Education:
PhD, University of Calgary, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Postdoctoral training, University of Florida
Honors and Awards:
Canadian Institutes for Health Research Studentship (1997 - 2002)
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Incentive Award (2001 - 2002)
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Studentship Award (2002 - 2003)
American Society for Cell Biology Postdoctoral Travel Award (2005)
Bankhead-Coley Florida Cancer Program New Investigator Research Grant (2008 - 2011)
K99/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2008 - 2014)
NIH/CSR [DDTD (81)] Nucleic Acid Therapeutic Delivery Study Section Member (2025)
Top 10 Cell and Gene Therapy Innovations, Inpart (2026)
Breakthrough Innovations - Top 10 Drug Discovery for Neurological Diseases, Inpart (2026)
Honorary Member, Zeta Eta Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU), National Dental Honor Society (2026 - Present)
Professional Experience:
2007 - 2010: Research Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Dept. of Oral Biology
2010 - 2018: Assistant Professor, MUSC, Dept. of Oral Health Sciences
2018 - Present: Associate Professor, MUSC, Dept. of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences, Division of Basic Science Research; Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (secondary appointment)
Research Interests:
Dr. Jakymiw’s research is focused on the study and development of cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-mediated targeted delivery strategies for therapeutic nucleic acid-based drugs in the treatment of varied diseases, including cancer and mitochondrial-related ocular disorders. Moreover, his laboratory is also involved in the study of cell entry mechanisms that CPPs employ to deliver various nucleic acid-based cargos into cells, which could prove instrumental in informing new CPP designs toward the advancement of more efficacious peptide carriers for human therapies.
Relevant Publications:
Wilson K, Holjencin C, Lee H, Annamalai B, Ishii M, Gilbert JL, Jakymiw A, Rohrer B. Development of a cell-penetrating peptide-based nanocomplex for long-term delivery of intact mitochondrial DNA into epithelial cells. Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids 36(1):102449, 2025.
Holjencin C, Jakymiw A. MicroRNAs and their big therapeutic impacts: Delivery strategies for cancer intervention. Cells 11:2332, 2022. PMID: 35954176; PMCID: PMC9367537
Holjencin CE, Feinberg CR, Hedrick T, Halsey G, Williams RD, Patel PV, Biles E, Cummings JC, Wagner C, Vyavahare N, Jakymiw A. Advancing peptide siRNA-carrier designs through L/D-amino acid stereochemical modifications to enhance gene silencing. Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids 24:462-476, 2021. PMID:33868789, PMCID: PMC8040110
Cummings JC, Zhang H, and Jakymiw A. Peptide carriers to the rescue: overcoming the barriers to siRNA delivery for cancer treatment. Translational Research 214:92-104, 2019. PMID: 31404520, PMCID: PMC6848774
Alexander-Bryant AA, Zhang H, Attaway CC, Pugh W, Eggart L, Sansevere RM, Andino LM, Dinh L, Cantini LP, and Jakymiw A. Dual peptide-mediated targeted delivery of bioactive siRNAs to oral cancer cells in vivo. Oral Oncology 72:123-131, 2017. PMID: 28797448, PMCID: PMC5580030
Alexander-Bryant AA, Dumitriu A, Attaway CC, Yu H, Jakymiw A. Fusogenic-oligoarginine peptide-mediated silencing of the CIP2A oncogene suppresses oral cancer tumor growth in vivo. Journal of Controlled Release 218:72-81, 2015. PMID: 26386438, PMCID: PMC4646222
Cantini L, Attaway CC, Butler B, Andino LM, Sokolosky ML, Jakymiw A. Fusogenic-oligoarginine peptide-mediated delivery of siRNAs targeting the CIP2A oncogene into oral cancer cells. PLoS ONE 8(9):e73348, 2013. PMID: 24019920, PMCID: PMC3760901
News:
MUSC News (2026): Top 10 Cell Gene Therapy Innovations | MUSC
Progress Notes | Health & Research at MUSC (2022): Restoring vision by recharging cells' batteries | MUSC Health | Charleston SC
Fierce Biotech (2021): Outsmarting cancer with RNA, genome tuning drugs, and other gene altering therapies
Hollings Cancer Center (2021): Peptide drug carriers enhance gene silencing