Robert A. Orlando, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Health Sciences Center
The University of New Mexico
Dr. Orlando has disclosed five inventions to STC, received one UNM-affiliated issued U. S. patent, has one pending patent application for his therapeutic curcumin derivatives technology, and one license agreement with EMD Millipore Corporation for his polyclonal antibodies.
Dr. Orlando’s technologies include a novel hepatic receptor that serves as the primary clearance receptor for atherogenic lipoproteins; a tissue serine protease inhibitor associated with human breast cancer progression, suggesting a new tissue marker for breast cancer staging; a curcumin-based analog that prevents peptide aggregation leading to Alzheimer’s disease pathologies; numerous natural products with anti-inflammatory properties; a natural product with potent anti-inflammatory properties that is capable of preventing tissue pathologies of inflammatory bowel disease; and most recently, discovery of a novel cellular cross-talk communication event in obese adipose tissue that may be responsible for the chronic inflammatory status associated with obesity-dependent type II diabetes mellitus and atherogenic cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Orlando’s polyclonal antibodies technology has focused on generating novel reagents that are useful for the study of atherogenic cardiovascular disease. Uniquely reactive antibodies have been made to low density lipoprotein receptor family members, as well as proteoglycans that participate in lipoprotein clearance and metabolism, such as syndecan-1. These antibodies have been very useful for identification of alternative clearance pathways for atherogenic lipoproteins.
Non-traditional or alternative medicine is becoming an increasingly attractive approach for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders. Among these alternatives approaches is the use of food derivatives, which have the advantage of being relatively nontoxic. Curcumin has been reported to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-cancer properties. Curcumin is a nonnutritive, nontoxic polyphenol natural product found in turmeric, a spice that has been used for centuries in India and elsewhere as an herbal medicinal treatment of wounds, jaundice, and rheumatoid arthritis. The large consumption of curcumin by the Indian population may help explain their relatively low (4 times less) incidence of Alzheimer’s disease compared to the U.S. population. Consequently, there has been extensive interest in the anti-oxidant properties of curcumin and the possibility of using it as therapeutic drugs in modern medicine.
Dr. Orlando’s curcumin technology are methods for administering a therapeutically effective amount of curcumin derivatives to treat diseases. These methods are useful for treating any disease or condition characterized by inflammation, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes), cancer or a precancerous condition, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, atherosclerosis and stroke.
Dr. Orlando’s research is focused on obesity-dependent inflammation, lipid metabolism in obesity, and natural product drug discovery to identify novel therapeutic anti-inflammatory agents.
ISSUED U. S. PATENTS (UNM-AFFILIATED)
8,841,326, Therapeutic Curcumin Derivatives, issued September 23, 2014
PENDING PATENT APPLICATIONS
Therapeutic Curcumin Derivatives