Three Duke scientists have received a major federal grant to develop a technology that has the potential to reshape how researchers understand cancer at its earliest, most aggressive stages.
On April 28, 2026, Associate Professor of Pathology Ming Chen, PhD, Yarui Diao, PhD, associate professor of Cell Biology and who holds a secondary appointment in the Duke Department of Pathology, and Anoop Patel, MD, associate professor of Neurosurgery were awarded a three‑year, $1.2 million R33 grant from the National Cancer Institute’s Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program.
The award will support the team’s development of single-cell Hi‑C with assay for transposase‑accessible chromatin and RNA sequencing (scHiCAR). This single-cell platform was invented by the Diao laboratory and was recently published in Nature Biotechnology; it captures three layers of information from the same individual cell:
- 3D genome structure (how DNA folds and interacts)
- Chromatin Accessibility (which regulatory regions are “open” and active)
- Gene expression (which genes are turned on)
By combining these measurements, scHiCAR allows a robust analysis of genetic and epigenetic changes that drive cancer initiation, metastasis, and recurrence in mice and humans. In other words, it allows scientists to see not only what a cancer cell is doing, but why.
Collaboration Across Duke
The project brings together complementary expertise across Duke:
- Chen specializes in mouse models of cancer and tumor evolution.
- Diao is a leader in developing next‑generation genomics technologies.
- Patel contributes deep expertise in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) recurrence, one of the most challenging and deadly brain cancers.
Securing this R33 technology development grant is a testament to Duke’s collaborative research culture and to the research team’s drive to build and test new technologies that can better understand cancer at the molecular and cellular level. Their work has the potential to accelerate discoveries that lead to more precise diagnostics and more effective therapies.
To learn more about the Diao Lab's research, please click here. To learn more about the Chen Lab's research, please click here. To learn about Patel’s research interests, please click here.