Project Grant R41CA240124

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $232,515 Project Grant under the Cancer Research Manpower (CFDA 93.398) program to Loyola University of Chicago's Health Sciences Campus to DEFINE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS IN AND IDENTIFY BIOMARKERS FOR FAK-DRIVEN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. The study aims to (1) determine the mechanism through which the protein Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) promotes the expression of Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), (2)...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 Cancer Biology Research) provides funding of $1,093,104 to Assayquant Technologies, Inc. to develop and commercialize a novel kinase assay platform called PhosphoSens. The objective is to establish commercial products based on the PhosphoSens and KinsightTM technologies, which use sensor peptides to enable direct, high-throughput, and kinetic quantitation of oncogenic protein kinases in complex cell and tissue samples....

This $516,648 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Research Manpower program (CFDA 93.398) supports research at Rockefeller University to identify potent and selective covalent ligands for the oncoprotein CIP2A. The goal is to develop heterobifunctional probes and evaluate the proximity-dependent degradation of CIP2A in BRCA1/2-deficient cancer cells. Specifically, the research aims to: 1) identify covalent ligands for CIP2A, 2) develop CIP2A degradation probes, and 3)...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) supports research to investigate the molecular basis of fatty acid synthase (FASN) regulation and its role in conferring resistance to PARP inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The $524,419 award, active from February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2030, will enable researchers at the University of Toledo to: 1) determine the molecular mechanisms by which FASN contributes to...

This federal Project Grant award, totaling $185,831.00 and funded by the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research), is focused on discovering and developing allosteric kinase inhibitors targeting the Src-family kinases HCK and FGR for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The award supports two key aims: 1) synthesizing and testing analogs of existing allosteric modulators for the AML-associated kinase HCK, and 2) identifying additional scaffolds for allosteric...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Research Manpower program (CFDA 93.398) will fund research to define selectivity profiles of clinically approved kinase inhibitors (KIs) against clinically observed MET mutants, and calculate KI combinations that will most selectively inhibit those mutants. The primary objective is to provide an actionable roadmap for MET mutation-specific targeted KI therapy in clinical cohorts, with the hypothesis that combining two or...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865), provides $232,500.00 to the Regents of the University of Minnesota to identify novel allosteric inhibitors for four kinase targets: WEE2, TSSK1, CDK11, and CDK2. These kinases are validated drug targets for potential applications in non-hormonal contraception and cancer chemotherapy. The objective is to...

The National Cancer Institute awarded Oncotrap Inc. a $400,000 Project Grant to develop an aptamer-directed IgG1-Fc drug conjugate (AFDC) platform for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The project aims to validate the ability of the APTPDAC aptamer to selectively kill PDAC cells and create a potent AFDC targeting PDAC cells. Additionally, the project will evaluate the in vivo anti-tumor efficacy of the AFDC in PDAC mouse models and identify the target cell surface...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) in the amount of $374,123 provides funding to Georgia Tech Research Corporation to establish a Rapid Multiplexed Protein Interaction (RAPMPI) method. This technology will be used to spatially map signaling protein-protein interactions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, mouse xenograft models, and NSCLC patient-derived tissues to better...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393), provides $485,790 in funding to the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass Medical) to study the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors as a preventive therapy for Familial Platelet Disorder (FPD), a rare inherited disease associated with a high risk of developing hematologic malignancies. The key objectives are to: 1) Determine the efficacy of...