Steve A. Maxwell, PhD

Education and Training

• Abilene Christian University, BA, BS, 1980
• University of Texas Graduate School, PhD, 1985

Research Interests

• My current research is concerned with mechanisms of drug resistance in DLBCL. We have developed a novel anti-cancer agent (RTI-79) that reverses drug-resistance in a variety of cancers to multiple types of chemotherapies. I discovered a mechanism of action for reversing chemoresistance that involves oxidative stress through the dual action of generating ROS and downregulating antioxidant Nrf-2 pathway. RTI-79 is not toxic to normal cells due to their intact Nrf-2 antioxidant response. I am focused on determining why Nrf-2 is downregulated in resistant cancer cells but not normal cells. We currently are conducting Phase I clinical trials on pet dogs that have lymphoma. We have treated 40 dogs (owner consent) and have extended the survival by 50-100% after two years. The average survival of dogs with lymphoma treated with chemotherapy is about 9 months; after co-administration of RTI with chemotherapy, the survival of dogs is increased to 13-24 months. After completion of the canine clinical trial in the next few months, we anticipate attracting pharmaceutical investment to progress to human Phase I clinical trials.

Teaching Interests

• I have been actively involved in the medical teaching mission of the TAMU College of Medicine for over 25 years. I am currently course co-director for Foundations of Medicine II (FOM II) and Medical Student Grand Rounds (MSGR), teach lectures in FOM II and Introduction to Disease courses, serve as a voting member of the Pre-Clerkship and Curriculum Committees, and interview applicants for the Admission Committee. I have been actively involved with innovations of medical education through the development of the MSGR course and implementation of the first Team-Based Learning (TBL) sessions at the Bryan COM campus in the FOM II course. I was also involved in the Texas A&M Engineering Medicine (EnMed) curriculum development task force and organized the EnMed biochemistry/genetics curriculum and developed 5 new TBLs. I have organized basic science mentoring of medical students in the development of their research presentations in MSGR. I have presented poster and oral presentations about the innovative MSGR approach at the Association of Biochemistry Educators, which is a consortium of biochemistry/genetics educators from 100 medical schools, the Texas Educator’s Academies Collaborative for Health Professions (TEACH-S) hosted by Baylor College of Medicine, and the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE). The MSGR course was recently published in Academic Medicine journal as an innovative curriculum involving mentoring of first year medical students by basic science faculty. I have collaborated with Dr. Gloria Conover, Director of Medical Student Research, in developing an MSGR-like selective for M3 students (MEID 820). In this innovative course, students choose a patient case they encountered during their clerkships and develop a mechanistic case report that integrates the basic science into the clinical aspects of the patient, and propose novel hypotheses/treatments that they find by researching of the primary basic science/clinical science literature. A capstone is the publication of their mechanistic case report in a peer-reviewed journal. We were awarded a TAMU Presidential Transformational Teaching Grant to determine outcomes for the MEID 820 innovative experience, which we anticipate will generate future publications. I am also the chair of the innovative grants program administered by the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators. My future direction is to continue pursuing innovative methods of integrating basic and clinical sciences in a meaningful manner.