Cooperative Agreement R41CA221420

This $1,035,519 federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) aims to develop a novel nano-functionalized "cyborg" C. novyi-NT bacteriolytic agent for image-guided trans-arterial treatment of colorectal liver metastases. The key products and services to be delivered under this 5-year award include: Developing an advanced nanomedicine platform combining C. novyi-NT spores with imaging capabilities to enable...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) provides $677,176 to The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York to develop an innovative interstitial chemophototherapy (I-CPT) treatment approach for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The key products and services to be delivered include: Defining optimal light dosimetry for I-CPT in preclinical pancreatic cancer models, including patient-derived xenograft and orthotopic...

This $406,186 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) supports the early-stage development of IR-Platin, a novel photoactivated chemotherapy for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The project is a collaboration between Light Switch Bio, LLC, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The goal is to establish the feasibility and therapeutic potential of IR-Platin, an inactive prodrug of...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Program (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant award of $275,000 provides funding to Illuminate Therapeutics, Inc. to develop their Light Activated Drug Delivery and Release (LADDR) platform technology. The objective is to improve patient outcomes in the treatment of head and neck and esophageal cancers, which represent a combined market of over $2.34B in 2021 growing at 10.5% annually. The key focus of this SBIR Phase...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286), provides $1,751,591.00 to Case Western Reserve University to develop a theranostic agent, PSMA-1-PC413, for fluorescence image-guided surgery and photodynamic therapy (PDT) to improve the treatment of prostate cancer. The goal is to more completely remove cancerous tissue during...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), under the "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" program (CFDA 93.286), provides $640,089 to the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to develop advanced photodynamic priming therapies to enhance the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The project aims to use optical molecular imaging to...

The National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) awarded a $644,034 Project Grant to The General Hospital Corporation (doing business as Massachusetts General Hospital) to develop a novel nanoparticle-based platform called "Scintillating Nanoparticle Drug Depot (SCIDD)" that uses X-ray radiation to trigger localized and sustained release of chemotherapy drugs within tumor tissue. The 5-year project aims to optimize the SCIDD platform, investigate its impact on...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) provides $275,000 to Targeting Systems to develop a novel intramuscular gene delivery platform capable of sustained expression and endogenous secretion of bispecific natural killer cell engager (BIKE) therapeutics to treat solid tumors like hepatocellular carcinoma. The platform aims to deliver BIKEs in a less invasive manner than current immunotherapies,...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), provides $535,000 to Case Western Reserve University to support research developing new classes of organic compounds absorbing one or two photons in the near-infrared range for applications including photodynamic therapy. Professor Carlos E. Crespo-Hernández will lead efforts to deliberately design and synthesize thionated organic photosensitizers...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) provides funding of $227,906 to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to conduct research on the immunomodulatory effects of the FDA-approved drug Photofrin and other heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) inducing drugs in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The key objectives are to: 1) characterize the tumor control and antitumor immunity generated by Photofrin and other HO-1...