Project Description

For many locally-advanced tumors, chemoradiation is currently the standard care. This combination treatment, however, involves many side effects, which results in exclusion of many patients. Intratumoral chemotherapy has the potential to address the problem of systemic toxicity associated with conventional chemotherapy, and is a viable alternative for treating certain locally advanced tumors. However, there is still need for a better means to control the drug release rate in order to maintain the concentration of the drug inside the tumor within the therapeutic range for an extended time. To address this need, particularly in the context of clinical chemoradiation, we will develop a radiation-controlled drug release formulation that allows toxicity and side effects associated with chemoradiation to be minimized by encapsulating the drug with radiation-degradable capsules and injecting this formation into the patient’s tumor before normal radiation. This radiation-controlled drug release technology will enable patients to achieve the benefits of chemo-radio combination treatment with reduced negative effects, and will therefore present a new therapeutic option that has not previously been available for patients excluded from conventional chemo-radiotherapy protocols. The Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellow to be involved in this project will receive cross-disciplinary education/training in areas covering nanomedicine, radiobiology, and radiation oncology.

Start Date

January 1, 2020

Postdoc Qualifications 

Candidates are expected to have educational backgrounds in materials synthesis for biological applications such as drug delivery systems and nanomedicines. Additional experiences in molecular imaging, cell biology, molecular biology, handling of animal models or biochemistry are highly desirable. Fluency in written and spoken English is mandatory. The Gilberth Fellow is expected to independently work in Purdue University laboratories with the guidance of the above Co-Advisors.

Co-advisors 

You-Yeon Won
yywon@ecn.purdue.edu
Professor
School of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering

Carlos Perez-Torres
cperezto@purdue.edu
Assistant Professor
School of Health Sciences
College of Health & Human Sciences

References 

V. J. Pizzuti, R. Misra, J. Lee, S. E. Torregrosa-Allen, M. P. Currie, S. R. Clark, A. P. Patel, C. R. Schorr, Y. Jones-Hall, M. O. Childress, J. M. Plantenga, N. J. Rancilio, B. D. Elzey, Y.-Y. Won, “Folic Acid-Conjugated Radioluminescent Calcium Tungstate Nanoparticles as Radio-Sensitizers for Cancer Radiotherapy”, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering in press, 2019.

R. Misra, K. Sarkar, J. Lee, V. J. Pizzuti, D. S. Lee, M. P. Currie, S. E. Torregrosa-Allen, D. E. Long, G. A. Durm, M. P. Langer, B. D. Elzey, Y.-Y. Won, “Radioluminescent Nanoparticles for Radiation-Controlled Release of Drugs”, Journal of Controlled Release 303, 237-252, 2019 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2019.04.033).

S. D. Jo, J. Lee, M. K. Joo, V. Pizzuti, N. J. Sherck, S. Choi, B. S. Lee, S. H. Yeom, S. Y. Kim, S. H. Kim, I. C. Kwon, Y.-Y. Won, “PEG-PLA-Coated and Uncoated Radio-Luminescent CaWO4 Micro- and Nanoparticles for Concomitant Radiation and UV-A/Radio-Enhancement Cancer Treatments”, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering 4(4), 1445-1462, 2018 (DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.8b00119).

A. J. Boria, C. J. Perez-Torres, “Minimal Difference between Fractionated and Single-Fraction Exposure in a Murine Model of Radiation Necrosis”, Radiation Oncology 14, 144, 2019. (DOI: 10.1186/s13014-019-1356-3)

A. J. Boria, C. J. Perez-Torres, “Influence of Dose Uniformity when Replicating a Gamma Knife Mouse Model of Radiation Necrosis with a Preclinical Irradiator”, Radiation Research 191, 352–359, 2019. (DOI: 10.1667/RR15273.1)