BENJAMIN M. LARIMER, PH.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology | 310G Wallace Tumor Institute
Associate Scientist, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center | 1824 S 6th Ave
University of Alabama Birmingham | Birmingham, AL 35233 | blarimer@uab.edu
EDUCATION
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Imaging | 2014-2017
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Ph.D. in Biochemistry | 2014
University of Missouri – Columbia
Dissertation: Development of novel breast cancer-targeted SPECT imaging peptides by phage display
B.S. in Biochemistry | 2009
University of Missouri – Columbia
RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE
Postdoctoral Fellowship | 2014- 2017
Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Research Adviser: Dr. Umar Mahmood
Doctoral Research | 2009 – 2014
Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri,
Research Adviser: Dr. Susan L. Deutscher
Doctoral Training Fellowship | 2012
National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute
Mentor: Dr. Martin W. Brechbiel
Undergraduate Research | 2007-2009
Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri,
Research Advisor: Dr. R. Michael Roberts
Independent Funding
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) | 2017-Present
National Cancer Institute
Prostate Cancer Research Program Postdoctoral Fellowship Award | 2016-2017
Department of Defense
Ruth L. Kirschstein Pre-Doctoral National Research Service Awards | 2011–2012
Institutional Research Training Grants (T32)
Undergraduate Research Fellowship | 2008-2009
University of Missouri Life Sciences
INDEPENDENT FUNDING
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) | 2017-Present
National Cancer Institute
Prostate Cancer Research Program Postdoctoral Fellowship Award | 2016-2017
Department of Defense
Ruth L. Kirschstein Pre-Doctoral National Research Service Awards | 2011–2012
Institutional Research Training Grants (T32)
Undergraduate Research Fellowship | 2008-2009
University of Missouri Life Sciences
AWARDS
SNMMI Ones to Watch, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | 2019
Trainee Prize, Radiological Society of North America | 2017
Alavi-Mandell Award, SNMMI | 2017
Young Investigator Award – Oncology Finalist, SNMMI | 2016
TEACHING AND MENTORING EXPERIENCE
Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital
Medical Student Research Supervisor | 2015-Present
Director, CPI Co-operative Research Program | 2015-Present
Foreign Medical Graduate Research Supervisor | 2015
University of Missouri
Undergraduate Mentor | 2010-2014
Teaching Assistant | 2010
Guest Lecturer | 2010
RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Co-Founder CytoSite Biopharma Inc.
Professional Memberships
ECOG-Acrin Immune-Oncology Working Group
Radiological Society of North America
Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Invited Reviewer:
Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Molecular Imaging and Biology
Theranostics
Blood
PUBLICATIONS
Larimer, BM, Bloch, E, Nesti, S, Austin, EE, Wehrenberg-Klee, E, Boland, G, Mahmood, U. The Effectiveness of Checkpoint Inhibitor Combinations and Administration Timing Can Be Measured by Granzyme B PET Imaging. 2018. Clinical Cancer Research. 25 (4), 1196-1205. PMID: 30327313
Larimer BM. Reporter Genes for PET Imaging of CAR T Cells Offers Insight into Adoptive Cell Transfer. Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 2018 Dec 1;59(12):1892-3. PMID: 30442751
Larimer, BM, Dubios, F, Bloch, E, Nesti, S, Placzek, M, Zadra, G, Hooker, JM, Loda, M, Mahmood, U. Specific 18F-FDHT Accumulation in Human Prostate Cancer Xenograft Murine Models is Facilitated by Pre-Binding to Sex Hormone Binding Globulin. 2018. Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 59(10):1538-1543. PMID: 29853654
Larimer, BM, Phelan, N., Wehrenberg-Klee, E. and Mahmood, U. Phage display selection, in vitro characterization, and correlative PET imaging of a novel HER3 peptide. 2017. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 20(2) 300-308. PMID: 28733706
Larimer, BM, Wehrenberg-Klee, E., Dubois, F., Mehta, A., Kalomeris, T., Flaherty, K., Boland, G. and Mahmood, U. Granzyme B PET imaging as a predictive biomarker of immunotherapy response. 2017. Cancer research, 77(9), pp.2318-2327. PMID: 28461564
Larimer, BM, Wehrenberg-Klee, E., Caraballo, A. and Mahmood, U. Quantitative CD3 PET imaging predicts tumor growth response to anti-CTLA-4 therapy. 2016. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 57(10), pp.1607-1611. PMID: 27230929
Wehrenberg-Klee, E, Turker NS, Heidari P, Larimer BM, Juric D, Baselga J, Scaltriti M, Mahmood, U. Differential Receptor Tyrosine Kinase PET Imaging for Therapeutic Guidance. 2016. Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 57(9):1413-9 PMID: 27081168
Larimer BM, Quinn JM, Kramer K, Komissarov A, Deutscher SL. Multiple Bacteriophage Selection Strategies for Improved Affinity of a Peptide Targeting ERBB2. 2014. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics. 2015. 21(4):383-392 PMID: 26561487
Larimer BM, Deutscher SL. Development of a peptide by phage display for SPECT imaging of resistance-susceptible breast cancer. 2014. American Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 4(5), 435-47. PMID: 25143862
Larimer BM, Deutscher SL. Identification of a Peptide from In Vivo Bacteriophage Display with Homology to EGFL6, A Candidate Tumor Vasculature Ligand in Breast Cancer. 2014. Journal of Molecular Biomarkers and Diagnosis, 5:3. PMID: 26045973
Larimer BM, Thomas WD, Smith GP Deutscher SL. 2013. Affinity Maturation of an ERBB2-Targeted SPECT Imaging Peptide by In Vivo Phage Display. 2014. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 16(4): 449-58 PMID: 24550054
Zhang X, Cabral P, Bates M, Gambini JP, Fernandez M, Calzada V, Gallazzi F, Larimer BM, Figueroa SD, Alonso O, Quinn TP, Balter HS, Deutscher SL. 2010. In vitro and In vivo Evaluation of [99mTc(CO)3]-Radiolabeled ErbB-2-Targeting Peptides for Breast Carcinoma Imaging. Current Radiopharmaceuticals 3, 308-321.
PATENTS
Granzyme B Directed Imaging and Therapy | US Patent 62/357,845
Novel HER3 Peptide for Imaging and Radiotherapy | US Patent Pending 62/440052
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
Larimer B. Imaging T Cell Activity to Predict Immunotherapeutic Efficacy in Cancer. Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology Hampton Symposium. March 2019.
Larimer B. Granzyme B PET Imaging to Predict and Understand Response to Cancer Immunotherapy. A.A. Martinos Center Molecular Imaging Symposium. October 2018
Larimer, B. Precision Imaging to Guide Next-Generation Cancer Therapy. Imaging Elevated Symposium for Emerging Investigators. September 2017
Larimer, B., Wehrenberg-Klee, E., Dubois, F., Mehta, A., Kalomeris, T., Boland, G., Flaherty, K. and Mahmood, U. A novel granzyme B PET imaging peptide is predictive of immunotherapy response. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. June 2017
Larimer, B., Phelan, N., Wehrenberg-Klee, E. and Mahmood, U., 2017. Phage display selection of a novel HER3 PET imaging peptide for targeted therapy resistance prediction. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. June 2017
Larimer B., Wehrenberg-Klee, E., Mahmood U. Predicting Tumor Response to Immunotherapy using Quantitative CD3 PET Imaging. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. June 2016
Heidari P, Deng F, Esfahani S, Larimer BM, Mahmood U. Effects of 68Ga-DOTATOC specific activity on somatostatin receptor quantification. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. June 2016.
Heidari P, Esfahani S, Zadra G, Placzek M, Larimer BM, Hooker J, Loda M, Mahmood U. 18F-fluoro-4-thia-palmitate (18F-FTP) PET Imaging for Evaluation of Exogenous Fatty Acid Metabolism in Prostate Cancer: Implications for Treatment Optimization. Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting. November 2015.
Larimer BM, Deutscher SL. Discovery of a Novel Breast Cancer-Targeted SPECT Imaging Peptide by In Vivo Phage Display. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. June 2014
