Home

Faculty & Staff

Undergraduate Program

Graduate Program

Teacher Credential

Clinical Laboratory Services

University Course Catalog

Schedule of Classes

Academic Calendars

Advisement

Scholarships/Awards

Student Research

Seminar Series

Centers/Programs

Jobs

Bios

Biosphere

Department of Biology

18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8303

Phone: (818) 677-3356
Fax: (818) 677-2034

Email:biology.dept@csun.edu

Office Location:
Eucalyptus Hall 2102

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:00am-5:00pm

Map

Steven B. Oppenheimer

Professor
Fellow, AAAS
CSU System Trustees Outstanding Professor
United States Presidential Award

Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University

email: steven.oppenheimer@csun.edu
Phone: (818) 677-3336
Fax: (818) 677-2034
Office: Chaparral Hall 5207
          (was Eucalyptus Hall 2005)

We investigate the molecular basis of cell-cell interactions in cancer and development.

About 200 published papers, abstracts/presentations and books with about 700 student co-authors resulted from our work.  Our success with student research accomplishments was recognized in 2009 by a U.S. Presidential Award from the White House and National Science Foundation.

Over $7 million in research and training grants have been awarded for our programs.

Honors

Year	Award
1969-71	American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of California
1977	Cal State Northridge Distinguished Professor Award
1980-90	Certificates of Merit, Appreciation and Special Recognition, American Cancer Society
1983	Cal State Northridge President’s Associates Distinguished 25th Anniversary Award
1984	Phi Kappa Phi Scholar
1984	Sigma Xi Distinguished Research Award, CSU Northridge
1984	Trustees Outstanding Professor Award of the 20 campus California State University system (system’s highest honor)
1985	Public Education Award, American Cancer Society
1985-90	Board of Directors, American Cancer Society, San Fernando Valley Unit
1985	Panel Member, National Science Foundation, DSEE
1987	Study Section Member, NIH Division of Research Grants, Special Review Section and Site Visit Team
1988	American Cancer Society Certificate of 10 Years Notable Service
1992	Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1994	National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources, Special Review Committees (2)
1996-97	National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources, Special Emphasis Panel
2000	National Science Foundation, Signal Transduction and Regulation Program, grant evaluator
2000	National Science Foundation, Grant Review Panel, CCLI Program
2003	Senator Richard Alarcon Award of the California State Senate
2003	California State Board of Equalization Resolution on Senator Alarcon Award
2003	Appointed to the Editorial Board Acta Histochemica, Elsevier
2003	National Institutes of Health, NIGMS SCORE, Grant Evaluation Panel
2005	Appointed Regional Editor, Acta Histochemica, Elsevier, out of Oxford Brookes
2006	Appointed Participating Investigator, Consortium for Functional Glycomics
2007	Grant Review Panel, National Science Foundation, SBIR/STTR Phase 1, Disease Diagnostics a Prognostics
2007	Grant Review Panel, National Institutes of Health,  R13 applications
2007-09	Reviewer for Pharmaceutical Research, BBA Reviews on Cancer, Molecular Reproduction and Development, Nature’s Modern Pathology
2008	Grant Review Panel, National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Developmental Biology Subcommittee, Model Systems and Research Focus
2008	Grant Review Panel and Chair of Panel, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Office of Scientific Review, R13 applications
2009	Grant Review Panel and Chair of Panel, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Office of Scientific Review, R13 applications, Reviewer for Molecular Biotechnology
2009	U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

 

Research Interests

Mechanisms of adhesive interactions in development and cancer; role of surface sugars

Publications

Citations:  Over 300 citations of P.I.’s papers have appeared.

Books:  14 book editions – textbooks on embryonic development and cancer.  Most recent: 

Oppenheimer, S.B. and Carroll, E.J., 2004, Introduction to Embryonic Development, 4th Edition, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Oppenheimer, S.B., 2004, Cancer A Biological and Clinical Introduction, 4th Edition, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Papers: (selected recent full length papers from a total of 57; total publications of P.I., about 200 papers, abstracts, book chapters, books):

Daily, M., Latham, V., Garcia, C., Hockman, C., Chun, H., Oppenheimer, M., West, S., Rostamiani, K., Chao, R., Pollock, E., Oppenheimer, S.  1994, Producing Exposed Coat-Free Embryos, Zygote  2: 221-225.

Spiegler, M., Oppenheimer, S.  1995,  Extending the Viability of Sea Urchin Gametes, Cryobiology 32: 168-174.

Latham, V., Herrera, S., Rostamiani, K., Chun, H., Oppenheimer, S. 1995, Rapid Identification of Lectin Receptors and Their Possible Function in Sea Urchin Cell Systems, Acta Histochemica 97:  373-382.

Latham, V., Ducut, J., Rostamiani, K., Chun, H., Lopez, M., Herrera, S., Oppenheimer, S. 1995, Comparative Evaluation of Sea Urchin Lectin Receptors, Acta Histochemica 97:  89-97.

Roque, R., Herrera, S., Yeh, T., Philip, J., Borisavljevic, T., Brunick, L., Miles, A., Haritunians, T., Addy, C., Bada, R., Vaghefi, H., Matsumoto, S., Piccionelli, G., Rodriguez, L., Oppenheimer, S. 1996, Cell Adhesion Mechanisms:  Modeling Using Derivatized Beads and Sea Urchin Cell Systems, Acta Histochemica 98:  441-451.

Latham, V., Latham, L., Oppenheimer, S. 1996, Desktop Computer-Based Image Analysis of Cell Surface Fluorescence Patterning from Photographic Source, Acta Histochemica 98:  295-300.

Ghoneum, M., Vojdani, A., Banionis, A., Oppenheimer, S., Lagos, N., Gill, G. 1997, The Effects of Carcinogenic Methylcholanthrene on Carbohydrate Residues of NK Cells, Toxicology and Industrial Health 13:  727-741.

Philip, J., Rodriguez, L., Bada, R., Ambroise, F., Hernandez, U., Oppenheimer, S. 1997, Charge Interactions in Sperm-Egg Recognition, Acta Histochemica 99:  401-410.

Latham, V., Martinez, A., Cazares, L., Hamburger, H., Tully, M., Oppenheimer, S. 1998, Accessing the Embryo Interior Without Microinjection, Acta Histochemica 100:  193-200.

Latham, V., Tully, M., Oppenheimer, S. 1999, A Putative Role for Carbohydrates in Sea Urchin Gastrulation, Acta Histochemica 101:  293-303.

Latham, V., Oppenheimer, S. 1999, A Simple Image Analysis Method for Evaluating Cell Binding to Derivatized Beads, Acta Histochemica 101:  263-270.

Salbilla, B., Vaghefi, H., Chhabra, P., Hall, G., Brown, D., Sadoughi, F., Francisco, E., Attas, L., Walker, S., Nguyen, B., Oppenheimer, S. 1999, Analysis of Cell Surface Properties Using Derivatized Agarose Beads, Acta Histochemica 101:  271-279.

Navarro, V., Walker, Badali, O., Abundis, M., Ngo, L., Weerasinghe, G., Barajas, M., Zem, G., Oppenheimer, S. 2002, Analysis of Surface Properties of Fixed and Live Cells Using Derivatized Agarose Beads, Acta Histochemica 104:  99-106.

Khurrum, M., Weerasinghe, G., Soriano, E., Riman, R., Badali, O., Gipson, S., Medina, J., Alfaro, J., Navarro, V., Harieg, C., Ngo, L., Sakhakorn, T., Kirszenbaum, L., Khatibi, D., Abedi, K., Barajas, M., Zem, G., Kirszenbaum, A., Razi, A., Oppenheimer, S.  2002, Analysis of Surface Properties of Human Cancer Cells Using Derivatized Beads, Acta Histochemica 104:  217-223.

Ngo, L., Barajas, M., Weerasinghe, G., Zem, G., Oppenheimer, S. 2003, A New Histochemical Approach for Studying Sperm Cell Surfaces, Acta Histochemica 105:  21-28.

Maldonado, M., Weerasinghe, G., Ambroise, F., Yamoah, E., Londono, M., Pelayo, J., Grigorian, M., Oppenheimer, S. 2004, The Charged Milieu: a Major Player in Fertilization Reactions, Acta Histochemica, 106:  3-10.

Khurrum, M., Hernandez, A., Eskalaei, M., Badali, O., Coyle-Thompson, C., Oppenheimer, S. 2004, Carbohydrate Involvement in Cellular Interactions in Sea Urchin Gastrulation, Acta Histochemica, 106:  97-106.

Coyle-Thompson, C., Oppenheimer, S.B. 2005. A Novel Approach to Study Adhesion Mechanisms by Isolation of the Interacting System, Acta Histochemica, 107: 243-251 (2005).

Heinrich, E.L., Welty, L.A.Y., Banner, L.R., Oppenheimer, S.B. 2005. Direct Targeting of Cancer Cells: A Multiparameter Approach, Acta Histochemica, 107: 335-344 (2005).

Welty, L.A.Y., Heinrich, E.L., Garcia, K., Banner, L.R., Summers, M.L., Baresi, L., Metzenberg, S., Coyle-Thompson, C., Oppenheimer, S.B., Analysis of Unconventional Approaches for the Rapid Detection of Surface Lectin Binding Ligands on Human Cell Lines, Acta Histochemica 107: 411-420 (2006).

Oppenheimer, S.B., Cellular Basis of Cancer Metastasis: A Review of Fundamentals and New Advances, Acta Histochemica, 108:327-334 (2007). This paper garnered the most downloads of all papers in this Elsevier journal, August 06-March 07 (813 downloads).

Zem, G.C., Badali, O., Gaytan, M. Hekmatjou, H., Alvarez, M., Nnoli, J., Katus, E., Oppenheimer, S.B., Microbead Analysis of Cell Binding to Immobilized Lectin: An Alternative to Microarrays in the Development of Carbohydrate Drugs and Diagnostic Tests, Acta Histochemica 108: 311-317 (2006).

Petrossian, K., Banner, L., Oppenheimer, S.B.,  Lectin Binding and Lectin Effects on Human Cancer and Non-Cancer Cell Lines: Examination of Issues of Interest in Drug Design Strategies, Acta Histochemica 109: 491-500 (2007).

Razinia, Z., Carroll, Jr., E.J., Oppenheimer, S.B., Microplate Assay for Quantifying Developmental Morphologies: Effects of Exogenous Hyalin on Sea Urchin Gastrulation, Zygote 15: 1-6 (2007).

Sajadi, S., Rojas, P., Oppenheimer, S.B., Cyclodextrin, A Proble for Studying Adhesive Interactions, Acta Histochemica 109: 338-342 (2007).

Oppenheimer,S.B., Alvarez, M., Nnoli, J.,Carbohydrate-Based Experimental Therapeutics for Cancer, HIV/AIDS and Other Diseases, Acta Histochemica 110: 6-13 (2008).

Alvarez, M., Nnoli, J., Carroll, E.J., Jr., Hutchins-Carroll, V., Razinia, Z., Oppenheimer, S.B., Exogenous Hyalin and Sea Urchin Gastrulation, Part II: Hyalin, An Interspecies Cell Adhesion Molecule, Zygote 16: 73-78 (2008).

Carroll, E.J., Jr., Hutchins-Carroll, V., Coyle-Thompson, C., Oppenheimer, S.B., Hyalin is a Cell Adhesion Molecule Involved in Mediating Archenteron-Blastocoel Roof Attachment, Acta Histochemica 110: 265-275 (2008).

Contreras, A., Vitale, J., Hutchins-Carroll, V., Carroll, E.J., Oppenheimer, S.B., Exogenous Hyalin and Sea Urchin Gastrulation. Part III: Biological Activity of Hyalin Isolated from Lytechinus pictus embryos, Zygote 16: 355-361 (2008).

Ghazarian, H.,Coyle-Thompson, C., Dalrymple, W., Hutchins-Carroll, V., Metzenberg, S., Razinia, Z., Carroll, Jr., E.J., Oppenheimer, S.B., Exogenous Hyalin and Sea Urchin Gastrulation, Part IV: a Direct Adhesion Assay- Progress in Identifying Hyalin’s Active Sites, Zygote, accepted, in press (2009).

Grants

About $7 million in research and training grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and local and statewide granting agencies.