EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• M.D., Athens University, Athens Greece, 1972 (summa cum laude)
• DSc, Biochemistry, Athens University, Athens Greece, 1975
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Brown University, Providence RI, 1974-1977.
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate Department of Biochemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1980-1983
• Fellow, Gastroenterology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1983-1986.
• Research Fellow, Department of Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1984-1986

BOARD CERTIFICATION

• American Board of Internal Medicine
• American Board of Internal Medicine, Subspecialty of Gastroenterology

• Gastrointestinal malignancies

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Cancer prevention           

• Chief, Division of Cancer Prevention  (2004-  )
  (http://www.hsc.stonybrook.edu/som/cancer_prevention/index.cfm)
• Director, Center for Cancer Prevention at Stony Brook (2005-  )

• Associate Editor, Nutrition and Cancer
• Editorial Board, World Journal of Gastroenterology
• Editorial Board, Clinical and Translational Science
• Editorial Academy, International Journal of Oncology
• Editorial Board, Trends in Applied Sciences Research
• Editorial Board, Journal of Gastroenterology

• Rigas B, Spiro HM. Clinical Gastroenterology. McGraw Hill, New York, 1995.
• Portuguese translation: Gastroenterologia Clinica. Editora McGraw Hill de Portugal, Lda, Lisbon, 1996
• Spanish translation: Gastroenterologia Clinica. Interamericana McGraw-Hill, Madrid, 1997
• Italian translation: Gastroenterologia Clinica. McGraw-Hill Libri Italia srl, Milan, 1997

1. Nath N, Kashfi K, Chen J, Rigas B. NO-donating aspirin inhibits β-catenin/TCF signaling in SW480 colon cancer cells by disrupting the nuclear β-catenin – TCF association. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2003; 100:12584-9.
2. Williams JL, Nath N, Chen J, Hundley TR, Gao JJ, Kashfi K, Rigas B. Growth inhibition of human colon cancer cells by NO-donating aspirin is associated with COX-2 induction and β-catenin/TCF signaling, NF-kB and NOS2 inhibition: Implications for chemoprevention.  Cancer Res, 2003; 63:7613-7618
3. Yeh R, Chen J, Williams JL, Balush M, Hundley TR, Rosenbaum RE, Kalala S, Traganos F, Benardini F, del Soldato P, Kashfi K, Rigas B. NO-donating nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit colon cancer cell growth more potently than traditional NSAIDs: A general pharmacological property. Biochem Pharmacol, 2004, 67:2197-205
4. Gao J, Kashfi K, Rigas B. In vitro metabolism of NO-donating aspirin: The effect of positional isomerism. J Pharm Exp Ther, 2005;312(3):989-97.
5. Rigas B, Kashfi K. Cancer prevention:  A new era beyond COX-2. J Pharm Exp Ther, 2005 314:1-8.
6. Kashfi K, Borgo B, Williams JL, Chen J, Gao J, Glekas A, Benedini F, del Soldato P, Rigas B. Positional isomerism markedly affects the growth inhibition of colon cancer cells by NO-donating aspirin in vitro and in vivo. J Pharm Exp Ther, 2005; 312(3):978-88.
7. Spiegel A,, Hundley TR, Chen J, Gao J, Ouyang N, Liu X, Go MF, Tsioulias GJ, Kashfi K, Rigas B. NO-donating aspirin inhibits both the expression and catalytic activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase in HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Biochem Pharmacol, 2005 Oct 1;70(7):993-1000.
8. Muscat JE, Dyer A-M, Rosenbaum RE, Rigas B. Nitric oxide-releasing medications and colorectal cancer risk: The Framingham study. Anticancer  Res, 2005; 25:4471-4.
9. Gao J, Liu X, Rigas B. Nitric oxide-donating aspirin induces apoptosis in human colon cancer cells through induction of oxidative stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2005;102:17207-12.
10. Hundley TR, Rigas, B. NO-donating aspirin inhibits colon cancer cell growth via MAP kinase activation. J Pharm Exp Ther, 2005;
11. Ouyang N, Williams JL, Rigas B. NO-donating aspirin isomers downregulate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)d expression in APCmin/+ mice proportionally to their tumor inhibitory effect: Implications for the role of PPARd in carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis, 2006;27:232-9. Epub 2005 Sep 1
12. Ouyang N, Williams JL, Tsioulias GJ, Gao J, Iatropoulos MJ, Kopelovich L, Kashfi K, Rigas B. NO-donating aspirin prevents pancreatic cancer in a hamster tumor model. Cancer Res, 2006; 66: 4503-4511
13. Rao CV, Reddy BS, Steele VE, Wang CX, Liu X, Ouyang N, Patlolla JM, Simi B, Kopelovich L, Rigas B. Nitric oxide-releasing aspirin and indomethacin are potent inhibitors against colon cancer in azoxymethane-treated rats: effects on molecular targets. Mol Cancer Ther, 2006; 5:1530-8.
14.       Zhang Z. Rigas B. NF-кB, Inflammation and Pancreatic Carcinogenesis: NF-кB as a Chemoprevention Target. Int J Oncol, 2006; 29:185-92.
15.       Rigas B. The use of nitric oxide-donating nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the chemoprevention of colorectal neoplasia. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2007; 23:55-9.
16. Rigas B. Screening for colorectal cancer: Does it all start with aberrant crypt foci? Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2008, in press