Qianben Wang, PhD, and his team have received support to develop a therapeutic gene therapy product to treat a lethal form of prostate cancer. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded them a two-year Translation Research Grant (TRG) to further their research of visceral metastasis, which utilizes a tri-targeting nanosystem package to deliver the gene therapy specifically to the visceral organs, cancer cells, and the oncogenic transcription factor.
This therapy aims to minimize metastasis and improve survival rates. The grant will be effective on July 1, 2023, and represents a milestone in his lab’s endeavors to advance scientific discoveries towards commercialization opportunities.
The TRG project is a team-driven effort. Wang is the Pricipal Investigator, joining forces with Medical Oncologist Andrew Armstrong, MD, MSc (Duke Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology); Technology Transfer Officer Christy Ferguson, PhD; Business Case Adviser Michale Hannan, MBA, HSM (Duke Office for Translation & Commercilization); and his lab’s scientists Hongyan Wang, PhD, and Zhifen Cui, PhD.
