Dr. Baltazar D. Aguda is a multidisciplinary scientist who started his scientific career as a theoretical-physical chemist investigating the nonlinear dynamics of complex biochemical reaction systems, developing methods for predicting interaction network instabilities and the construction of predictive computational models. For the past 16 years, he has focused the applications of his methods to understanding how certain perturbations of gene & molecular interaction networks could lead to cancer. His initial contributions include seminal papers on checkpoints in the mammalian cell cycle [1-3]. He and his co-workers have further published mechanistic models of other cellular processes associated with hallmarks of cancer ([4-8]), and in 2008 his book Models of Cellular Regulation was published by Oxford University Press [9]. Constructing these complex gene regulatory network models has become increasingly possible as high-throughput data-acquisition technologies and omics datasets become available. More recently, Dr. Aguda has authored or co-authored a series of highly-cited papers on microRNAs – as biomarkers of human disease [10-11] and their roles in the regulation of cancer networks [12]. As evidence of the impact of his work, Dr. Aguda has been invited to contribute chapters in books on advances in the field [13-14]. The ultimate goal of Dr. Aguda’s research program is the control of gene & molecular networks that are deregulated during malignant transformation. He advocates the paradigm of network pharmacology that proposes targeting gene networks using combinations of drugs instead of the old one drug-one target strategy (see [15] for his review of the network pharmacology of glioblastoma). At the Philippine Genome Center, one of the projects of his research group is the creation of network modules databases that serve, in association with novel computer algorithms being created by his group, as in silico platforms to aid in combination drug targets & disease biomarkers discovery. Dr. Aguda has held faculty positions in Canada (Laurentian University) and the USA (Boston University School of Medicine), and senior research or visiting faculty positions at Singapore’s Biopolis (Bioinformatics Institute), Ohio State University (Mathematical Biosciences Institute), and the National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health, USA). As part of his services to his scientific community, he has refereed papers for at least 33 international scientific journals, reviewed research grant proposals for at least 9 international granting agencies, organized or co-organized many international conferences. Dr. Aguda has been an invited seminar speaker at Harvard University (USA), Caltech (USA), Weizmann Institute (Israel), University of Cambridge (UK), and Humboldt University (Germany), among many other research-intensive institutions.
Sex: Male
Education
- University of Alberta Canada, Ph.D. in Chemistry, 1986
- University of the Philippines, Los Baños, B.Sc. in Agricultural Chemistry, 1978
Field of Specialization
Systems Biology(Biomedical System Modeling)
Researches
J. L. Voorhees, T. D. Eubank, B. Aguda, C. Marsh, (2011) Chronic psychological stress affects terminal blood cell differentiation
Evaluation and Program Planning Volume 25
C. Nomiyama, S. Medina, M. Kawamura, N. Enderes, E. Moleta, K. Doi, First Grade, A. Quinn, W. Lehano, C. Loo, J. Fujikawa, J. De GraciaB. Aguda, (2010) Counselors
Visone, R., Rassenti, L.Z., Veronese, A., C. Taccioli, C., Costinean, S., Aguda, B.D., Volinia, S., Ferracin, M., Palatini, J., Balatti, V., Alder, H., Negrini, M., (2009) Karyotype- specific microRNA signature in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Blood Volume 114, No. 8
R. Visone, L. Z. Rassenti, A. Veronese, C. Taccioli, S. Costinean, B. D. Aguda, S. Volinia,, (2009) Karyotype-specific microRNA signature in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Blood Volume 114, No. 8
Keng Boon Wee., Uttam Surana., Aguda B, (2009) Oscillations of the p53Akt Network: Implications on Cell Survival Death
Plos One Volume 4, No. 2
V. A. Trabosh, K. A. Divito, B. D. Aguda, C. M. Simbulan-Rosenthal, D. S. Rosenthal, (2009) Sequestration of E12/E47 and suppression of p27KIP1 play a role in Id2-induced proliferation and tumorigenesis
Carcinogenesis Volume 30, No. 7
Melissa Piper Hunter, Noura Ismail, Xiaoli Zhang, Baltazar D. Aguda, Eun Joo Lee, Lianbo Yu, Tao Xiao, Jeffrey Schafer, Mei-Ling Ting Lee, Thomas D. Schmittgen, S. Patrick Nana-Sinkam, David Jarjoura, (2008) Detection of microRNA Expression in Human Peripheral Blood Microvesicles
Plos One Volume 3, No. 11
B. D. Aguda, Y. Kim, M. G. Piper-Hunter, A. Friedman, C. B. Marsh, (2008) MicroRNA regulation of a cancer network: Consequences of the feedback loops involving miR17-92, E2F, and Myc
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Volume 105, No. 50
J.Nam., B.Rath., B.Aguda., S.Agarwal, (2007) 21 Differentiation of Mesenchymal stem cells into chondrocytes in 3D scaffolds - an analysis of biochemical Responses by mathematical models
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Volume 15
Keng Boon Wee., Aguda B, (2006) Akt versus p53 in a Network of Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressor Genes Regulating Cell Survival and Death
Biophysical Journal Volume 91, No. 3
Gheorghe Craciun, Baltazar Aguda, Avner Friedman, (2005) Mathematical Analysis of a Modular Network Coordinating the Cell Cycle and Apoptosis
Baltazar D. Aguda, Christopher K. Algar, (2003) A Structural Analysis of the Qualitative Networks Regulating the Cell Cycle and Apoptosis
Cell Cycle Volume 2, No. 6
Aguda, B.D., Tang, Y., (1999) The Kinetic origins of the restriction point in the mammalian cell cycle
Cell Proliferation Volume 32, No. 5
B. D. Aguda, (1999) A quantitative analysis of the kinetics of the G2 DNA damage checkpoint system
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Volume 96, No. 20
Aguda, B.D., (1999) Instabilities in phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cascades and cell cycle checkpoints
Aguda, B.D., (1999) Kick starting the cell cycle : From growth-factor to initiation of DNA replication
B.D Aguda, () Modeling the Cell Division Cycle
B.D Aguda., Sauro H, () Computer Simulation of MAPK Signal Transduction
B.D Aguda., Wee Kheng Yio.,Felicia Ng, () Control Nodes Linking the Regulatory Networks of the Cell Cycle and Apoptosis
Aguda, B.D., () Models of Cell Regulation : Growth, Proliferation, & Survival
Aguda, B.D., Goryachev, A.B., (2007.) From pathways databases to network models of switching behavior PLoS Comp Biology (PubMed) Volume 3