Ralph Mason, Ph.D.

Download Curriculum Vitae

Dr Mason is Director of the Cancer Imaging Program at UT Southwestern with over 20 years experience in cancer imaging, therapy, and tumor pathophysiology. He is Professor of radiology and member of the SimmonsComprehensiveCancerCenter. He serves on four graduate programs including Radiological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and Cancer Biology. Dr. Mason and his research team have been supported for many years by NCI, DOD breast and prostate cancer initiatives and various foundations including The American Cancer Society, The Whitaker Foundation, and The Mary Kay Ash Foundation. Dr Mason’s primary research interest is prognostic radiology- developing and implementing methods for predicting optimal cancer therapy and assessing early response to treatment. Current investigations focus on oxygen sensitive MRI in human breast, prostate, cervical, lung, and prostate cancer. He is a recognized expert in the development of novel ¹⁹F NMR reporter strategies. Recent pre-clinical innovations include dynamic bioluminescent imaging related to vascular disputing agents and in vivo chemiluminescent imaging. Ongoing projects focus on novel gene reporter molecules, novel vascular disrupting agents and novel drug efficacy and assessment of pathophysiology of tumor response to therapy.

 

 

Undergraduate	Cambridge University - England (1983), Chemistry
Graduate School	Cambridge University - England (1986)

• Application of imaging methods to tumor development and response to therapy; development of NMR reporter molecules as probes of physiology and gene transfection; detoxification of xenobiotica; MR miscroscopy and tissue microstructure.
• Bioluminescent imaging
• gene therapy
• NMR- MRI
• Oxygen

Featured Publications

Oxygenation in cervical cancer and normal uterine cervix assessed using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI at 3T.

Hallac RR, Ding Y, Yuan Q, McColl RW, Lea J, Sims RD, Weatherall PT, Mason RP NMR Biomed 2012 Dec 25 12 1321-30

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for prediction of breast cancer chemotherapy response: A pilot study.

Jiang L, Weatherall PT, McColl RW, Tripathy D, Mason RP J Magn Reson Imaging 2012 Nov

Comparison of optical and power Doppler ultrasound imaging for non-invasive evaluation of arsenic trioxide as a vascular disrupting agent in tumors.

Alhasan MK, Liu L, Lewis MA, Magnusson J, Mason RP PLoS ONE 2012 7 9 e46106

A perspective on vascular disrupting agents that interact with tubulin: preclinical tumor imaging and biological assessment.

Mason RP, Zhao D, Liu L, Trawick ML, Pinney KG Integr Biol (Camb) 2011 Apr 3 4 375-87

Comparison of 1H blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) and 19F MRI to investigate tumor oxygenation.

Zhao D, Jiang L, Hahn EW, Mason RP Magn Reson Med 2009 Aug 62 2 357-64

Antivascular effects of combretastatin A4 phosphate in breast cancer xenograft assessed using dynamic bioluminescence imaging and confirmed by MRI.

Zhao D, Richer E, Antich PP, Mason RP FASEB J. 2008 Jul 22 7 2445-51

Correlation of radiation response with tumor oxygenation in the Dunning prostate R3327-AT1 tumor.

Bourke VA, Zhao D, Gilio J, Chang CH, Jiang L, Hahn EW, Mason RP Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2007 Mar 67 4 1179-86

Tumor physiologic response to combretastatin A4 phosphate assessed by MRI.

Zhao D, Jiang L, Hahn EW, Mason RP Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2005 Jul 62 3 872-80

6-Trifluoromethylpyridoxine: novel (19)F NMR pH indicator for in vivo detection.

Yu JX, Cui W, Bourke VA, Mason RP J. Med. Chem. 2012 Aug 55 15 6814-21

Dual (19)F/(1)H MR Gene Reporter Molecules for in Vivo Detection of ß-Galactosidase.

Yu JX, Kodibagkar VD, Hallac RR, Liu L, Mason RP Bioconjug. Chem. 2012 Mar 23 3 596-603

Featured Books

Non-Invasive Physiology and Pharmacology Using 19F Magnetic Resonance. In FLOURINE AND HEALTH

J.X. Yu, W. Cui, D. Zhao, and R. P. Mason (May 2008). Elsevier B.V.

• Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry
  FRSC (2012)
• CSci
  chartered scientist designation of the Science Council (2004)
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Award
  American Heart Association (Texas Affiliate) (1993)
• Young Investigator Award at 5th International Society of Blood Substitutes Meeting
  Presentation: “Tumor oxygen tension: Measurement using OxygentTM as a 19F NMR probe at 4.7 T (1993)
• CChem
  Chartered Chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1987)

• American Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (2011)
• Imaging in Medicine (2009)
• Letters in Drug Design & Discovery (2005)
• American Association for Cancer Research (1993)
• International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (1990)
• Royal Society of Chemistry (1987)