Early Detection of Cancer and Real-Time Monitoring of Cancer Treatments

Principal Investigator: Ying Ge, professor of cell and regenerative biology and chemistry

Co-Principal Investigators:  

Mark Burkard, professor of medicine 

Song Jin, professor of chemistry 

Suzanne Ponik, assistant professor of cell and regenerative biology 

Cancer is a major global health problem and metastasis (cancer cells spread to other parts of the body) is responsible for 90% of cancer-associated deaths. Innovative technologies for the early detection of cancer and treatment of metastatic cancer are urgently needed. Exosomes secreted from cancer cells can promote metastasis and contain proteins/RNA/metabolite/lipids cargos that could be use as cancer metastatic markers. However, challenges remain in isolating exosomes and characterizing their cargos.   

This project team will develop novel methods based on nanotechnology to isolate exosomes and multi-omics to characterize the exosomal cargos (protein/metabolite/lipid/RNA) for discovering biomarkers for early detection of cancer and real-time monitoring of cancer treatments. This will allow oncologists to catch cancer and any recurrence/metastasis early as well as accurately select the optimal treatments for patients to improve the outcomes and increase the chance of survival toward personalized medicine. The success of this highly interdisciplinary project will transform the detection and therapeutic monitoring of cancer and lead to patentable technologies.