Publications

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Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

Citation Statistics.

  1. Medina JA, Ledezma DK, Ghofrani J, Chen J, Chin SJ, Balakrishnan PB, Lee NH, Sweeney EE, Fernandes R. "Photothermal therapy co-localized with CD137 agonism improves survival in an SM1 melanoma model without hepatotoxicity," Nanomedicine 2024, 1-16, doi: 10.1080/17435889.2024.2389770.

  2. Sweeney EE, Sekhri P, Muniraj N, Chen J, Feng S, Terao J, Chin SJ, Schmidt DS, Bollard CM, Cruz CRY, Fernandes R. "Photothermal Prussian blue nanoparticles generate potent multi-targeted tumor-specific T cells as an adoptive cell therapy," Bioengineering & Translational Medicine 2023, doi: 10.1002/btm2.10639.

  3. Ghofrani J, Bowen A, Chen J, Balakrishnan PB, Powell AB, Cherukula K, Cruz CRY, Jones RB, Lynch RM, Sweeney EE, Fernandes R. "Nanodepots Encapsulating a Latency Reversing Agent and Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Enhance Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxicity Against an in vitro Model of Latent HIV," International Journal of Nanomedicine 2023, 18, 4055, doi: 10.2147/IJN.S401304.

  4. Sweeney EE*, Sekhri P*, Telaraja D, Chen J, Chin SJ, Chiappinelli KB, Sanchez CE, Bollard CM, Cruz CRY, Fernandes R.  "Engineered tumor-specific T cells using immunostimulatory photothermal nanoparticles," Cytotherapy 2023 25(7), 718, doi: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2023.03.014.

  5. Balakrishnan PB, Holmberg CA, Ledezma DK, Bosque A, Fernandes R. "PolyIC-coated Prussian blue nanoparticles as a dual-mode HIV latency reversing agent," Nanomedicine 2022, 17(29):2159-2171. doi: 10.2217/nnm-2022-0311.

  6. Bonan NF*, Ledezma DK*, Tovar MA*, Balakrishnan PB*, Fernandes R. "Anti-Fn14-Conjugated Prussian Blue Nanoparticles as a Targeted Photothermal Therapy Agent for Glioblastoma," Nanomaterials 2022, 12(15), 2645, doi: 10.3390/nano12152645.

  7. Ledezma DK, Balakrishnan PB, Shukla A, Medina JA, Chen J, Oakley E, Bollard CM, Shafirstein G, Miscuglio M, Fernandes R. "Interstitial Photothermal Therapy Generates DurableTreatment Responses in Neuroblastoma," Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2022, doi: 10.1002/adhm.202201084.

  8. Sekhri P, Ledezma DK, Shukla A, Sweeney EE*, Fernandes R*. "The Thermal Dose of Photothermal Therapy Generates Differential Immunogenicity in Human Neuroblastoma Cells," Cancers, 2022, doi: 10.3390/cancers14061447.

  9. Balakrishnan PB, Ledezma DK, Cano-Mejia J, Andricovich J, Palmer E, Patel VA, Latham PS, Yvon ES, Villagra A, Fernandes R*, Sweeney EE*. "CD137 agonist potentiates the abscopal efficacy of nanoparticle-based photothermal therapy for melanoma," Nano Research, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s12274-021-3813-1.
  10. Shukla A, Cano-Mejia J, Andricovich J, Burga RA, Sweeney EE, Fernandes R. "An Engineered Prussian Blue Nanoparticles‐Based Nanoimmunotherapy Elicits Robust and Persistent Immunological Memory in a TH‐MYCN Neuroblastoma Model," Advanced NanoBiomed Research, 2100021, 2021.
  11. Balakrishnan PB, Sweeney EE, Ramanujam AS, Fernandes R. "Photothermal therapies to improve immune checkpoint blockade for cancer," International Journal of Hyperthermia, Vol. 37, No. 3, 34-39, 2020.
  12. Cano-Mejia J, Shukla A, Ledezma DK, Palmer E, Villagra A, Fernandes R. "CpG-coated Prussian blue nanoparticles-based photothermal therapy combined with anti-CTLA-4 immune checkpoint blockade triggers a robust abscopal effect against neuroblastoma," Translational Oncology, Vol. 13, No. 10, 100823, 2020.
  13. Banik D, Noonepalle S, Hadley M, Palmer E, Gracia-Hernandez M, Zevallos-Delgado Christina, Manhas N, Simonyan H, Young C, Popratiloff A, Chiappinell KB, Fernandes R, Sotomayor EM, Villagra A. "HDAC6 Plays a Noncanonical Role in the Regulation of Antitumor Immune Responses, Dissemination, and Invasiveness of Breast Cancer," Cancer Research, Vol. 80, No. 17, 3649-3662, 2020. 
  14. Bowen A, Sweeney EE, and Fernandes R. "Nanoparticle-based Immunoengineered Approaches for Combating HIV," Frontiers in Immunology, Vol. 11, 789, 2020.
  15. Sweeney EE*, Balakrishnan PB*, Powell AB, Bowen A, Sarabia I, Burga RA, Jones RB, Bosque A, Cruz CRY, and Fernandes R. "PLGA nanodepots co-encapsulating prostratin and anti-CD25 enhance primary natural killer cell antiviral and antitumor function," Nano Research, Vol. 13, 736-744,  2020. 
  16. Ledezma DK, Balakrishnan PB, Cano-Mejia J, Sweeney EE, Hadley M, Bollard CM, Villagra A, and Fernandes R. "Indocyanine Green-Nexturastat A-PLGA Nanoparticles Combine Photothermal and Epigenetic Therapy for Melanoma," Nanomaterials, Vol. 10, No. 161, 2020.
  17. Burga RA, Yvon E, Chorvinsky E, Fernandes R, Cruz CR and Bollard C. "Engineering the TGFβ receptor to Enhance the Therapeutic Potential of Natural Killer Cells as an Immunotherapy for Neuroblastoma," Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 25, No. 14, 4400-4412, 2019.
  18. Burga RA, Khan DA, Agrawal N, Bollard CM and Fernandes R. "Designing magnetically responsive biohybrids composed of cord blood-derived natural killer cells and iron oxide nanoparticles," Bioconjugate Chemistry, Vol. 30, No. 3, 552-560, 2019.
  19. Cano-Mejia J, Bookstaver ML, Sweeney EE, Jewell CM and Fernandes R. "Prussian blue nanoparticles-based antigenicity and adjuvanticity trigger robust antitumor immune responses against neuroblastoma," Biomaterials Science, Vol .7, 1875-1887, 2019.
  20. Sweeney EE*, Cano-Mejia J* and Fernandes R. "Photothermal therapy generates a thermal window of immunogenic cell death in neuroblastoma, " Small, Vol. 14, No. 20, 1800678, 2018.
  21. Kale SS, Burga RA, Sweeney EE, Zun Z, Sze RW, Tuesca A, Subramony JA, Fernandes R. "Composite iron oxide–Prussian blue nanoparticles for magnetically guided T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and photothermal therapy of tumors," International Journal of Nanomedicine, Vol. 12, 6413-6424, 2017. 
  22. Yvon ES, Burga R, Powell A, Cruz CR, Fernandes R, Barese C, Nguyen T, Abdel-Baki MS and Bollard CM. "Cord blood natural killer cells expressing a dominant negative TGF-β receptor: Implications for adoptive immunotherapy for glioblastoma," Cytotherapy, Vol. 19, No. 3,  408-418, 2017.
  23. Cano-Mejia J, Burga RA, Sweeney EE, Fisher JP, Bollard CM, Sandler AD, Cruz CRY and Fernandes R. “Prussian blue nanoparticle-based photothermal therapy combined with checkpoint inhibition for photothermal immunotherapy of neuroblastoma,” Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 2, 771-781, 2017.
  24. Sweeney EE, Burga RA, Li C, Zhu Y and Fernandes R. “Photothermal therapy improves the efficacy of a MEK inhibitor in neurofibromatosis type 1-associated malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors,” Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, No. 37035, 2016.
  25. Burga RA, Nguyen T, Zulovich J, Madonna S, Ylisastigui L, Fernandes R, Yvon E. "Improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy by genetic modification of natural killer cells," Cytotherapy, Vol. 18, No. 11, 1410-1421, 2016.
  26. Burga RA, Patel S, Bollard CM, Cruz CRY and Fernandes R. "Conjugating Prussian blue nanoparticles onto antigen-specific T cells as a combined nanoimmunotherapy," Nanomedicine, Vol. 11, No. 14,  1759-1767, 2016. 
  27. Kuo C-Y, Eranki A, Placone J, Rhodes K, Aranda-Espinoza H, Fernandes R, Fisher JP and Kim P. "Development of a 3D Printed, Bioengineered Placenta Model to Evaluate the Role of Trophoblast Migration in Preeclampsia," ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 10, 1817-1826, 2016.
  28. Vojtech JM, Cano-Mejia J, Dumont MF, Sze RW and Fernandes R. "Biofunctionalized Prussian blue nanoparticles for multimodal molecular imaging applications," Journal of Visualized Experiments, Vol. 1, No. 98, e52621, 2015.
  29. Hoffman HA, Chakrabarti L, Dumont MF, Sandler AD and Fernandes R. “Prussian blue nanoparticles for laser-induced photothermal therapy of tumors,” RSC Advances, Vol. 4, No. 56, 29729-29734, 2014.
  30. Dumont MF, Yadavilli S, Sze RW, Nazarian J and Fernandes R. “Manganese-containing Prussian blue nanoparticles for imaging of pediatric brain tumors,” International Journal of Nanomedicine, Vol.9, No. 1, 2581-2595, 2014.
  31. Dumont MF, Hoffman HA, Yoon PRS, Conklin LS, Saha SR, Paglione J, Swe RW and Fernandes R. “Biofunctionalized Gadolinium-Containing Prussian Blue Nanoparticles as Multimodal Molecular Imaging Agents,” Bioconjugate Chemistry, Vol. 25, No. 1, 129-137, 2014.
  32. Jamal M, Kadam SS, Xiao R, Jivan F, Onn TM, Fernandes R, Nguyen TD and Gracias DH. “Bio-origami hydrogel scaffolds comprised of photocrosslinked PEG bilayers,” Advanced Healthcare Materials, Vol. 2, No. 8, 1142-1150, 2013.
  33. Gupta A, Terrell JL, Fernandes R, Dowling MB, Payne GF, Raghavan SR and Bentley WE. ““Sense and Respond” Activity to Chitosan-Alginate Capsules To Manipulate Bacterial Quorum Sensing,” Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Vol. 110, No. 2, 552-562, 2013.
  34. Fernandes R and Gracias DH. “Self-folding polymeric containers for encapsulation and delivery of drugs,” Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Vol. 64, No. 14, 1579-1589, 2012.
  35. Fernandes R, Zuniga M, Sassine FR, Karakoy M and Gracias DH. “Enabling cargo-carrying bacteria via surface attachment and triggered release,” Small, Vol. 7, No. 5, 588-592, 2011. 
  36. Azam A, Laflin KE, Jamal M, Fernandes R and Gracias DH. “Self-folding micropatterned polymeric containers,” Biomedical Microdevices, Vol. 13, No. 1, 51-58, 2011.
  37. Hebert CG, Gupta A, Fernandes R, Tsao CY, Valdes JJ and Bentley WE. “Biological nanofactories target and activate epithelial cell surfaces for modulating bacterial quorum sensing and interspecies signaling,” ACS Nano, Vol. 4, No. 11, 6923-6931, 2010.
  38. James T, Cho J-H, Fernandes R, Randhawa JS and Gracias DH. “A one-step etching method to produce gold nanoparticle coated silicon microwells and microchannels,” Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 398, No. 7-8, 2949-2954, 2010.
  39. Fernandes R, Luo XL, Tsao C, Payne GF, Ghodssi R, Rubloff GW and Bentley WE. “Biological nanofactories facilitate spatially selective capture and manipulation of quorum sensing bacteria in a bioMEMS device,” Lab on a Chip, Vol. 10, No. 9, 1128-1143, 2010 (Featured on the inside front cover). 
  40. Roy V, Fernandes R, Tsao C and Bentley WE. “Cross species quorum quenching using a native AI-2 processing enzyme,” ACS Chemical Biology, Vol. 5, No. 2, 223-232, 2010.
  41. Fernandes R, Roy V, Wu HC and Bentley WE. “Engineered biological nanofactories trigger quorum sensing response in targeted bacteria,” Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, No. 3, 213-217, 2010.
  42. Fernandes R and Gracias DH. “Toward a miniaturized mechanical surgeon,” Materials Today, Vol. 12, No. 10, 14-20, 2009.
  43. Koev ST, Fernandes R, Bentley WE and Ghodssi R. “A cantilever sensor with integrated optical readout for detection of enzymatically produced homocysteine,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Vol. 3, No. 6, 415-423, 2009.
  44. Wu HC, Shi XW, Tsao C, Lewandowski AT, Fernandes R, Hung CW, DeShong P, Kobatake E, Valdes JJ, Payne GF and Bentley WE. “Biofabrication of antibodies and antigens via IgG-binding domain engineered with activatable pro-tag,” Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Vol. 103, No. 2, 231-240, 2009.
  45. Fernandes R and Bentley WE. “AI-2 biosynthesis module in a magnetic nanofactory alters bacterial response via localized synthesis and delivery,” Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Vol. 102, No. 2, 390-399, 2009.
  46. Fernandes R, Tsao CY, Hashimoto Y, Wang L, Wood TK, Payne GF and Bentley WE. “Magnetic nanofactories: localized synthesis and delivery of quorum-sensing signaling molecule autoinducer-2 to bacterial cell surfaces,” Metabolic Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 2, 228-239, 2007. 
  47. Fernandes R, Yi HM, Wu LQ, Rubloff GW, Ghodssi R, Bentley WE and Payne GF. “Thermo-biolithography: a technique for patterning nucleic acids and proteins,” Langmuir, Vol. 20, No. 3, 906-913, 2004.
  48. Fernandes R, Wu LQ, Chen TH, Yi HM, Rubloff GW, Ghodssi R, Bentley WE and Payne GF. “Electrochemically induced deposition of a polysaccharide hydrogel onto a patterned surface,” Langmuir, Vol. 19, No. 10, 4058-4062, 2003.

* indicates equal contribution

Refereed Conference Proceedings

  1. Fernandes R, James T, Zuniga MC, Li H, Ngan S and Gracias DH. "Assembling backpacking bacteria for diagnostics and therapeutics," 15th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (MicroTAS), Seattle, WA, 2011.
  2. Koev ST, Fernandes R, Bentley WE and Ghodssi R. "A microcantilever sensor with integrated optical readout for antimicrobial drug discovery," 15th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems, Denver, CO, 2009. 

Patents and Applications

  1. Fernandes R, Sweeney, Balakrishnan PB, Medina J. "Method for treating checkpoint inhibitor-resistant cancer using Prussian blue nanoparticle-based photothermal therapy combined with immunecell stimulating agonistic agents." Patent pending (application date 2021).
  2. Sweeney EE, Fernandes R, Cruz CRY, Sekhri P, Balakrishnan PB, Tovar MA. "Nanoparticle-mediated immune cell manufacture and applications thereof." Patent pending (application date 2021).
  3. Fernandes R, Balakrishnan PB, Ramanujam AS, Bosque A, Sarabia I, Stover C. "Prussian Blue Nanoparticles functionalization with latency reversing agents and broadly neutralizing antibodies, and applications thereof." Patent pending (application date 2020).
  4. Fernandes R, Sweeney EE, Cano-Mejia J. "Prussian blue nanoparticles functionalized with immune signals and applications thereof." Patent pending, US Patent App. 20200114005A1.
  5. Azizian M, Kim, P, Krieger A, Leonard S, Shademan A, Decker R, Opfermann J, Dumont M, Uebele N, Carrol L, Walter R, Fernandes R. "Dual-mode imaging system for tracking and control during medical procedures." Patent pending, US Patent App. US20190282307A1.
  6. Fernandes R, Sze RW, Cruz CRY, Sandler AD, Bollard CM, Sweeney EE, Cano-Mejia J, Burga RA, Dumont MF. "Functionalized prussian blue nanopartices, combination prussian blue nanoparticle-based nano-immunotheraphy and applications thereof." Patent pending, US Patent App. US2020163899A1.
  7. Fernandes R, Dumont MF, Sze RW, Conklin LS, Jaiswal JK, Hoffman HA. "Prussian blue-inspired constructs for multimodal imaging and therapy. " US Patent 9,987,378.
  8. Fernandes R, Dumont MF, Sze RW, Conklin LS, Jaiswal JK, Hoffman HA. "Prussian blue-inspired constructs for multimodal imaging and therapy. " US Patent 9,561,183.
  9. Payne GF, Wu LQ, Ghodssi R, Bentley WE, Rubloff GW, Yi HM, Fernandes R, Chen TH, Small DA. "Controlled electrochemical deposition of polysaccharide films and hydrogels and materials formed therefrom." US Patent 7,883,615
  10. Payne GF, Rubloff GW, Yi HM, Fernandes R, Wu LQ, Ghodssi R, Bentley WE. "Biolithographical deposition and materials and devices formed therefrom." US Patent 7,820,227.