David McCormick Professor of Biology Senior Vice President and Director, IIT Research Institute
	B.A.:	Middlebury College
	Ph.D.:	New York University
	Office:	IITRI LSR 1A1-1
	Phone:	312.567.4972       Fax:  312.567.4021
	e-mail:	dmccormick@iitri.org

Professional Interests

My research program is focused on the preclinical development of drugs, natural products, and hormonal manipulations for the prevention and therapy of cancer. Studies are conducted in animal models for cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, oral cavity, skin, urinary bladder, and hematopoietic system, as well as in preclinical models for drug safety assessment. Work involves a broad range of cancer chemopreventive agents, which include

• natural and synthetic analogs of vitamin A (retinoids), currently focusing on ligands for the Retinoid X Receptor (RXR)
• inhibitors of the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways of arachidonic acid metabolism, currently focusing on inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
• hormones and antihormones
• natural products, including soy isoflavones and polyphenols isolated from green tea.

Our laboratory has also played a significant role in optimizing site-specific animal models for studies of cancer prevention. This work has included characterization of dose- and time-response relationships for neoplastic development, modification of carcinogen exposure regimens to optimize organ-specific cancer induction, and studies of molecular mechanisms and biomarkers of carcinogenesis.

We have long-standing collaborations in the fields of cancer prevention and therapy with scientists at the National Cancer Institute and several academic institutions. Current research support includes 3 research contracts from the National Cancer Institute and 1 research contract from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Research in areas other than cancer prevention and therapy includes studies to evaluate the possible health effects of non-ionizing radiation (radiofrequency [cell phone] and 60 Hz [power frequency] magnetic fields), preclinical safety assessments of novel therapeutics, and studies in the general area of environmental toxicology.

Representative Publications

• "Subchronic toxicity and toxicogenomic evaluation of tamoxifen citrate + bexarotene in female rats". Toxicol. Sci., 99: 612-627, 2007. T. L. Horn, K. E. O. Torres, J. M. Naylor, M. J. Cwik, C. J. Detrisac, I. M. Kapetanovic, R. A. Lubet, J. A. Crowell, and D. L. McCormick.
  
  
• "Chemoprevention of rat prostate carcinogenesis by 16alpha-fluoro-5-androsten-17-one (fluasterone), a minimally androgenic analog of dehydroepiandrosterone". Carcinogenesis, 28: 398-403, 2007. D. L. McCormick, W. D. Johnson, N. M. Kozub, K. V. N. Rao, R. A. Lubet, V. E. Steele, and M. C. Bosland.
  
  
• "Oncogenicity Evaluations of Chemopreventive Soy Components in p53^(+/-) (p53 knockout) Mice". Int. J. Toxicol., 25: 219-228, 2006. W. D. Johnson, L. Dooley, R. L. Morrissey, L. Arp, I. Kapetanovic, J. A. Crowell, and D. L. McCormick.
  
  
• "Evaluation of the Toxicity and Potential Oncogenicity of ELF Magnetic Fields in Experimental Animal Model Systems. In: B. Greenebaum and F. Barnes (eds.), Handbook of Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, 3rd Edition. CRC Press, pp. 21-52, 2006.
  
  
• "Animal Models for the Study of Childhood Leukemia: Considerations for Model Identification and Optimization to Identify Potential Risk Factors". Int. J. Toxicol., 23: 149-161, 2004. D. L. McCormick and R. Kavet. [Winner of the 2004 "Best Paper" Award from the American College of Toxicology]
  
  

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