Rachael Mooney, Ph.D.

626-256-4673
Rachael Mooney, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Other Languages Spoken
Spanish
Academic Appointments
  • Assistant Research Professor, Department of Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine

Rachael Mooney received her Ph.D. from University of Colorado at Boulder. Her graduate studies focused on improving cell therapy for neurodegenerative disease applications using materials-based systems to improve post-transplantation survival of neural stem cells (NSCs). She joined the laboratory of Karen Aboody, M.D., at City of Hope to complete her postdoctoral training, where she developed a strategy to improve the tumor-selective distribution of chemotherapeutics. The idea involved using Dr. Aboody’s tumor-tropic NSC line to localize drug-loaded nanoparticles at tumors, avoiding off-target deposition. She has since led two clinically relevant projects that use NSCs to improve the delivery of an oncolytic virus: 1) generating preclinical data that resulted in Food and Drug Administration approval for multiple-round, intracranial administration of this treatment for glioma patients (IND # 19532); and 2) generating IND-enabling dose regimen data needed to translate this treatment to ovarian cancer patients by 2024.

Location

Education & Experience

Degrees
  • 2009, Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
Professional Experience
  • 2010-2022, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Stem and Developmental Biology, City of Hope, Duarte, California

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2015, Postdoctoral Travel Award, City of Hope

  • 2013-2015, Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Fellowship, City of Hope

  • 2014, World Stem Cell Summit Poster Presentation Award, World Stem Cell Summit

  • 2010-2013, CIRM Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, City of Hope

  • 2008 and 2009, Lois Karns Graduate Student Award, CU Boulder

  • 2008-2009, AmeriCorps Educational Service Award, CU Boulder

  • 2008, Student Annual Research Symposium Excellence Award, CU Boulder

  • 2007-2008, Engineering Excellence Fund Award, CU Boulder

  • 2008, United Government of Grad Students Academic Travel Grant, CU Boulder

  • 2008, Careers in the Common Good Scholarship, AmeriCorps

  • 2005, Top 10 Young Investigators Award nominee, Wound Healing Society

  • 2004, Glenn T. Seaborg Science Nobel Travel Award nominee, Cal. Lutheran

  • 2004, Presidential Scholarship & Lutheran Brotherhood Scholarship, Cal. Lutheran

Memberships

  • American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)

  • International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)

  • Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS) Member

  • Americor UCAN Serve Member

Publications

  • Batalla-Covello J, Ngai H, Flores L, McDonald M, Hyde C, Gonzaga J, Hammad M, Gutova M, Portnow J, Synold T, Curiel D, Lesniak M, Aboody K, Mooney R. Multiple treatment cycles of neural stem cell delivered oncolytic adenovirus for the treatment of glioblastoma. Cancers. 13; 6320 (2021). PMID: 34944938
  • Bianchi L, Mooney R, Cornejo Y, Hyde C, Schena E, Berlin J, Aboody K, Saccomandi P. Fiber Bragg grating sensors-based thermometry of gold nanorod-enhanced photothermal therapy in tumor model. IEEE Sensors Journal. 12; 11297-11306. (2021) PMID: 34315306
  • Abidi W, Kang Y, Batalla-Covello J, Ngai HW, Hyde C, Machado D, Abdul Majid A, Hammad M, Flores L, Copeland G, Dellinger TH, Han E, Berlin J, Aboody KS, Mooney R. Allogeneic Human Neural Stem Cells for Improved Therapeutic Delivery to Peritoneal Ovarian Cancer. Stem Cell and Research Therapy. 12; 205 (2021). PMID: 33761999
  • Mooney R, Ngai H, Portnow J, Aboody K. Neural stem cell-mediated brain tumor therapy. Neurotherapeutics in the Era of Translational Medicine. Pg. 161-179 (2021) ISBN: 9780128172742
  • Haber T, Cornejo Y, Aramburo S, Flores L, Cao P, Liu A, Mooney R, Gilchrist M, Tirughana R, Nwokafor U, Abidi W, Han E, Dellinger T, Wakabayashi M, Aboody K, Berlin J. Specific targeting of ovarian tumor-associated macrophages by large, anionic nanoparticles. PNAS. 117 (33), 19737-19745. (2020). PMID: 32732430
  • Hammad M, Cornejo Y, Batalla-Covello J, Abdul Majid A, Burke C, Liu Z, Yuan Y, Li M, Dellinger T, Lu J, Chen N, Fong Y, Aboody K, Mooney R. Neural Stem Cells Improve the Delivery of Oncolytic Chimeric Orthopoxvirus in a Metastatic Ovarian Cancer Model. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics. 18; 326-334 (2020). PMID: 32775617
  • M Hammad, Y Cornejo, L Flores, C Hyde, H Ngai, M Li, T Dellinger, J Lu, N Chen, R Mooney, K Aboody, Y Fong. Novel Chimeric Poxvirus CF17 Improves Survival in a Murine Model of Intraperitoneal Ovarian Cancer Metastasis. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics. 19; 278-282 (2020). PMID: 33251335.
  • Y Cornejo, M Li, T Dellinger, R Mooney, M Rahman, G McFadden, K Aboody, M Hammad. NSCs are permissive to oncolytic Myxoma virus and provide a delivery method for targeted ovarian cancer therapy. Oncotarget. 11; 4693. (2020) PMID: 33473255.
  • Batalla-Covello, Abidi R Mooney, A Majid, J Batalla-Covello, D Machado, X Liu, J Gonzaga, RTirughana, M Hammad, MS Lesniak, DT Curiel, KS Aboody. Enhanced Delivery of Oncolytic Adenovirus by Neural Stem Cells for Treatment of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics. 12; 79-92 (2019). PMID: 30719498
  • Tiet P, Abidi W, Li J, Mooney R, Flores L, Aramburo S, Batalla-Covello J, Berlin J, Aboody KS. Silica Coated Paclitaxel Nanocrystals Enable Neural Stem Cell Loading for Treatment of Ovarian Cancer. Bioconjugate Chemistry. 30 (5), 1415-1424. (2019). PMID:30835443
  • Mooney R, Majid AA, Batalla-Covello J, Machado D, Liu X, Gonzaga J, Tirughana R, Hammad Mohamed, Lesniak M, Curiel D, Aboody K. Enhanced Delivery of Oncolytic Adenovirus by Neural Stem Cells for Treatment of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer. Mol Ther Oncolytics. 12:79–92. (2018). PMID:30719498
  • Mooney R, Hammad M, Batalla-Covello J, Abdul Majid A, Aboody KS. Concise Review: Neural Stem Cell-Mediated Targeted Cancer Therapies. Stem Cells Transl Med. 7(10):740–747. (2018). PMID:30133188
  • Mooney R, Majid AA, Mota D, He A, Aramburo S, Flores L, Covello-Batalla J, Machado D, Gonzaga J, Aboody KS. Bcl-2 Overexpression Improves Survival and Efficacy of Neural Stem Cell-Mediated Enzyme Prodrug Therapy. Stem Cells Int. 7047496 (2018). PMID:30026762.
  • Mooney R, Majid AA, Batalla-Covello J, Annala A, Aboody KS. Cell-mediated enzyme prodrug cancer therapies. Advanced drug delivery reviews. 118, 35-51. (2017). PMID:28916493
  • Cao P, Mooney R, Tirughana R, Abidi W, Aramburo S, Flores L, Gilchrist M, Nwokafor U, Haber T, Tiet P, Annala AJ, Han E, Dellinger T, Aboody KS, Berlin JM. Intraperitoneal administration of neural stem cell-nanoparticle conjugates targets chemotherapy to ovarian tumors. Bioconjugate chemistry 28 (6), 1767-1776 (2017). PMID: 28453256
  • R. Mooney, E. Schena, P. Saccomandi, A. Zhumkhawala, K.S. Aboody. Gold nanorod-mediated near-infrared laser ablation: in vivo experiments on mice and theoretical analysis at different settings. JMB International Journal of Hyperthermia. 33(2):150-159 (2017). PMID:27582347
  • Z. Li, D. Oganesyan, R. Mooney, M. Christensen , D. Shahmanyan, P. M. Perrigue, S. Aramburo, D. Khachatrian , Y. Lu, J. Najbauer, X. Wu, K.S. Aboody, M. Gutova. L-Myc Expression Prolongs Multipotency in Human Neural Stem Cells. Stem Cell reports. 7 (3) 483-495. (2016). PMID:27546534.
  • R. Mooney, L. Roma, D. Zhao, D. Van Haute, E. Garcia, S. U. Kim, A. Annala, K. Aboody, J. Berlin. Neural Stem Cell-Mediated Intratumoral Delivery of Gold Nanorods Improves Photothermal Therapy. ACS nano, 2 (7): 976-982 (2014). PMID:25375246
  • R. Mooney, Y. Weng, E. Garcia, S. Bhojane, L. Smith-Powell, A. Annala, K. Aboody, J. Berlin. Conjugation of pH-responsive nanoparticles to neural stem cells improves intratumoral therapy. Journal of Controlled Release. June, 2014. PMID:24952368
  • R. Mooney, Y. Weng, R. Tirughana, V. Hernandez, S. Aramburo, E. Garcia, Z. Li, M. Gutova, A. Annala, J. Berlin, K. Aboody. Neural stem cells improve intracranial nanoparticle retention and tumor-selective distribution. Future Oncology. Jan 2014. (3) 401-15. PMID: 24559447
  • K. Schnarr, R. Mooney, Y. Weng, A. Annala, K. Aboody, J. Berlin. Gold Nanoparticle-Loaded Neural Stem Cells for Photothermal Ablation of Cancer. Advanced Healthcare Materials. (2)7:976-982. 2013. PMID: 23592703
  • R. Mooney, S. Haeger, R. Lawal, M. Mason, N. Shrestha, A. Laperle, K. Bjugstad, M. Mahoney. Control of Neural Cell Composition in Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogel Culture with Soluble Factors. Tissue Engineering Part A. 17(21-22): 2805-2815 (2011). PMID:21823990
  • R. Mooney, K. Lampe, K. Bjugstad, M. Mahoney. Effect of macromer weight percent on neural cell growth in 2D and 3D nondegradable PEG hydrogel culture. J of Biomed Materials Research. 94(4):1162-71 (2009). PMID: 20694983
  • R. Namba, B.Tawil, M. Mahoney. Specific fibrinogen and thrombin concentrations promote neuronal rather than glial growth when primary neural cells are seeded within plasma-derived fibrin gels. Tissue Engineering (5):1607-19 (2009). PMID:20028220
  • K.Lampe, R. Namba, T. Silverman, K. Bjugstad, M. Mahoney. Impact of Lactic Acid on Neural Stem Cell Function. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Vol. 103 (6) 1214-1223 (2009). PMID:19408314
  • R. Namba, A.Cole, K. Bjugstad, M. Mahoney. Development of porous PEG hydrogels that enable efficient, uniform cell-seeding and permit early neural process extension. Acta Biomaterialia. Vol. 5 (6):1884-97. (2008). PMID: 19250891
  • R. Mooney, C. Costales, E. Freeman, J. Curtin, A. Corrin, J. Lee, S. Reynolds, B. Tawil, M. Shaw. Indentation Micromechanics of three-dimensional Fibrin/Collagen Biomaterial Scaffolds. J of Materials Res Vol.21(8): 2023-34 (2006). Link