Jesika Faridi
At Pacific Since: 2004
Jesika S. Faridi, PhD earned her bachelor of science in genetics from University of California, Davis in 1995 and her doctor of philosophy in physiology from Loma Linda University in 2000. She completed four-years of postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine's, Department of Molecular Pharmacology in 2004. She joined the Pacific family in 2004.
Dr. Faridi is passionate about teaching physiology and cancer biology. Her goals in her role at Pacific are to provide our students with a quality education and to advance her research interests in the field of insulin signal transduction in breast cancer. Dr. Faridi is a member of the Endocrine Society and the American Physiological Society. She is also a full member of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Passionate about promoting science education in her community, she is involved in various science education programs, such as the Festival of Science at North Star Academy in Redwood City. She is also a mentor for local science fair projects and Science Olympiad teams.
BS in Genetics, University of California, Davis, 1995
PhD in Physiology, Loma Linda University, 2000
PostDoc, Stanford University School of Medicines, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, 2000-2004
Teaching Philosophy
"To promote student learning in three primary ways. First, it is important to relate to students by starting from what they know and then begin to build upon it. Second, it is essential for the development of each student to stress independent thought. Last, it is important to be able to share ideas through group interaction."
Courses
PCSP 220 — Cellular Signal Transduction Mechanisms
PCSP 297 — Graduate Research
PCSP 397 — Graduate Research
PCSP 299 — Thesis
PCSP 399 — Dissertation
PHAR 211 — Physiology II
PHAR 443 — ICS: Gastrointestinal, Nutrition & Renal Disorders
PHAR 643 — ICS: Oncology
PHYP 193 — Professional Independent Study
Research Summary
"We are interested in cellular pathways that are involved in mediating hormone independent and drug resistant breast cancer growth."
Research Interests
- Molecular and cellular physiology
- Cancer biology
- Action of insulin and insulin-like growth factors in cells
- Role of signal transduction pathways in the transition to hormone independence and drug resistance in cancer
Scholarly Activity
Sultana N, Elford HL, Faridi JS. Targeting the Cell Cycle, RRM2 and NF-κB for the Treatment of Breast Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 28;16(5). doi: 10.3390/cancers16050975. PubMed PMID: 38473336; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10930692.
Wilson EA, Sultana N, Shah KN, Elford HL, Faridi JS. Molecular Targeting of RRM2, NF-κB, and Mutant TP53 for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther. 2021 Apr;20(4):655-664. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-20-0373. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PubMed PMID: 33536192.
Shah KN, Wilson EA, Malla R, Elford HL, Faridi JS. Targeting Ribonucleotide Reductase M2 and NF-ꂠActivation with Didox to Circumvent Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther. 2015 Nov;14(11):2411-21. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-14-0689. Epub 2015 Sep 2. PMID: 26333382
Malla R, Ashby CR Jr, Narayanan NK, Narayanan B, Faridi JS, Tiwari AK. Proline-rich AKT substrate of 40-kDa (PRAS40) in the pathophysiology of cancer. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2015 Jul 31;463(3):161-6. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.05.041. Epub 2015 May 20. Review. PMID: 26003731
Malla R, Wang Y, Chan WK, Tiwari AK, Faridi JS. Genetic ablation of PRAS40 improves glucose homeostasis via linking the AKT and mTOR pathways. Biochem Pharmacol. 2015 Jul 1;96(1):65-75. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2015.04.016. Epub 2015 Apr 27. PMID: 25931147
Shah KN, Mehta KR, Peterson D, Evangelista M, Livesey JC, Faridi JS. AKT-induced tamoxifen resistance is overturned by RRM2 inhibition. Mol Cancer Res. 2014 Mar;12(3):394-407. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-13-0219. Epub 2013 Dec 20. PMID: 24362250
Shah KN, Faridi JS. Estrogen, tamoxifen, and Akt modulate expression of putative housekeeping genes in breast cancer cells. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2011 Jul;125(3-5):219-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2011.03.005. Epub 2011 Mar 21. PubMed PMID: 21420492.
