Research on pancreatic cancer detection device moves forward
Research on pancreatic cancer detection device moves forward Heading link
Mathew Mathew Thoppil, PhD, received a $50,000 Phase I Proof of Concept Award from UIC Innovation to continue developing biosensor technology to detect pancreatic cancer in its earlier, more treatable stages. He will also receive support from the UIC Office of Technology Management to help bring the device to market. Dr. Mathew is the co-director of the Regenerative Medicine and Disability Laboratory, director of faculty research and the Cedric W. Blazer Endowed Professor of Biomedical Sciences at UICOMR.
Dr. Mathew’s project, “Electrochemical, Nanoengineered and Intelligent Biosensor for the Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer (PancreaAlert),” will be the first to create a machine learning cloud-based model to predict pancreatic cancer risk levels based on the detection of certain biomarkers in blood.
Dr. Gnanasekar Munirathinam, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford (UICOMR); Dr. Christopher Gondi, a research associate professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria; Dr. VK. Gadi, professor and director of medical oncology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine; and Dr. Charles Frisbie, medical device labs director at the UIC Innovation Center, are the collaborators of this grant.
He also acknowledges the contributions of Dr. Mareeswari Paramsivan, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UICOMR; former postdoctoral research associate Dr. Hemalatha Kanniyappan; MBT Students Meenal Karunanidhi, Rashwitha Saldanha and Avdhi Tripathi; Melissa Maderia, assistant director, scientific collaboration director of West Loop Innovations; and Roopa Foulger, vice president of digital innovation Development at OSF HealthCare.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the US after lung and colon cancer. More than 50,000 Americans died last year from pancreatic cancer, mainly because it is difficult to diagnose and symptoms don’t occur until the disease has progressed and may have spread to other organs. A commercially available blood test for early detection could prolong and save lives.