Update Your ProfileAcademic Title:
Professor
Primary Appointment:
Neurosurgery
Secondary Appointment(s):
Diagnostic Radiology Nuclear Medicine, Anatomy Neurobiology
Administrative Title:
Director of the Brain Tumor Treatment & Research Center; Interim Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
Location:
UMMC S12D
Phone (Primary):
410-328-6148
Education and Training
Education
1997 B.S., Chemistry, Tufts University
2005 M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Post Graduate Education and Training
2005-2006 Intern, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
2006-2011 Resident, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
2009-2011 Fellow, Neuro-Oncology-NCI/Nanotechnology for Cancer Medicine Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
2011 Fellow, Cranial Neuro-Endoscopy, Weill Cornell Department of Neurological Surgery, New York, New York
2011-2012 Assistant Chief of Service, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Biosketch
As the Director of the Brain Tumor Treatment and Research Center at the University of Maryland (UMd), I provide leadership and surgical care within a multidisciplinary team of radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, neurosurgeons, and pathologists, treating brain cancer patients. This clinical role enables me to facilitate the cross-disciplinary group of engineers, cancer biologists, and clinician-scientists within the Translational Therapeutics Research Group (TTRG) to address key challenges in counteracting the patho-biology and improving the treatment of brain cancer. Much of this work is centered on the concept of using the operating room as a portal for discovery and opportunity to improve our understanding of and therapeutic delivery for brain cancer. I study and utilize advanced brain tumor models, including genetically-engineered and patient-derived versions directly from the operating room where the tumor tissue is rapidly passaged in vivo to avoid ischemia and biological transformation during extended manipulations or culturing conditions. We have developed a nestin-TV-A transgenic rat model to enhance investigations into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the glioblastoma margin (GBm) and enable surgery-, local delivery-, focused ultrasound-, and targeted radiation-based studies.
A long-standing goal in treating patients with glioblastoma (GB), the most common and deadly primary brain cancer, is linking tumor specific features with effective anti-tumor therapies to generate long-term treatment responses. Ibelieve that following the principles of (1) maximal, safe tumor removal, (2) use of intra-operative access to better understand the disease and deliver therapies, and (3) targeting therapeutics to residual/unresectable invading cancer elements, we will turn GB from a uniformly fatal cancer into a chronic disease with the potential for cure.
Research/Clinical Keywords
Brain tumors, Pituitary tumors, Vestibular Schwannoma/Acoustic Neuroma, Spinal tumors, Chiari malformation, Adult hydrocephalus, MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound, Awake brain surgery, Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy
Highlighted Publications
Woodworth GF, Dunn GP, Nance EA, Hanes J, Brem H. Emerging insights into barriers to effective brain tumor therapeutics. Front. Oncology, 2014, 4: Article 126. (PMCID: 4104487)
Schneider CS, Perez-Bermudez J, Cheng E, Smith P, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF*, Kim AJ*. Minimizing the non-specific binding of nanoparticles to the brain enables active targeting of Fn14-positive glioblastoma cells. Biomaterials, 2015, 42: 42-51. (*Co-corresponding authors). (PMCID: 4279109)
Hersh DS, Wadajkar AS, Roberts NB, Perez JG, Connolly NP, Frenkel V, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF, Kim AJ. Evolving Drug Delivery Strategies to Overcome the Blood Brain Barrier. Curr Pharm Des. 2015 Dec 21. PMID: 26685681
Hersh DS, Houbova P, Castellani RJ, Rodriguez FJ, Mehta MP, Woodworth GF. Pathologic deposition of non-amyloid immunoglobulin in the brain leading to mass effect and neurological deficits. J Clin Neurosci. 2016 Mar 4. PMID: 26954763
Hersh DS, Nguyen BA, Dancy JG, Adapa AR, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF, Kim AJ, Frenkel V. Pulsed ultrasound expands the extracellular and perivascular spaces of the brain. Brain Res. 2016 Jun 28. pii: S0006-8993(16)30464-4. PMID: 27369449
Dancy JG, Wadajkar AS, Schneider CS, Mauban JR, Goloubeva OG, Woodworth GF, Winkles JA, Kim AJ. Non-specific binding and steric hindrance thresholds for penetration of particulate drug carriers within tumor tissue. J Control Release. 2016 Jul 25;238:139-148. PMID: 27460683
Hersh DS, Kim AJ, Winkles JA, Eisenberg HM, Woodworth GF, Frenkel V. Emerging Applications of Therapeutic Ultrasound in Neuro-oncology: Moving Beyond Tumor Ablation. Neurosurgery. 2016 Aug 22. PMID: 27552589
Connolly NP, StokumJA, Schneider CS, Ozawa T, XuS, Galisteo R, CastellaniRJ, KimAJ, SimardJM, Winkles JA, Holland EC, Woodworth GF. Genetically engineered rat gliomas: PDGF-driven tumor initiation and progression in tv-a transgenic rats recreate key features of human brain cancer. PLoS ONE. 2017 Mar 30;12(3):e0174557. PMID: 28358926
Wadajkar AS, Dancy JG, Roberts NB, Connolly NP, Strickland DK, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF, Kim AJ. Decreased non-specific adhesivity Receptor Targeted (DART) nanoparticles improve dispersion, cellular uptake, and tumor retention in invasive gliomas. J Control Release. 2017 Sep 5. pii: S0168-3659(17)30829-5. PMID: 28887134
Connolly NP, Shetty AC, Stokum JA, Hoeschele I, Siegel MB,Miller CR, Kim AJ, Ho C, Davila E, Simard JM, Devine SE Rossmeisl JH, Holland EC, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF. Cross-species transcriptional analysis reveals conserved and host-specific neoplastic processes in mammalian glioma. Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 19;8(1):1180. PMID: 29352201
Hersh DS, Anastasiadis P, Mohammadabadi A, Nguyen BA, Guo S, Winkles JA, Kim AJ, Gullapalli R, Keller A, Frenkel V, Woodworth GF. MR-guided transcranial focused ultrasound safely enhances interstitial dispersion of large polymeric nanoparticles in the living brain. PLoS ONE 2018 13(2): e0192240. PMID: 29415084
Additional Publication Citations
McGirt MJ, Woodworth GF, Coon AC, Thomas G, Williams M, Rigamonti D. Diagnosis, treatment, and analysis of long-term outcomes in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus. Neurosurgery, 2005, 57: 699-705.
Woodworth GF, Chaichana K, McGirt MJ, Sciubba D, Gokaslan Z. Predictors of ambulatory status following resection of intramedullary spinal cords tumors. Neurosurgery, 2007 61: 99-105
Woodworth GF, McGirt MJ, Huang J, Perler B, Clatterbuck RC, Tamargo RJ. Selective versus Routine Intraoperative Shunting during Carotid Endarterectomy: A Multivariate outcome analysis. Neurosurgery, 2007, 61: 1170-6.
Link T, Woodworth GF, Chaichana KL, Mayer SA, Grossman RS, Quinones-Hinojosa A. Hyperglycemia is independently associated with post-operative function loss in primary glioblastoma. J Clin Neurosci., 2012, 19: 996-1000. (PMCID: 4859215)
McGirt MJ, Woodworth GF, Frazier JM, Coon AL, Olivi A, Weingart JD. Independent predictors of morbidity after image-guided stereotactic brain biopsy: A risk assessment of 270 cases. J Neurosurgery, 2005, 102: 897-901.
Woodworth GF, McGirt MJ, Samdani A, Garonzik I, Olivi A, Weingart JD. Accuracy of frameless and frame-based MRI-guided stereotactic brain biopsy in the diagnosis of glioma: Comparison of biopsy and open resection specimen. Neurological Research, 2005 27: 358-62.
Woodworth GF, McGirt MJ, Samdani A, Garonzik I, Olivi A, Weingart JD. Frameless image-guided stereotactic brain biopsy: Diagnostic yield, operative morbidity, and comparison with the frame-based technique. J Neurosurgery, 2006, 104: 233-7
Woodworth GF, Garzon-Muvdi T, Blakeley JO, Yu X, Weingart J & Burger PC, Histo-pathological correlates with survival in re-operated glioblastoma. J Neurooncol. 2013, 113: 485-93.
Nance EA, Timble K, Miller, W, Song J, Louttit C, Klibanov A, Shih T, Swaminathan G, Tamargo RJ, Woodworth GF, Hanes J, Price RJ. Noninvasive delivery of stealth, brain-penetrating nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier using MRI-guided focused ultrasound. J. Cont. Release, 2014, 189: 123-32. Received the Jorge Heller Outstanding Paper Award, Controlled Release Society 2015 (PMCID: 4125545)
Kim AJ, Woodworth GF*, Boylan NJ, Suk JS, Hanes J*. Highly compacted pH-responsive DNA nanoparticles mediate transgene silencing in experimental glioma. J. Mat. Chem. B 2014, 2: 8165-8173. (* corresponding author) (PMCID: 4254827)
Nance EA*, Woodworth GF*, Sailor K, Tamargo RJ, Eberhart CE, Hanes J. A dense poly(ethylene glycol) coating improves penetration of large polymeric nanoparticles within brain tissue. Science Translational Medicine, 2012, 4(149):149ra119. [* co-first authors] (PMCID: 3718558)
Woodworth GF, Garzon-Muvdi T, Blakeley JO, Yu X, Weingart J & Burger PC, Histo-pathological correlates with survival in re-operated glioblastoma. J Neurooncol. 2013, 113: 485-93. (PMCID: 3994532)
Mastorakos P, Zhang C, Berry S, Oh Y, Lee S, Eberhart CG, Woodworth GF, Suk JS, Hanes J. Highly PEGylated DNA nanoparticles provide uniform and widespread gene transfer in the brain. Adv Healthcare Mater. 2015, 4: 1023-1033. (PMCID: 4433405)
Perez J, Tran N, Rosenblum M, Schneider C, Connolly N, Kim AJ, Woodworth GF, Winkles JA. The TWEAK receptor Fn14 is a potential cell surface portal for targeted gelivery of glioblastoma therapeutics. Oncogene 2016, 35: 2145-2155. (PMCID: 4850525)
Clinical Specialty Details
Diplomate, American Board of Neurological Surgeons
Fellow, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Awards and Affiliations
2004 Clinical Research Award, Southern Society of Neurological Surgery Annual Meeting
2004 Medical Student Research Award, Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society
2004 B. Wood Research Award, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
2007 Patient Safety Research Award, Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery
2009 T32 Award, Nanotechnology in Cancer Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
2009 Top Ten Abstract, CNS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana
2010 Chairman’s Award for Patient Safety Research, Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery
2011 Harvey Cushing Research Award, Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery
2012 Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program Award, Massachusetts General Hospital/NINDS
2013 Clinician-Scientist Award, The Passano Foundation
2014 Dean’s Challenge Award, University of Maryland School of Medicine
2014 Pilot Research Award, Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland
2015 Innovation in Biotechnology Award, (co-awardee) American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and Genentech
2015 Jorge Heller Outstanding Paper Award, (co-awardee) Controlled Release Society
2016 Research Scholar Award, American Cancer Society
2017 Pilot Research Award, University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
2018 Accelerated Translational Project Award, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine
2018 Andrew J. Lockhart Memorial Prize, Focused Ultrasound Foundation
Grants and Contracts
NIH K08 NS090430 09/15/2014-09/15/2019
“Brain-Penetrating Nanoparticle Therapeutics for Invasive Brain Cancer”
This Mentored Training Award project was designed to facilitate career development in translational neuro-oncology research and (1) formulate drug loaded nanoparticles for improved therapeutic delivery to brain cancer cells, and (2) assess the efficacy and safety of this delivery system in experimental invasive brain tumor models.
American Cancer Society - 128970-RSG-16-012-01-CDD 07/01/2016-07/01/2020
“Fn14-targeted Biodegradable BCNU-loaded Nanoparticles for Invasive Brain Cancer”
The goal of this proposal is to study and engineer nanoparticle technologies to specifically target brain-invading tumor cells. We will use FDA-approved materials to develop nanoparticle-drug formulations that minimize undesired effects while targeting the distant tumor cells via the invasive tumor marker, Fn14.
CRF Pilot Grant- University of Maryland Comprehensive Cancer Center 07/01/18 – 6/30/19
“Identification of TWEAK/Fn14 signaling nodes of vulnerability for improved treatment of glioblastoma”
The main goal of this project is to identify Fn14-related signaling nodes of vulnerability as potential new therapeutic targets against glioblastoma.
ICTR Pilot Grant- University of Maryland School of Medicine 07/01/18-06/30/19
“Hyperpolarized [1-13C] pyruvate metabolic imaging for noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of glioblastoma”
This project will apply and investigate hyperpolarized metabolic imaging for assessing therapeutic response to Avastin therapy for glioblastoma.
InSightec, BT004 07/01/18-06/30/20
NCT03322813
“ExAblate Blood Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) for Planned Surgery in Glioblastoma”
This Phase 0 study is designed to assess the safety and feasibility of using the ExAblate, Type 2 to temporarily disrupt the blood brain barrier in non-enhancing suspected glioblastomas. The ExAblate Model 4000 Type-2 is intended for use as a tool to disrupt the BBB.
InSightec, BT008 07/01/18-06/30/20
NCT03551249
“Assessment of Safety and Feasibility of ExAblate Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption for the Treatment
of High Grade Glioma in Patients Undergoing Standard Chemotherapy”
This Phase 0 study is designed to assess the safety and feasibility of using the ExAblate, Type 2 to temporarily disrupt the blood brain barrier in the setting of standard maintenance chemotherapy for primary glioblastoma, temozolomide. The ExAblate Model 4000 Type-2 is intended for use as a tool to disrupt the BBB.