Andrew Oleinikov, Ph.D.

Biography

Andrew V. Oleinikov, Ph.D., is Professor of Biomedical Science at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University. He got his M.S. in Engineering Physics in 1983 from St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and his Ph.D. in Biology in 1989 from Moscow State University in Russia. His doctoral and post-doctoral research (1991-1996 at UC Davis) was focused on studies of protein biosynthesis machinery, ribosome. He studied structure/function relationships of the key proteins involved in process of elongation of polypeptide chain. In his second post-doc term at UC Davis, Dr. Oleinikov studied mechanisms of autoimmunity during idiopathic membranous glomerulonephritis using rat model. As the main target for autoimmunity was a giant endocytic receptor megalin, Dr. Oleinikov extended his studies into normal function of this protein after becoming a Research Assistant Professor at UC Davis in 1997. He identified a first intracellular ligand of this protein, Disabled-2 (Dab2) adaptor protein. This was a seminal discovery, which moved Dr. Oleinikov to the hypotheses that megalin is involved in signal transduction through Dab2, and that Dab2 is the link to the endocytotic machinery for megalin. Both hypotheses have been confirmed later in a multitude of works. Dr. Oleinikov currently continues his studies of megalin, which is expressed in various tissues.

In 2000, Dr. Oleinikov moved to Combimatrix Corp. as a Principal Scientist and Group leader, where he headed a lab working on high throughput approaches utilizing semiconductor microchips. He developed several novel technologies including long gene assembly, self-assembling protein arrays, and electrochemical detection of protein-ligand interactions on the surface of biochips. His work on high throughput approaches was supported by NIH grants.

In 2004, Dr. Oleinikov moved to Seattle Biomedical Research Institute as a Principal Scientist, where he used his experience in high throughput approaches for studies of malaria and developed his interest to the highly diverse family of parasite proteins expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes, called PfEMP1. Dr. Oleinikov worked as collaborator on two international consortiums, headed by Dr. Duffy and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, to study children’s severe malaria and development of vaccine against placental malaria. He also obtained several grants from NIH, including R01 funding, to study PfEMP1 proteins as virulence factors and vaccine candidates, and to develop adjunct anti-adhesion therapy against severe malaria.

In 2013, Dr. Oleinikov moved to FAU as an Associate Professor, got his tenure in 2017 and was promoted to full professor in 2019. His current research interests include functions of surface proteins of human parasite Plasmodium falciparum and mechanisms of parasite-host interactions, malaria vaccine candidates, molecular mechanisms of low birth weight in placental malaria, and anti-adhesion drugs. In addition, he works on development of tools and technologies for single cell analysis, tissue-on-a-chip, and high throughput approaches, in collaboration with College of Engineering (Drs. Du and Yi), as well as functional role of a giant endocytic and signaling receptor megalin in placenta. His research is supported by numerous grants from National Institutes of Health. In 2018 he received the FAU Researcher of the Year Award.

In addition to research, Dr. Oleinikov enjoys teaching at FAU. He created a new course “Advanced Molecular and Cell Biology” for graduate students, was nominated for the FAU Teacher of the year by the College of Medicine, and received a FAU Degree of Difference award for teaching in 2015. Dr. Oleinikov mentors a number of graduate and undergraduate students in his lab, many of whom have won awards for their laboratory studies including FAU GRIP grant (J. Libbert), several 1st places at the COM and FAU conferences, and COM Student Research Awards (J. Merritt, V. Goldberg, P. Visitdesotracul).

Education

• 1983: M.S. (hons) in Biophysics, St. Petersburg Polytechnical University, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 1989: Ph.D. in Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

Work History

• 2019-Present: Professor of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
• 2013–2019: Associate Professor of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
• 2004-2013: Principal Scientist, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle, WA
• 2000-2003: Principal Scientist and Group Leader, CombiMatrix Corp., Mukilteo, WA
• 1997-2000: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis
• 1995-1996: Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis
• 1991-1994: Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis 

Scholarly Activity

Research Interest

• Malaria studies with emphasis on mechanisms of sequestration of infected erythrocytes, protective immune response and vaccine development, anti-adhesion drugs.
• High throughput and engineering approaches to advance studies of complex biological systems

Research Support

• "High throughput screening for anti-adhesion drugs against placental and cerebral malaria" NIH R21AI137721
• "Placenta-on-a-Chip Sensing Platform to Study Placental Malaria" NIH 1R21HD092779
• "Highly sensitive isothermal method and instrument for field diagnostics to facilitate malaria eradication" NIH R41AI129130
• "Mechanisms of placental dysfunction in pregnancy malaria" NIH 1R21AI105506
• “Protective Immunity Against Severe Malaria in Young Children” (Consortium grant). Grand Challenges in Global Health/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• “Immunogens for a vaccine that will prevent pregnancy malaria globally” (Consortium grant). Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• “Malaria at the Mother-child Interface” NIH 5D43TW005509
• “High throughput screening for anti-adhesion drugs to treat severe malaria” NIH 1R56AI083668
• “Pathways of Maternal Anemia” NIH 5R01HD058005
• “Identification of vaccine candidates against severe malaria” NIH 1R01AI092120
• “Mechanisms of Interaction between Malaria-infected Erythrocytes and Monocyte/Macrophages and Modulation of Innate Immune Activity” FAU Seed Grant

Publications

• Ghindilis AL, Chesnokov O, Ngasala B, Smith MW, Smith K, Mårtensson A, Oleinikov AV. Detection of sub-microscopic blood levels of Plasmodium falciparum using Tandem Oligonucleotide Repeat Cascade Amplification (TORCA) assay with an attomolar detection limit. (2019) Scientific Reports, V9: 2901
• Liu J, Mosavati B, Oleinikov AV, Du E. – Biosensors for Detection of Human Placental Pathologies: A Review of Emerging Technologies and Current Trends. (2019) Translational Research, pii: S1931-5244 (19), 30096-9
• Chesnokov O, Merritt J, Tcherniuk SO, Milman N, Oleinikov AV – Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes can bind to host receptors integrins aVb3 and aVb6 through DBLd1_D4 domain of PFL2665c PfEMP1 protein. (2018) Scientific Reports, V. 8:17871
• Tcherniuk, S.O., & Oleinikov AV – Pgp efflux pump decreases the cytostatic effect of CENP-E inhibitor GSK923295. (2015) Cancer Letters, 361(1), 97-103.
• Gullingsrud J, Milman N, Saveria T, Chesnokov O, Williamson K, Srivastava A, Gamain B, Duffy PE, Oleinikov AV – High throughput screening platform identifies small molecules that prevent sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. (2015) J. Infect. Diseases V. 211 (7), p. 1134–43
• Gullingsrud J, Saveria T, Amos E, Duffy PE, Oleinikov AV – Structure-function-immunogenicity studies of PfEMP1 domain DBL2beta_PF11_0521, a malaria parasite ligand for ICAM-1. (2013) PLoS One, V. 8(4), p. e61323
• Saveria T, Oleinikov AV, Williamson K, Chaturvedi R, Lograsso J, Keitany G, Fried M, Duffy PE – Antibodies to E.coli expressed C-terminal domains of Plasmodium falciparum VAR2CSA inhibit binding of CSA-adherent parasites to placental tissue. (2013) Infection & Immunity, V.81 (4), p. 1031-1039
• Fried M, Avril M, Chaturvedi R, Fernandez P, Lograsso J, Narum D, Nielsen MA, Oleinikov AV, Salanti A, Saveria T, Williamson K, Dicko A, Scherf A, Smith JD, Theander TG, Duffy PE – Preclinical evaluation of pregnancy malaria vaccine immunogens: a multi-laboratory approach. (2013) Infection & Immunity, 81 (2), p. 487-495
• Oleinikov AV, Voronkova V, Frey TI, Amos E, Morrison R, Fried M, Duffy PE – A survey of naturally acquired antibody responses to 38 PfEMP1 domains in plasma of Tanzanian infants reveals frequent recognition of VAR2CSA. (2012) PLoS One, V. 7, p.e31011
• Oleinikov AV, Amos E, Frey TI, Rossnagle E, Mutabingwa TK, Fried M, Duffy PE – High throughput functional assays of the variant antigen PfEMP1 reveal a single domain in the 3D7 P. falciparum genome that binds ICAM1 with high affinity and is targeted by naturally acquired neutralizing antibodies. (2009) PLoS Pathogens, V. 5, p. e1000386
• Oleinikov AV and Duffy PE. – Thoughts on placental malaria vaccine epitopes — pregnant but premature. Reply to Beeson et al. (2008) J. Infect. Diseases, V. 197, p. 1351-1352
• Oleinikov AV, Francis SE, Dorfman JR , Rossnagle E, Balcaitis S, Getz T, Avril M, Gose S, Smith JD, Fried M, and Duffy PE – VAR2CSA domains expressed in E.coli induce cross-reactive antibodies to native protein. (2008) J. Infect. Diseases, V. 197, p. 1119-1123
• Oleinikov AV and Gray MD – RNA Interference: The Next Gene Targeted Medicine. (2007) in book “Handbook of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology”, p. 1109 – 1148, ed. S.C. Gad, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

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Memberships

• American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 

Awards/Recognitions

• FAU "Researcher of the Year Award" (Associate Professor category), 2018
• FAU “Degree of Difference” Award for teaching graduate students, 2015
• Faculty Research Mentoring Program award, 2015 and 2016