.; Uddin, M.; Gewirth, D.; Chiosis, G. Experimental and Structural Testing Module to Analyze Paralogue-Specificity and Affinity in the Hsp90 Inhibitors Series. J. Med. Chem. 2013. 56 (17):6803-6818.
  11. Ochiana, S.O.; Pandarinath, V.; Wang, Z.; Kapoor, R.; Ondrechen, M.J.; Ruben, L.; Pollastri, M.P. The Human Aurora kinase inhibitor danusertib is a lead compound for anti-trypanosomal drug discovery via target repurposing. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2012.
  12. Wang, C.; Ashton,  T.D.; Gustafson, A.; Bland, N.D.; Ochiana, S.O.; Campbell, R.K.; Pollastri, M.P. Synthesis and evaluation of human phosphodiesterases (PDE) 5 inhibitor analogs as trypanosomal PDE inhibitors. 1. Sildenafil analogs. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2012, 22, 2579-81
  13. Ochiana, S.O.; Gustafson, A.; Bland, N.D.; Wang, C.; Russo, M.J.; Campbell, R.K.; Pollastri, M.P. Synthesis and evaluation of human phosphodiesterases (PDE) 5 inhibitor analogs as trypanosomal PDE inhibitors. 2. Tadalafil analogs. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2012, 22, 2582-84.
  14. Bland, N. D.; Wang, C.; Tallman, C.; Gustafson, A. E.; Wang, Z.; Ashton, T. D.; Ochiana, S. O.; McAllister, G.; Cotter, K.; Fang, A. P.; Gechijian, G.; Garceau, N.; Gangurde, R.; Ortenberg, R.; Ondrechen, M. J.; Campbell, R. K.; Pollastri, M. P. Pharmacological Validation of Trypanosoma brucei Phosphodiesterases B1 and B2 as Druggable Targets for African Sleeping Sickness. J. Med. Chem. 2011 54, 8188-8194.