2005 Individual Investigator Award Recipient — Manish S. Patankar, PhD

Project Summary

CA125 is a well-known marker for monitoring the recurrence and progression of epithelial ovarian cancer. It is now understood that CA125 is a small peptide situated on another molecule known as MUC16. Dr. Patankar’s studies have demonstrated that MUC16 is a potent inhibitor of the human natural killer immune cell responses against tumor targets. In his project, Dr. Patankar will try to show that ovarian tumors specifically express MUC16 to evade immune responses and to demonstrate how MUC16 evades the killing action of the natural killer cells. He also will analyze the role of MUC16 in metastasis in the peritoneum. Findings should help explain why ovarian cancer cells can evade immune cell responses.

Bio

Dr. Manish Patanker is an Associate Professor in the Division of Reproductive Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Patanker grew up in Thane, India, a city that borders Mumbai (Bombay). His wife is a physical therapist at the American Family Children’s Hospital and they have a 7 year old daughter who is in first grade at Glenn Stephens Elementary.

Dr. Patankar graduated from the University of Bombay, India with a B.S. in Chemistry in 1987. Subsequently, he received his Masters of Science in Organic Chemistry from the University of Bombay in 1990, and his Masters of Chemistry from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia in 1993. Dr. Patankar then completed his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Eastern Virginia Medical School/Old Dominion University in 1998.

Dr. Patankar was an instructor and Research Assistant Professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School until 2004 when he joined the department as Assistant Professor and also became a member of the UW Madison Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2010.