Prof. James Tunnell is the recipient of a 5-year, $1.51 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute R01 grant titled, “Metal Nanoparticle Mediated Imaging, Targeting, and Treatment of Cancer.”
James Tunnell
Prof. James Tunnell is the recipient of a 5-year, $1.51 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute R01 grant titled, “Metal Nanoparticle Mediated Imaging, Targeting, and Treatment of Cancer.” This five-year project represents collaboration among researchers from the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Austin, and the University of California at Irvine.
The project focuses on the development of molecular imaging technologies for the screening, diagnosis, and therapy of cancer. Recent advances in nanotechnologies have produced a class of optically active metal particles with highly desirable molecular and optical properties suitable for both detection and treatment. “We will design nanoparticles that can be injected into the bloodstream where they will seek out and attach themselves to cancer cells within the body,” stated Tunnell. Once the nanoparticles have attached themselves to the cancer cells, they can be used to image and/or treat the cancer. Using weak levels of light, the particles act as imaging agents and can be used to locate the cancer. If treatment is desired, higher light levels can be used to destroy the cancer in a highly selective manner. The hope is to destroy cancer cells leaving adjacent normal cells unharmed. Tunnell said, “Our goal is to detect and treat cancer at the cellular level and at its earliest stage when survival rates are highest.”
