Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received a $470,694 Project Grant from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394), awarded July 2, 2026, with a completion date of June 30, 2031. The award funds development of a nano-electrospun polymeric biomaterial scaffold composed of acetalated dextran (ACE-DEX) engineered to deliver Toll-like Receptor 7 and 8 agonist therapy for glioblastoma (GBM) interstitial immunotherapy. The project addresses the critical unmet need for improved GBM treatment, as patients with this aggressive primary brain cancer have a median survival of less than one year despite standard-of-care interventions and only a 2% three-year survival rate.

The research deliverables focus on leveraging nanotechnology to create a biodegradable implant capable of local drug delivery at the tumor resection site, thereby avoiding systemic toxicities associated with conventional immunotherapy approaches. The tunable degradation rates of the ACE-DEX polymer platform enable precise temporal release of the immunostimulatory agent resiquimod directly into the tumor microenvironment, capitalizing on the immunological benefits of surgical resection. The nanofiber scaffold design offers technical advantages over prior hydrogel formulations—eliminating mass effects and enabling reproducible scaling between preclinical and clinical models—positioning the technology as a potential advancement in combination immunotherapy for GBM.