H. David Ulmert

23-360B CHS
23-360 CHS (lab)

Lund University, Lund, SWE, M.D., 2006 (Medicine)
Lund University, Lund, SWE, Ph.D., 2007 (Clinical Chemistry)
Helsingborg County Hospital, Helsingborg, SWE, Internship, 2008 (Surgery/Medicine)
Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, SWE, Resident, 2008 (Surgery)
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, NY, Research Fellow, 2014 (Nuclear Medicine)
Sloan Kettering Institute, NY, NY, Senior Research Scientist, 2018 (Pharmacology)

Research Description:

Highly specific Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) and RadioImmunoTherapy (RIT) has previously been limited to targeting of cell surface proteins. I have successfully pioneered technology that enables targeting antigens secreted by luminal tissues, opening a new class of cancer tissue-specific targets including widely used circulating biomarkers. This is a considerable advance over previous implementations of RIT as disease specific secreted antigens are targeted, and radiotherapeutic doses are delivered intracellularly for maximum effect – as close to the nucleus as possible. The technology builds on recent advances in our understanding of neonatal Fc-receptor (FcRn) biology. FcRn selectively traffics IgG1/antigen complexes from the exterior of the cell to lysosome compartments, while unbound IgG1 are released back into the blood circulation. My innovative antibody platform demonstrates exquisite affinity and specificity for androgen receptor (AR) governed enzymes hK2 and PSA, two well-characterized enzymes exclusively expressed in both prostate and AR-positive breast carcinomas. I have, together with my biotech start-up company, successfully humanized, cGMP produced, and tested the hK2-targeting antibody in non-human primates. A phase 1 study has been initiated in collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04116164). I have, in parallel with these laboratory efforts, conducted population- based clinical research studies focused on risk factors and biomarkers related to definitive end-points in non- screened cohorts. I have worked alongside world-renowned experts to author several paradigm-shifting publications on prostate-specific kallikreins and their applications as biomarkers for prostate cancer.

Current Lab Members

• Claire Storey | Graduate Student | cstorey@mednet.ucla.edu