The mission of the Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics (EDT) research program is to promote, develop and exploit mechanism-based research for improved therapy with a “bedside-to-bench-to-bedside” approach.
Probe cancer biology to identify new cancer selective targets.
Identify compounds for therapeutic proof-of-concept studies.
Conduct IND-enabling preclinical studies of antitumor agents.
Conduct mechanism-based clinical and biomarker-driven trials.
When Lawrence Einhorn, MD, developed the cure for testicular cancer in the early 1970s, he gave hope to thousands of patients around the world—and inspired the next generation of cancer researchers. Many of those talented scientists have joined Dr. Einhorn at the cancer center.
Nearly three decades of dedication by Mark Kelley, PhD, led to the development of APX3330, a molecular compound that targets a protein important to the development of several types of cancer. In 2009, Dr. Kelley translated this discovery into a start-up company called Apexian Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Kelley’s expertise in molecular biology has led to intellectual property rights on 12 published patents, with 16 more pending. They include new composition of matter and method of use patents for his lead drug and pipeline compounds.
Through her leadership with the Hoosier Cancer Research Network, Shadia Jalal, MD, is leading a Phase II clinical trial to investigate a combined therapy for small cell lung cancer.
The study will help determine whether the combination of guadecitabine with carboplatin is better, the same, or worse than the standard treatment, and will evaluate the good and bad effects of this combined therapy.
Using tumor tissue donated by cancer patient and Purdue “superfan” Tyler Trent, investigators Karen Pollok, PhD, and Jamie Renbarger, MD, are forging a path forward in treating pediatric sarcomas.
Renbarger and Pollok are co-leaders of the IU Precision Health pediatric sarcoma research team. Their partnership with Tyler and his family led to a notable breakthrough with a combination therapy that significantly slowed tumor growth.
In June 2021, Kun Huang, PhD, and colleagues were published in Nature Communications detailing their new computer program called Multi-Omics Graph cOnvolutional NETworks (MOGONET). The application integrates omics data—such as DNA, RNA and proteins—to help researchers identify potential biomarkers for cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.
While his team was polishing up that paper, Dr. Huang partnered with fellow EDT member Jie Zhang, PhD, and IU data scientist Travis Johnson, PhD, to discover an innovative approach to identifying how likely someone is to develop certain diseases.
The trio added deep learning to the RNA sequencing tool known as Seurat. They named their new system DEGAS—Diagnostic Evidence GAuge of Single Cells—and published their findings in the February 2022 issue of Genome Medicine.
Ubiquitination and degradation of SUMO1 by small-molecule degraders extends survival of mice with patient-derived tumors
Survival outcomes and toxicity in patients 40 years old or older with relapsed metastatic germ cell tumors treated with high-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation
MAL2 drives immune evasion in breast cancer by suppressing tumor antigen presentation
