Isaac Asante, PhD

Isaac Asante, PhD, is a translational scientist who combines expertise from pharmacology, metabolomics/lipidomics, and biomedical engineering to develop novel interventions for inflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions. Dr. Asante has conducted preclinical and clinical development of novel interventions that have had an impact on millions of lives across the world. Early in his research career, he partnered with industry to produce the maiden malaria vaccine. Later, he focused his efforts on using novel biomarkers for cancer and other inflammatory conditions. He researched the role of folate one-carbon metabolism in patients who developed colorectal cancer, reviewed a previously unknown metabolic pathway. Most recently, he used a novel renin-angiotensin system (RAS) metabolomics to probe mechanistic processes that underlie various inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, he was able to develop and validate a lipidomic test that can serve as an accurate “liquid biopsy” of patients with inflammatory and neurodegeneration. These “omics” developments were able to guide intervention development and differentiate various types of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa, and traumatic brain injury. His efforts have spanned from developing interventions for traumatic brain injury to developing novel therapeutics to address ophthalmic regeneration of cornea and preservation of the retina. Dr. Asante also develops biomarkers and models them into predictive algorithms for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic monitoring. Such models have been used in acute respiratory distress syndrome and colorectal cancer. Dr. Asante joined the USC Roski Eye institute in 2020, as an Assistant Professor of Research.

• Dean’s Innovation Award: USC School of Pharmacy, 2017
• American Society for Mass Spectrometry: Travel Grant, 2015
• USC School of Pharmacy: Third Prize Award, 2015
• USC School of Pharmacy: Travel Grant, 2014
• Kintampo Health Research Center: Institutional Research Grant, 2011
• Forum on Microbial Infections: Travel Grant, 2011

• Genome-wide association study for yield and quality of granulated cassava processed product Plant Genome. 2024 Jun; 17(2):e20469. . View in PubMed
• Analysis of Contact Allergens in Polyvinyl Chloride Examination Gloves in the United States Dermatitis. 2024 Mar-Apr; 35(2):160-166. . View in PubMed
• Loss of 15-Lipoxygenase in Retinodegenerative RCS Rats Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 15; 25(4). . View in PubMed
• Hydroxypropyl-Beta Cyclodextrin Barrier Prevents Respiratory Viral Infections: A Preclinical Study Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 08; 25(4). . View in PubMed
• Computational optimization of delivery parameters to guide the development of targeted Nasal spray Sci Rep. 2023 03 12; 13(1):4099. . View in PubMed
• Alterations in Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) Peptide Levels in Patients with HIV Metabolites. 2022 Dec 31; 13(1). . View in PubMed
• Lipidomics in Understanding Pathophysiology and Pharmacologic Effects in Inflammatory Diseases: Considerations for Drug Development Metabolites. 2022 Apr 07; 12(4). . View in PubMed
• Uncovering mechanisms of brain inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease with APOE4: Application of single cell-type lipidomics Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2022 12; 1518(1):84-105. . View in PubMed
• Development of Moderate Intensity Focused Ultrasound (MIFU) for Ocular Drug Delivery BME Front. 2022; 2022:9840678. . View in PubMed
• Prevalence and Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Physical Violence-Related Acquired Brain Injury Among Visitors to Justice Center in New York J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2022 Jan-Feb 01; 37(1):E10-E19. . View in PubMed
• NAP1051, a Lipoxin A4 Biomimetic Analogue, Demonstrates Antitumor Activity Against the Tumor Microenvironment Mol Cancer Ther. 2021 12; 20(12):2384-2397. . View in PubMed
• Genomic and Phenotypic Diversity of Cultivated and Wild Tomatoes with Varying Levels of Heat Tolerance Genes (Basel). 2021 03 29; 12(4). . View in PubMed
• Evaluation of nutritional and phytochemical variability of cowpea Recombinant Inbred Lines under contrasting soil moisture conditions in the Guinea and Sudan Savanna Agro-ecologies Heliyon. 2020 Feb; 6(2):e03406. . View in PubMed
• Genetic Studies on the Inheritance of Storage-Induced Cooking Time in Cowpeas [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp]. Front Plant Sci. 2020; 11:444. . View in PubMed
• Optimizing pollencounter for high throughput phenotyping of pollen quality in tomatoes MethodsX. 2020; 7:100977. . View in PubMed
• Genotype by Environment Interaction on Resistance to Cassava Green Mite Associated Traits and Effects on Yield Performance of Cassava Genotypes in Nigeria Front Plant Sci. 2020; 11:572200. . View in PubMed
• Cyanine Nanocage Activated by Near-IR Light for the Targeted Delivery of Cyclosporine A to Traumatic Brain Injury Sites Mol Pharm. 2020 12 07; 17(12):4499-4509. . View in PubMed
• Genetic diversity and population structure analysis of Ghanaian and exotic cassava accessions using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers Heliyon. 2020 Jan; 6(1):e03154. . View in PubMed
• A latent unknown clustering integrating multi-omics data (LUCID) with phenotypic traits Bioinformatics. 2020 02 01; 36(3):842-850. . View in PubMed
• Cyanine Nanocages Activated by Near-Infrared Light for the Targeted Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury Front Chem. 2020; 8:769. . View in PubMed
• Genome-wide association study of circulating folate one-carbon metabolites Genet Epidemiol. 2019 12; 43(8):1030-1045. . View in PubMed
• Alterations in folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism as colon cell transition from normal to cancerous J Nutr Biochem. 2019 07; 69:1-9. . View in PubMed
• Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Bone Turnover Markers During HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Using Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate-Emtricitabine in Men Who Have Sex with Men AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2019 07; 35(7):608-614. . View in PubMed
• Circulating angiotensin peptides levels in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome correlate with clinical outcomes: A pilot study PLoS One. 2019; 14(3):e0213096. . View in PubMed
• Exploratory metabolomic study to identify blood-based biomarkers as a potential screen for colorectal cancer Mol Omics. 2019 02 11; 15(1):21-29. . View in PubMed
• The effects of land cover change on carbon stock dynamics in a dry Afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia Carbon Balance Manag. 2018 Sep 06; 13(1):14. . View in PubMed
• Simultaneous quantitation of folates, flavins and B6 metabolites in human plasma by LC-MS/MS assay: Applications in colorectal cancer J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2018 Sep 05; 158:66-73. . View in PubMed
• Surveillance of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from Accra Metropolis markets, Ghana, 2010-2012: a case study in Sub-Saharan Africa Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2017 Jul; 24(20):17187-17205. . View in PubMed
• Stakeholders’ perceptions on competency and assessment program of entry-level pharmacists in developing countries Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2017 05; 9(3):360-368. . View in PubMed
• Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables in Ghana: a review Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2016 Oct; 23(19):18966-87. . View in PubMed
• Quality of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy for malaria found in Ghanaian markets and public health implications of their use BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. 2016 10 28; 17(1):48. . View in PubMed
• Ethnopharmacological reports on anti-Buruli ulcer medicinal plants in three West African countries J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Aug 22; 172:297-311. . View in PubMed
• Validation of QuEChERS method for the determination of 36 pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from Ghana, using gas chromatography with electron capture and pulsed flame photometric detectors J Environ Sci Health B. 2015; 50(8):560-70. . View in PubMed
• Monitoring of pesticide residues of five notable vegetables at Agbogbloshie market in Accra, Ghana Environ Monit Assess. 2014 Nov; 186(11):7157-63. . View in PubMed
• A phase 3 trial of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in African infants N Engl J Med. 2012 Dec 13; 367(24):2284-95. . View in PubMed
• First results of phase 3 trial of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in African children N Engl J Med. 2011 11 17; 365(20):1863-75. . View in PubMed
• Genetic structure of seventy cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Linn, Schott) accessions in Ghana based on RAPD Hereditas. 2004; 140(2):123-8. . View in PubMed

• Lenz, Heinz-Josef
• Aisen, Paul
• Louie, Stanley
• Dunton, Genevieve
• Haiman, Christopher
• Conti, David
• Humayun, Mark
• Gonzalez, Frank