Arthur S. Polans, PhD
Position title: Professor Emeritus, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Email: aspolans@wisc.edu
Education
BA 1976, UC Berkeley
PhD 1980, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Postdoctoral Fellowship 1980-83, UC Berkeley
Research Associate 1983-86, Yale School of Medicine
Research Interests
Dr. Polans’ research focused on uveal melanoma, the primary malignancy originating in the eye. Cancer is a multistage process impacting on a large number of genes and their related cellular pathways. Recent advances in both biochemical and molecular methods make it possible to study the pathways which endow tumor cells with properties related to their malignant and metastatic phenotypes. Such studies can provide significant information about the course of the disease and about effective treatments.
Dr. Polans’ laboratory was especially interested in angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels develop to support the growing malignancy. These same neovascular processes arise in other diseases of the eye such as exudative age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retionpathy. The lab studied new chemotherapeutic and anti-angiogenic agents and established the use of these novel agents in pre-clinical and clinical trials. These studies of an ocular tumor are leading to improved treatments of other types of cancer including neuroblastoma and breast cancer as well as the prevention and treatment of other neovascular diseases of the eye.
Publications
PubMed Listing of Publications