About the Speaker: Dr. Kuppusamy is a tenured Professor at Dartmouth College with expertise in cardiovascular and cancer research. He has a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology and has held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins University and Ohio State University. His work centers on free radicals, oxygen biology, and developing imaging methods for these in biological systems. Dr. Kuppusamy has received awards, including the Silver Medal from the International EPR Society, and has published extensively with over 400 research papers. He holds patents for oxygen concentration determination methods, including the OxyChip, which is in a Phase I clinical trial.
About the Webinar: Dr. Kuppusamy presents the first-in-human study aimed to assess the safety and feasibility of the novel oxygen sensor ‘OxyChip’ for individualized tissue-oxygen assessments in cancer patients. OxyChip, a paramagnetic oxygen sensor embedded in a biocompatible polymer, was implanted in patients with tumors at a minimum depth of 3 cm from the skin surface, scheduled for surgical resection. Oxygen levels were measured using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) oximetry. The procedure was well-tolerated, and histopathological findings indicated no adverse tissue reactions. Baseline tumor oxygen levels varied, with many patients exhibiting significant hypoxia, and hyperoxygenation intervention showed a positive response in most cases. This data underscores the importance of personalized tumor oxygen assessment for optimizing clinical outcomes during hyperoxygenation interventions.