Is your diet feeding your cancer?

Dominic D’Agostino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida and teaches courses in neuropharmacology, medical biochemistry and metabolism.  His research is focused on hyperbaric medicine, nutritional strategies and ketone esters for the metabolic management of neurological diseases and cancer.  Metabolic therapies can be used to treat a wide variety of disorders linked pathophysiologically to metabolic dysregulation.  Cancer is characterized by metabolic dysregulation and is responsive to metabolic therapies that lower blood glucose and elevate blood ketones. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used to saturate tumors with oxygen, reversing the cancer promoting effects of tumor hypoxia.  D’Agostino’s laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro techniques to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanism of metabolic therapies and hyperbaric oxygen, including radio-telemetry (EEG, EMG), electrophysiology, fluorescence microscopy, hyperbaric laser confocal microscopy, hyperbaric atomic force microscopy (AFM), biochemical assays and in vivo bioluminescence tumor imaging. He pursues his work on behalf of a number of government organizations, including Office of Naval Research, Department of Defense and private organizations.