MENURogel Cancer Center names 2 Forbes Scholars to fuel translational research
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Forbes Institute grants will fund research into ovarian, brain cancers
ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- The Forbes Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center will fund two researchers pursuing promising new treatment approaches for brain and ovarian cancers.
Maria G. Castro, Ph.D., and Deepak Nagrath, Ph.D., will receive one-year grants of $250,000 each as 2020 Forbes Scholars.
The Forbes Institute was founded in 2016 thanks to a $17.5 million gift from Sidney and Madeline Forbes. It serves as the cancer center’s engine for high-risk, high-reward projects, focusing on bold, cross-departmental funding opportunities that encourage new approaches to solving the cancer problem.
The Forbes Scholars initiative offers faculty members throughout the University of Michigan funding for high-risk, high-reward cancer research. The awards emphasize team science and reflect the most dynamic researchers with the boldest ideas from all areas of campus.
Castro, the R. C. Schneider Collegiate Professor of Neurosurgery and professor of cell and developmental biology, is investigating an innovative treatment approach for glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer. About 24,000 Americans will be diagnosed with brain cancer this year and 18,000 will die from it.
Castro’s lab is investigating a novel drug-delivery approach that uses a nano-carrier to deliver a drug to the brain. The drug shuts down a transcription factor called STAT3, which is critical for the growth of glioblastoma. This causes the tumor cells to die -- and trains the patient’s immune system to recognize and kill any tumor cells that remain.
With the Forbes grant, Castro will test the approach in pre-clinical laboratory models of glioblastoma. The goal of the research is to gather the evidence necessary to obtain FDA approval to implement the therapy with patients to improve prognosis and outcomes.
Nagrath, associate professor of biomedical engineering, is using genetic and clinical data from patients to identify mutations in ovarian cancer cells that lead to vulnerabilities in the cells’ engines, or cellular metabolism.
As ovarian cancer progresses, cancer cells acquire more and more mutations. Most of these mutations cause the cancer cells to grow and spread, but others cause harm to those cells.
Nagrath’s vision is to create a precision health platform that will guide treatment decisions for ovarian cancer. It will enable clinicians to decide which drug will be most suitable for a particular ovarian cancer patient based on the genetic information of each individual patient.
Castro and Nagrath will work with a team of collaborators on their projects. The Forbes Scholars awards are fully funded by philanthropy.