Marina D'Angelo

Dr. D’Angelo has served as Course Director for the Cellular Anatomy portion of SPOM in the DO curriculum since 2005 and participant in the Histology course for the M.S. in Biomedical sciences since 2001. In addition, Dr. D’Angelo participates in the Gross Anatomy courses for the MS in Biomedical Sciences, the Physician Assistants program and the PhD in Physical Therapy program from Widener University. Her responsibilities include organization and presentation of lectures in a team-taught program and assistance of the students in the laboratory portion of the courses.

Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, ProteaPex Therapeutics, LLC

ProteaPex Therapeutics, LLC has developed an innovative disease modifying therapeutic technology to treat post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). This new class of therapeutic, Extracellular Matrix Protection Factor™ (ECPF) is a novel, safe and effective intra-joint injection that reduces the pain and damage caused by PTOA. According to the World Health Organization, over 10% of the world’s population aged 60 or older has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA), with 80% of the population aged 65 and older exhibiting radiographic evidence of OA. Unfortunately, the current standard of care is directed at later stages of the disease with the only attainable goal being relief from pain and improvement of joint function. A critical research goal for our group is the development of disease modifying OA drugs (DMOADs) that would target the early stages of OA. The company is currently focused on developing therapeutics for the veterinary market and has a broad base of products for treatment of orthopedic, dental and wound healing in both the veterinary and human markets. The co-founders of ProteaPex Therapeutics have over 30 years combined experience in the fields of skeletal biology, osteoarthritis and peptide design. In April 2014, ProteaPex Therapeutics was issued a patent on the "Compositions and Methods for Inhibition of MMP13:MMP-Substrate Interactions” by the US Patent Office.

Matrix Metalloprotease Production in the Dentin/Resin Hybrid Layer:

Bacterial and enzymatic degradation of adhesive bonding agents at adhesive/tooth interfaces compromises the long-term inhibition of bacterial leakage and prevention of secondary caries around composite resin restorations. It can be expected that blocking enzymatic degradation at the interface coupled with the elimination of invading bacteria will prolong the life expectancy of resin restorations. However, conclusive clinical evidence for a relationship between gap formation following enzymatic degradation and bacterial involvement at resin/tooth interfaces does not exist. The overarching hypothesis of the project is that endogenous MMPs, released and activated by adhesive procedures, hydrolyse collagen fibrils at resin/dentin interfaces compromising bond durability. In order to test this hypothesis, we must first demonstrate that endogenous MMPs can be measured in the dentin from the cavity wall of a single tooth, and which MMPs are the major players to be inhibited clinically.