Awardees & Updates – 2021

Tumor immunologic effects of diverse immune checkpoint inhibitors in a mouse model of triple negative breast cancer.
Jennifer Ribeiro, PhD, gynecologic-oncology, Brown School of Medicine/Women’s & Infants Hospital

Triple negative breast cancer accounts for 10-15% of all breast cancers and is resistant to many treatment options. This study aims to test measurements for predictive biomarkers to determine the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments to improve treatment effectiveness.

Development of Primary Fallopian Tube Cell Lines for Exosome Production and Biomarker Identification for Ovarian Cancer Screening
Terri Bruce, PhD, bioengineering & biological data science, Clemson University & Larry Puls, MD, gyn-oncology, Univ of S Carolina Medical School

Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose because it is largely asymptomatic until late stages. Development of early detection screening methods is crucial. The goal of this study is to test a non-invasive liquid biopsy test that could be used as an in-house, inexpensive screening platform screen for ovarian cancer biomarkers.

Democratizing breast cancer bio-therapeutics
Shannon Sirk, PhD, molecular and medical pharmacology, Univ of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Dept of Biomedical & Translational Sciences

Monoclonal antibodies have revolutionized treatment of numerous diseases including cancer. Because they target only diseased tissue, use of them is less toxic and improved quality of life for patients. Such therapeutics have greatly advanced treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer, affecting 25-30% of all breast cancer cases. The goal of this proposal is to develop a therapeutic platform for the continuous production and delivery of breast cancer targeting biotherapeutics from within the body, thus circumventing the need for costly manufacturing and thereby democratizing access to these lifesaving drugs.