Biography of Associate Professor James Russo (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

James E. Russo was born in Gary, Indiana. His undergraduate studies were at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, where he earned a B.A. in Chemistry (Magna Cum Laude) in 1984. He completed his Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University, in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. He taught one year at Franklin and Marshall College before joining the Whitman faculty in 1989, and presently shares a joint appointment with his wife Ruth in the Chemistry Department. The Russo's have three children. Jim's teaching duties this year include courses in General Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research involves biochemical approaches to pharmacologic questions with current investigations on: 1. The identification and characterization of reversible inhibitors of mouse and human class I aldehyde dehydrogenase as potential therapeutic agents. 2. The identification of estradiol metabolites and the cytochrome p450 enzymes in rainbow trout liver microsomes responsible for these oxidations

Curriculum Vitae

Education

            1980-1984        B.A. with Honors,   Chemistry                              

                                    Illinois Wesleyan University     Bloomington, IL

            1984-1988        Ph.D., Dept. of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences

                                    The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Teaching Experience

            1988-1989        Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry

                                    Franklin and Marshall College     Lancaster, PA

            1989-1995        Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Whitman College

            1995-current     Associate Professor of Chemistry, Whitman College

            Courses:           General Chemistry lecture & laboratory

                                    Biochemistry lecture & laboratory (protein biochemistry)

                                    Special topics in Biochemistry:   Biology of Cancer

                                                                                       Infectious Diseases

Research Interests        

Administrative Duties

                                    Chair, Premedical Advisory Committee and Health Professions Advisor

                                    Director, Interdisciplinary major program in

                                    Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (BBMB)

Awards / Grants

 Recent Invited Talks and Presentations

 Title: The Enzymology of Retinoic Acid Biosynthesis:   Insights into the Regulation of Hematopoiesis

Author:   J Russo

Invited plenary lecture   at the Bioactivation and Toxicology Symposium of the Northwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Seattle, June 2001.

Title:   Modulation of retinoid metabolism and human leukemic cell differentiation by CYP and ALDH inhibitors

Authors: J Russo, D Kirstein, F Murray, and B Stater

Presented at: American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/EB meeting   April 2005.

Title: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (BBMB):   An expanded major program in the molecular life sciences at Whitman College

Authors: J E Russo and D M Vernon

Presented at: American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/EB meeting   April 2005.

Research or Review Articles in Professional Journals and Texts

Russo JE, Hauquitz D, and Hilton J.   Inhibition of mouse cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase by 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde.   Biochemical Pharmacology .   37:1639-1642, 1988.

Russo JE and Hilton J.   Characterization of Cytosolic Aldehyde Dehydrogenase from Cyclophosphamide Resistant L1210 Cells.   Cancer Research . 48:2963-2968, 1988.

Colvin, M., Russo, J.E., Hilton, J., Dulik, D.M., and Fenselau, C.   Enzymatic Mechanisms of Resistance to Alkylating Agents in Tumor Cells and Normal Tissues. In, Advances in Enzyme Regulation , George Weber, Editor.   27:211-221, 1988.

Russo JE , Hilton J, and Colvin OM.   The Role of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Isozymes in Cellular Resistance to the Alkylating Agent Cyclophosphamide.   In, Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism 2 , 65-79, 1989.

Kastan MB, Schlaffer E. Russo JE, Colvin OM, Civin CI, and Hilton J.   Direct Demonstration of Elevated Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells.   Blood . 75:1947-1950, 1990.

Russo JE and Russo RN.   Demonstration of DNA Strand Breakage Induced by Ultraviolet Light: An Experiment to Show Molecular Events in Carcinogenesis.   J.Chemical Education   70:330-332 , 1993.

Russo J, Chung S * , Contreras K * , Lian B, Lorenz J * , Stevens D * , and Trousdell W * . Identification of 4-(N,N-dipropylamino)benzaldehyde as a potent, reversible inhibitor of mouse and human class I aldehyde dehydrogenase.   Biochemical Pharmacology     50:399-406, 1995.

Russo J.   Inhibition of mouse and human class I aldehyde dehydrogenase   by 4-(N,N-dialkylamino)benzaldehyde compounds. In Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism 6, H. Weiner, ed.   Plenum Press, pp. 217-224, 1997.

Russo,   J. and Russo, R. 'Chemical Carcinogens' in   Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Chemistry, J.J. Lagowski, ed., Macmillan Press, pp. 339-342, 1997.

Russo J, Barnes A * , Berger K * , Desgrosellier J * , Henderson J * , Kanters A * , Merkov L. 4-(N,N-dipropylamino)benzaldehyde inhibits the oxidation of all-trans retinal to all-trans retinoic acid by ALDH1A1, but not the differentiation of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells exposed to all-trans retinal .   BMC Pharmacol 2:4, 2002 ( www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2210/2/4 )

*   indicates Whitman students supported by grants from Research Corporation, HHMI, Keck, Murdock, and Rall programs