Project Grant W81XWH2210132

This $415,830 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) aims to develop an integrated nanoplasmonic sensing platform called "Nano-CRISPR" for longitudinal monitoring of ovarian cancer using extracellular vesicles (EVs). The key products and services to be delivered include: Incorporation of single EV capture and analysis using plasmonic nanodisk arrays, CRISPR/Cas13A sensors for lysis-free,...

This $679,188 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) aims to develop liquid biopsy tools using artificial intelligence-assisted isolation of tumor cells from malignant effusions to evaluate known biomarkers and discover new predictive biomarkers and drug targets for metastatic breast cancer. The project will first validate the DeepCell AI-assisted platform to isolate circulating tumor cells from malignant effusions, then use...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $231,413 to The General Hospital Corporation (Massachusetts General Hospital) to develop a novel SPINEX platform for rapid, high-throughput isolation and processing of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from clinical plasma samples. The SPINEX technology leverages dual-mode chromatography and disc-based fluidics to efficiently separate EVs from lipoproteins, enabling...

This $670,147 Project Grant awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) supports research to improve the clinical sensitivity of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) liquid biopsies for cancer detection and monitoring. The overarching goal is to increase understanding of the molecular mediators regulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) biogenesis and release, with the aim of developing new approaches to enhance ctDNA detection. The...

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $215,985 Project Grant (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) to The Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford University) to conduct a pilot study on using blood and urine exosomes as early biomarkers of response to combined immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (nivolumab and ipilimumab) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The key objectives are to: 1) define an exosome signature of response by analyzing exosomal...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant award of $275,000 to Beken Bio, Inc. aims to develop a highly sensitive, minimally invasive laboratory test to detect early-stage ovarian cancer by assaying relevant biomarkers on circulating extracellular vesicles in patient plasma. The project will utilize a novel technology to identify key proteins in extracellular vesicles from various ovarian cancer subtypes and employ a machine...

This Project Grant award of $680,453 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) supports research to develop and validate a liquid biopsy approach using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) fragmentomics as prognostic and treatment resistance biomarkers for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The research aims to: 1) determine if baseline ctDNA fragmentomics scores are prognostic biomarkers for mCRPC, 2) detect...

This Project Grant award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (CFDA 93.350) provides $1,077,369 to Captis Diagnostics Inc. to develop and commercialize their proprietary Lipid Nanoprobe (LNP) system for rapid, efficient, and cost-effective isolation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from non-invasive bodily fluids such as blood plasma, serum, urine, and saliva. The project aims to further optimize the LNP technology for EV enrichment and evaluate/validate the LNP prototype...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) supports the development of a novel circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay technology by Binary Genomics, Inc. to monitor the efficacy of immunotherapy treatments for non-small cell lung cancer. The $398,040 award over 18 months will enable the company to evaluate the analytical and baseline clinical performance of their ctDNA assay, which aims to address limitations of existing...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084) provides $1,250,000 in funding to Nexgen Cancer Detection LLC to develop an improved method for detecting cancer DNA in blood samples. The project aims to enrich cancer DNA to enable earlier, more accurate cancer diagnosis and monitoring of residual cancer after treatment. The award will optimize the current method, verify its commercial...