Prof. Daniel A. Heller
Professor of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, USA
Profile
ACADEMIC HOST
Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences
Saul J. Farber Distinguished Lectures in Medicine
Academic Year 2026/2027
Education
- B.A. in History, Rice University, Houston, Texas (2000)
- Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010)
- Postdoctoral Fellow in Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010–2012)
Professional Experience
- Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University (2022–present)
- Professor, Physiology, Biophysics & Systems Biology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University (2022–present)
- Co-Director, The Pat and Ian Cook Doctoral Program in Cancer Engineering, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2023–present)
- Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2022–present)
- Graduate Field Faculty, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University (2021–present)
- Faculty Member, Center for Molecular Imaging & Nanotechnology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2012–present)
- Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University (2018–2022)
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University (2012–2018)
- Damon Runyon Fellow, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010–2012)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010)
- Researcher, Visigen Biotechnologies, Houston, Texas (2002–2003)
- Visiting Scientist, Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University (2002–2003)
Research
- Cancer nanomedicine and targeted drug delivery
- Nanotechnology and chemical biology
- Carbon nanotube-based nanosensors and imaging
- Molecular imaging and detection of cancer biomarkers
- Nanomedicine for cancer and kidney diseases
- Development of nanoscale platforms for precision medicine
Faculty
Medicine
Framework of visit
Distinguished LecturesPeriod of visit
2026-2027Selected Publications
- “Nanosensor-Based Monitoring of Autophagy-Associated Lysosomal Acidification In Vivo,” Nature Chemical Biology (2023)
- “P-selectin-targeted nanocarriers induce active crossing of the blood-brain barrier via caveolin-1-dependent transcytosis,” Nature Materials (2022)
- “Detection of ovarian cancer via the spectral fingerprinting of quantum-defect-modified carbon nanotubes in serum by machine learning,” Nature Biomedical Engineering (2022)
- “A Perception-Based Machine-Perception Nanosensor Platform to Detect Cancer Biomarkers,” Science Advances (2021)
- “Targeted Drug Delivery Strategies for Precision Medicines,” Nature Reviews Materials (2021)
- “Harnessing Nanotechnology to Expand the Toolbox of Chemical Biology,” Nature Chemical Biology (2021)
- “Tumor-specific PI3K inhibition via nanoparticle delivery in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,” Nature Communications (2017)
- “P-selectin is a Nanotherapeutic Delivery Target to the Tumor Microenvironment,” Science Translational Medicine (2016)
- “Nanomedicines for Kidney Diseases,” Kidney International (2016)
- “Mesoscale Nanoparticles Selectively Target the Renal Proximal Tubule Epithelium,” Nano Letters (2015)
