Markey Awarded Grant for Cancer Nanotech Training

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 27, 2010) — The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center has received a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish the UK Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center, with first-year funding in the amount of $335,580. The Markey Cancer Center was one of only six institutions nationwide selected to receive this award.

The funding will enhance UK and the Markey Cancer Center's ability to perform nanotechnology research and to recruit experts in the field to come to Kentucky, said Dr. Mark Evers, director of the Markey Cancer Center, who is one of the co-principal investigators, along with Brad Anderson from the UK College of Pharmacy.

"This is a truly exciting, multidisciplinary project," Evers said. "It will involve 35 investigators in different nanotechnology training projects, with slots for current doctoral students as well as post-doctoral fellows. These projects will involve faculty from the Markey Cancer Center and College of Medicine, as well as the College of Pharmacy, the College of Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry."

Trainees of the center will be immersed in a research environment designed to take advantage of the multiple research strengths of faculty at UK and will emerge with a broad yet detailed knowledge of cancer diagnostics, interventions, and related nanotechnology applications including drug delivery, early detection and treatment.

Cancer nanotechnology projects will be composed of multidisciplinary focus-area teams with the goal of training future leading researchers in four areas: early detection and diagnosis in lung, colon, and ovarian cancer;  treatment of gastrointestinal tumors and metastases;  lung cancer treatment; and glioma (brain cancer) therapy. The UK Cancer Nanotechnology Center will provide a systematic and unique multidisciplinary training environment, focusing on laboratory hands-on research, to create a workforce capable of using nanotechnology for solving intractable cancer research problems.

Trainees of the UK Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center will be at the forefront of research that will be driven toward developing novel cancer therapies and diagnostic strategies based on nanotechnology. Through these activities, the trainees will obtain a detailed understanding of the molecular basis of cancer, the unresolved clinical problems in treating and diagnosing the disease, and acquire expertise in the field of nanotechnology.