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Avik Som

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Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engineering

Assistant Professor
Radiology

Pronouns: He

Biography

Avik Som, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Radiology (Division of Interventional Radiology), and Material Science Engineering. He completed his B.Sc in Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and then completed a combination MD/PhD training at Washington University in St. Louis. His PhD work was under Dr. Samuel Achilefu focused on developing novel calcium carbonate nanoparticles to change tumor pH. At the same time he has had a long history of pursuing bio-entrepreneurship. As a medical student, helped found a biomedical incubator, Sling Health, and spun out a digital health company (Epharmix, later CareSignal Health) focused on value based health. 

After medical school, Dr. Som completed an integrated residency in interventional and diagnostic radiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. While there he did simultaneous post-doctoral training with Robert Langer and C. Giovanni Traverso at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with work focused on creating image guided drug delivery for novel cancer immunotherapy, work translated commercially to Absco Therapeutics. 

At the IDEA Lab, Dr. Som leads the translation of novel material science advances for applications in interventional radiology based on his clinical practice, with a focus on novel cancer therapeutics, tissue engineering, and device development.  The goal of the lab is to generate new technologies inspired by the clinic and brought back to treat our patients. 

Education

  • MD/PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
  • B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Previous appointments

  • Integrated Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Internship, Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital

Research Statement

The Big Picture: Applications of biomaterial engineering to interventional radiology

Over the past several decades, interventional radiology (IR) as a clinical field has mastered the use of image guidance, CT, ultrasound, MRI, fluoroscopy, to be able to reach almost any organ, and any compartments, vascular, lymphatic, lumen, or parenchyma minimally 

At the Image guided Delivery of Engineering Advances Laboratory (IDEA Lab) we strive to combine the advances in material sciences to interventional radioogy. There are numerous locoregional applications for biomaterials, ranging from oncology to neuromodulation utilizing the localized delivery of hydrogels. As physician scientists and engineers, we have been interested in the intersection of engineering, oncologic therapy, and interventional radiology during both my predoctoral training and now my specialty training in interventional radiology. An IR guided, locoregional delivery platform allows for the translation of multiple biomaterial technologies that have otherwise required open surgery. 

At the IDEA Labs, we expect to combine the entrepreneurial and biodesign experience to build a pathway from bench to bedside, which we have done repeatedly on a variety of applications. 

Select publications

  1. Som A, Rosenboom JG, Wehrenberg-Klee E, Chandler A, Ndakwah G, Chen E, Suggs J, Morimoto J, Kim J, Mustafa AR, Marcos-Vidal A, Fintelmann FJ, Basu A, Langer R, Traverso G, Mahmood U. Percutaneous Intratumoral Immunoadjuvant Gel Increases the Abscopal Effect of Cryoablation for Checkpoint Inhibitor Resistant Cancer. Adv Healthc Mater. 2024 Mar;13(6):e2301848. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202301848. Epub 2023 Nov 30. PubMed PMID: 37870153; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10922912.
  2. Som A, Rosenboom JG, Chandler A, Sheth RA, Wehrenberg-Klee E. Image-guided intratumoral immunotherapy: Developing a clinically practical technology. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022 Oct;189:114505. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2022.114505. Epub 2022 Aug 23. Review. PubMed PMID: 36007674; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10456124.
  3. Russo M, Di Capua J, Anlage A, Bendre H, Kusner J, Lieberman G, Jang S, Irani Z, Arellano RS, Sutphin PD, Smolinski-Zhao S, Daye D, Kalva SP, Succi MD, Som A, Thabet A. Preventing inadvertent drain removal using a novel catheter securement device. Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 26;13(1):16130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37850-2. PubMed PMID: 37752177; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10522644.
  4. Liu K, Russo M, Ellis JS, Capua JD, Wu D, Smolinski-Zhao S, Kalva S, Arellano RS, Irani Z, Uppot R, Linderman SW, Gupta R, Aizenberg J, Srinivasan S, Som A. Transient, Image-Guided Gel-Dissection for Percutaneous Thermal Ablation. Adv Healthc Mater. 2024 Apr 28;:e2400272. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202400272. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 38678431.

Honors & awards

  • 2024 RSNA (Radiology Society of North America) Resident Scholar Award
  • 2022 RSNA Research Award
  • 2018 Gold Humanism Honor Society
  • 2018 AOA Honor Society