Focus on Projects
The partnership currently supports four projects:

CREATING ANTI-CANCER DRUGS: Dr. Stephen Weiss and his lab created a procedure to grow tumor cells and endothelial cells in a 3-D culture that mimics the growth of actual metastatic cells in the human body.The Weiss team is using this pioneering model to look for antibodies that will prevent the spread of breast cancer.

TREATING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE: Dr. Jason Gestwicki's team is working with the Innovation Partnership to devise techniques for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, and create drugs that will someday stop the protein misfolding that causes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

FIGHTING BACTERIAL INFECTION: Dr. David Ginsburg discovered that our bodies use blood clots to surround Strep A bacteria and fight infection. The bacteria use molecular “scissors” to cut their way around the clot and spread throughout the body.  Ginsburg’s team is perfecting a small molecular compound that will blunt the scissors and stop infection from spreading.

DEVELOPING NEW DIABETES TREATMENTS: Dr. Alan Saltiel and his lab team have discovered that the cell protein IKKe is involved in the chronic low-grade inflammation that leads to insulin resistance. Saltiel’s team is transforming this knowledge into therapeutic drugs for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.