Gene L. Bidwell, III
Assistant Professor
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
Ph.D., Biochemistry, 2007, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2007 - 2010, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Contact Information
Department of Neurology
2500 N State St, Room N321-2
Jackson, MS 39216
Phone: 601-984-6787
Email: gbidwell@umc.edu
Research Interests
- Targeted Drug Delivery
- Therapeutic Peptides
- Breast cancer, glioblastoma
Research Synopsis
My research interests include targeted drug delivery, developmental cancer therapeutics, and therapeutic peptides. My graduate work at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) included development of a thermally responsive drug carrier (elastin - like polypeptide, ELP) for targeted delivery of peptides and small molecule drugs. As a postdoctoral fellow at UMMC, I extended my graduate research by applying ELP-delivered therapeutic agents in vivo in various cancer models. Specifically, I tested an ELP-delivered c-Myc inhibitory peptide in mouse models of breast cancer and mouse and rat models of glioblastoma, and I applied ELP technology for delivery of the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin in mouse models of breast and uterine cancer.
My current research interests include developing novel nanoparticle platforms for delivery of peptide, protein, and siRNA - based therapeutics. Peptides and siRNA have great potential as therapeutic agents due to their ease of design and high specificity for their targets. However, their usefulness as drugs is limited by their poor performance in the body, including rapid degradation and poor tumor penetration. We are working to develop carriers for peptide and siRNA drugs that can overcome these limitations and make these agents effective for cancer therapy.
Recent Accomplishments and Honors
2011 Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Era of Hope Conference Distinguished Postdoctoral Poster Award
2010 American Association for Cancer Research - Sanofi-Aventis Scholar-in-training Award
2009 University of Mississippi Medical Center Excellence in Research Award - Bronze Medal
Selected Publications
- Bidwell, G. L. 3rd, Perkins, E., and Raucher, D. A thermally targeted c-Myc inhibitory polypeptide inhibits breast tumor growth. In press. Cancer Letters. 2012.
- Bidwell, G. L. 3rd and Raucher, D. Cell penetrating elastin-like polypeptides for therapeutic peptide delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. May 15, 2010.
- Bidwell, G. L. 3rd, Davis, A.N., and Raucher, D. Targeting a c-Myc Inhibitory Polypeptide to Specific Intracellular Compartments using Cell Penetrating Peptides. J. Control. Release. 135(1):2-10, 2009.
- Bidwell, G. L. 3rd, Fokt, I., Priebe, W., and Raucher, D. Development of Elastin-like polypeptide for thermally-targeted delivery of doxorubicin. Biochem. Pharmacol. 73(5):620-31, 2007.
- Bidwell, G. L. 3rd and Raucher, D. Application of thermally responsive polypeptides directed against c-Myc transcriptional function for cancer therapy. Mol. Cancer Ther, 4: 1076-1085, 2005.
