Education:

Postdoctoral Fellow Emory University, 2003-2006
Ph.D. University of Iowa, 2003
M.S. Free University of Brussels, 1993
B.S. University of Nairobi, 1990

Research Interests:

My laboratory’s research interests include in vitro and in vivo animal metastasis models to study Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in breast and prostate cancer and show the importance of the bone and nervous system microenvironment in metastasis. We also study antagonizing EMT with natural products such as muscadine grape skin extract (MSKE) Our work on health disparities also examines EMT marker expression in men and women of African descent. I am the co-Leader of the prostate cancer working group within the African Caribbean Cancer Consortium (AC3) where we collaborate on health disparities research with epidemiologists, pathologists and urologists and other scientists from the US, Caribbean, and Africa. 

As Executive Director for the Center for Health Disparities Research and Innovation, I am the contact PI of the Research Center for Minority Institutions (RCMI) grant funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) with a focus on bridging basic and translational health disparities research across different disciplines.

Most Recent Publications (Total: 44, h-Index: 27, citations: 2712):

• Liza J Burton, Jodi Dougan, Jasmine Jones, Bethany N Smith, Diandra Randle, Veronica Henderson, and Valerie A Odero-Marah. Targeting the Nuclear Cathepsin L- CCAAT-displacement protein/cut homeobox Transcription Factor-Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition Pathway in Prostate and Breast Cancer Cells with Z-FY-CHO Inhibitor. Molecular and Cellular Biology 2017 Feb 15:37 (5). pii: MCB.00297-16. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID:27956696
• Liza J Burton, Veronica Henderson, Latiffa Liburd, and Valerie A Odero-Marah. Snail transcription factor NLS and Importin β1 regulate the subcellular localization of Cathepsin L and Cux1. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Commmunications 2017. Sep 9;491(1):59-64. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.07.039. Epub 2017 Jul 8.
• Hawsawi O, Henderson V, Burton LJ, Dougan J, Nagappan P, Odero-Marah V. High mobility group A2 (HMGA2) promotes EMT via MAPK pathway in prostate cancer. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Commmunications 2018 Sep 26;504(1):196-202. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.08.155. Epub 2018 Sep 1.
• Burton LJ, Hawsawi O, Loyd Q, Henderson V, Howard S, Harlemon M, Ragin C, Roberts R, Bowen N, Gacii A, Odero-Marah V. Association of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition with prostate and breast health disparities. PLoS One. 2018 Sep 10;13(9):e0203855. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203855. 
• Burton LJ, Hawsawi O, Sweeney J, Bowen N, Hudson T, Odero-Marah V. CCAAT-displacement protein/cut homeobox transcription factor (CUX1) represses estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-α) in triple-negative breast cancer cells and can be antagonized by muscadine grape skin extract (MSKE). PLoS One. 2019 Apr 9;14(4):e0214844. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214844. eCollection 2019.
• Veronica M Henderson, Ohuod Hawsawi, Liza J Burton, Taaliah Campbell, Kennedi Trice, Jodi Dougan, Simone M Howard and Valerie A Odero-Marah. Cancer-Bone Microenvironmental Interactions Promotes Stat3 Signaling. Molecular Carcinogenesis. 2019 Aug;58(8):1349-1361.
• Dougan J, Hawsawi O, Burton LJ, Edwards G, Jones K, Zou J, Nagappan P, Wang G, Zhang Q, Danaher A, Bowen N, Hinton C, Odero-Marah VA. Proteomics-Metabolomics Combined Approach Identifies Peroxidasin as a Protector against Metabolic and Oxidative Stress in Prostate Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019 Jun 21;20(12).
• Morán-Santibañez K, Vasquez AH, Varela-Ramirez A, Henderson V, Sweeney J, Odero-Marah V, Fenelon K, Skouta R. Larrea tridentata Extract Mitigates Oxidative Stress-Induced Cytotoxicity in Human Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y Cells. Antioxidants (Basel). 2019 Sep 25;8(10):427. doi: 10.3390/antiox8100427. PMID: 31557847
• Ragin C, Oliver JS, Cabral DN, Harlemon M, Louden D, Morrison-Blidgen BF, Alleyne-Mike K, Ashing K, Butler R, Gathere S, George S, Halliday D, Jackson M, Odero-Marah V, Roach V, Roberts R, Slewion S. African-Caribbean Cancer Consortium Scientific and Training Conference 2017. Curr Oncol. 2019 Dec;26(6):e785-e790. doi: 10.3747/co.26.5305. Epub 2019 Dec 1. PMID: 31896949
• White EZ, Pennant NM, Carter JR, Hawsawi O, Odero-Marah V, Hinton CV. Serum deprivation initiates adaptation and survival to oxidative stress in prostate cancer cells. Sci Rep 2020 Jul 27;10(1):12505. PMID: 32719369
• Edwards G, Campbell T, Henderson V, Danaher A, Wu D, Srinivasan R, Rezvani K, Odero-Marah VA. SNAIL Transctiption factor in prostate cancer cells promotes neurite outgrowth. Biochimie. 2021 Jan;180:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.10.012. Epub 2020 Oct 24
• Sweeney JD, Debeljak M, Riel S, Millena AC, Eshleman JR, Paller CJ, Odero-Marah V. Val16A SOD2 Polymorphism Promotes Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Antagonized by Muscadine Grape Skin Extract in Prostate Cancer Cells. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021 Feb 1;10(2):213. doi: 10.3390/antiox10020213

Link to lab website: http://voderomarah.wix.com/marah-lab-site