Education

Biography

Dr. Rishi obtained MSc in Biochemistry from University College London, UK, and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London, UK. He subsequently trained as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, USA, and later held faculty positions at the Pulmonary Center, Boston University, Boston, and University of Maryland Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr. Rishi is currently a professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Oncology Department of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Dr. Rishi’s research has been supported by the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research and the Merit Review Awards from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Rishi identified and characterized a novel, apoptosis inducing protein termed CARP-1/CCAR1 that regulates apoptosis induced by diverse agents including an apoptogenic retinoid CD437, Adriamycin, Etoposide, but not by chemotherapy agents such as Cisplatin. Dr. Rishi is a course director as well as teaches in Wayne State Graduate Program in Cancer Biology. He serves as a scientific member of the committees for review of grants by the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, the US National Cancer Institute, and National Institutes of Health. In addition to serving as an Academic Editor for PLoS One, Dr. Rishi serves as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals.

Research Interests

• Pathways and molecular mechanisms regulating cell growth/survival and death/apoptosis in cancer cells.
• Biopsies of human breast cancers and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas (NHL) have an inverse correlation of CARP-1 expression with the grades of the tumors, indicating a potential prognostic value and a tumor suppressor property of CARP-1.
• The molecular mechanisms of adriamycin and EGFRs signaling that target CARP-1 and CARP-1 interactions with regulators of cell growth and apoptosis.
• Exploit this knowledge for the development of strategies to inhibit a variety of cancers including the drug-resistant cancers.

Scientific Activities

Teaching Experience

Professional Activities

Honors & Awards

• WSU School of Medicine 2011 College Teaching Award

Publications

1. Rishi, A.K., Zhang, L., Boyanapalli, M., Wali, A., Mohammad, R.M., Yu, Y., Fontana, J.A., Hatfield, J.S., Dawson, M.I., Majumdar, A.P.N., and Reichert, U. Identification and characterization of a Cell-Cycle and Apoptosis Regulatory Protein (CARP)-1 as a novel mediator of apoptosis signaling by retinoid CD437.  J. Biol. Chem. 278, 33422-33435, 2003.
2. Rishi, A.K., Zhang, L., Yu, Y., Jiang, Y., Nautiyal, J., Wali, A., Fontana, J.A., Levi, E., Majumdar, A.P.N. Cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory protein (CARP)-1 is involved in apoptosis signaling by epidermal growth factor receptor. J. Biol. Chem., 281(19):13188-98, 2006.
3. Zhang, L., Levi, E., Majumder, P., Yu, Y., Aboukameel, A., Du, J., Xu, H., Mohammad, R.M., Hatfield, J.S., Wali, A., Adsay, V., Majumdar, A.P.N., and Rishi, A.K. TAT-tagged Cell Cycle and Apoptosis Regulatory Protein (CARP)-1 peptides suppress growth of human breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mol. Cancer Ther. 6(5): 1661-1672, 2007.
4. Zhang, L., Wali, A., Ramana, C.V., Rishi, A.K. Cell growth inhibition by okadaic acid involves gut-enriched kruppel-like factor-mediated enhanced expression of c-Myc. Cancer Research 67 (21): 10198-206, 2007.
5. Puliyappadamba, V.T, Wu, W., Bevis, D., Zhang, L., Polin, L., Kilkuskie, R., Finley Jr., R.L., Larsen, S.D., Levi, E., Miller, F.R., Wali, A., Rishi, A.K.. Antagonists of anaphase promoting complex (APC)-2-cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory protein (CARP)-1 interaction are novel regulators of cell growth and apoptosis. J. Biol. Chem. 286 (44): 38000-38017, 2011.
6. Ashour, A.E., Jamal, S., Cheryan, V.T., Muthu, M., Zoheir, K.M.A., Alafeefy, A.M., Abd-allah, A.R., Levi, E., Tarca, A.L., Polin, L.A., Rishi, A.K. CARP-1 functional mimetics: A novel class of small molecule inhibitors of medulloblastoma cell growth. PLoS One 8: e66733, 2013.
7. Jamal, S., Cheriyan, V.T., Muthu, M., Munie, S., Levi, E., Ashour, A.E., Pass, H.I., Wali, A., Singh, M., and Rishi, A.K. CARP-1 functional mimetics are a novel class of small molecule inhibitors of malignant pleural mesothelioma cells. PLoS One 9 (3): e89146; 2014.
8. Muthu, M., Cheriyan, V.T., Munie, S., Levi, E., Frank, J., Ashour A.E., Singh, M., and Rishi, A.K. Mechanisms of neuroblastoma cell growth inhibition by CARP-1 functional mimetics. PLoS One 9(7): e102567, 2014.
9. Muthu, M., Somagoni, J.M., Cheriyan, V.T., Munie, S., Levi, E., Ashour, A.E., Alafeefy, A.M., Sochacki, P., Polin, L.A., Reddy, K.B., Larsen, S.D., Singh, M., and Rishi, A.K. Identification and testing of novel CARP-1 functional mimetic compounds as inhibitors of non-small cell lung and triple-negative breast cancers. J. Biomed. Nanotechnol. 11: 1608-1627, 2015.
10. Muthu, M., Cheriyan, V.T., Rishi, A.K. CARP-1/CCAR1: A bophasic regulator of cancer cell growth and apoptosis. Oncotarget 6(9): 6499-510, 2015.