{"70145":{"#nid":"70145","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Transformative NIH Grant to Support Imaging of Lung Cancer During Surgery","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf a tumor is more visible and easier to distinguish from surrounding tissues, surgeons will be more likely to be able to remove it completely. That\u2019s the rationale behind a new $7 million, five-year \u201ctransformative\u201d grant from the National Institutes of Health to a team of researchers from Emory, Georgia Tech and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe grant is part of the NIH Director\u2019s Awards Program funded by the NIH Common Fund.\n\nShuming Nie, PhD, and his colleagues at the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology have been developing fluorescent nanoparticle probes that hone in on cancer cells. The grant will support the team\u2019s continuing work on the nanoparticles and instruments that visualize them for cancer detection during surgery.\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe project team includes May Wang, PhD, director of biocomputing and bioinformatics at the Nanotechnology Center and Sunil Singhal, MD, director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine. Nie is a professor and Wang is associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cAt present, a significant group of patients who undergo surgery leave the operating room without a complete resection due to missed lesions,\u201d Nie says. \u201cOur main goals are to help surgeons distinguish tumor margins, identify diseased lymph nodes and micrometastases, and to determine if the tumor has been completely removed. Having these capabilities can be expected to make a major impact in reducing recurrence rates of lung cancer after surgery.\u201d\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe grant includes plans for tests of the nanoparticles and cancer detection instruments on dogs with naturally occurring lung tumors and a first-in-human clinical trial for patients with lung cancer at the University of Pennsylvania.\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe proposed technologies could be broadly applicable to many types of solid tumors. The project includes two types of contrast agents for detecting cancer: a fluorescent dye (indocyanine green, approved for in vivo use by the FDA) conjugated to the protein albumin, and polymer-coated gold particles coupled to a reporter dye and an antibody that binds to tumor cells. The gold in the particles amplifies the signal from the dye through an effect called surface-enhanced Raman scattering.\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENie and his colleagues have developed a hand-held device called a SpectroPen that can detect both fluorescence and Raman signals. The SpectroPen combines a near-infrared laser and a detector, and is connected by a fiber optic cable to a spectrometer, computer and video monitor.\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPrevious research leading to the current grant was supported by a Grand Opportunities grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the NIH Director\u2019s Office, and by the NCI Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) at Emory and Georgia Tech.\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe award was one of 17 granted this year through the NIH Director\u2019s Transformative Research Projects Program (T-R01), which was created to challenge the status quo with innovative ideas that have the potential to advance fields and speed the translation of research into improved health for the American public. The first group of Transformative R01 grants was funded in 2009.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnother T-RO1 grant, for $2 million over five years, was awarded to Todd McDevitt, PhD, director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech and an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, along with Coulter Department Associate Professor Johnna Temenoff, PhD, and Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Professor Robert Guldberg, PhD. The grant will support the development of tissue regeneration therapeutics for traumatic injuries and degenerative diseases.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe NIH Director\u2019s Award programs reinvigorate the biomedical work force by providing unique opportunities to conduct research that is neither incremental nor conventional,\u201d says James M. Anderson, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, who guides the Common Fund\u2019s High-Risk Research program. \u201cThe awards are intended to catalyze giant leaps forward for any area of biomedical research, allowing investigators to go in entirely new directions.\u201d\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMore information on the Transformative Research Projects Award is at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/commonfund.nih.gov\/T-R01\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/commonfund.nih.gov\/T-R01\u003C\/a\u003E including information on this year\u0027s awardees\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWriter: Quinn Eastman\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.whsc.emory.edu\/home\/about\/\u0022\u003ERobert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center\u003C\/a\u003E of Emory University is an academic health science and service center focused on missions of teaching, research, health care and public service.\n\nLearn more about Emory\u2019s health sciences: Blog: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/emoryhealthblog.com \u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/emoryhealthblog.com\u003C\/a\u003E Twitter: @emoryhealthsci Web: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/emoryhealthsciences.org\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/emoryhealthsciences.org\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Shuming Nie, PhD, and colleagues at the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology receive $7M, five-year award"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf a tumor is more visible and easier to distinguish from surrounding tissues, surgeons will be more likely to be able to remove it completely. That\u2019s the rationale behind a new $7 million, five-year \u201ctransformative\u201d grant from the National Institutes of Health to a team of researchers from Emory, Georgia Tech and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Shuming Nie, PhD, and colleagues at the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology receive $7M, five-year award"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2011-09-21 11:38:35","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:09","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70146":{"id":"70146","type":"image","title":"Shuming Nie, PhD","body":null,"created":"1449177288","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:48","changed":"1475894616","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:36","alt":"Shuming Nie, PhD","file":{"fid":"192916","name":"shuming_nie195.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shuming_nie195_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shuming_nie195_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":78274,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/shuming_nie195_0.jpg?itok=Y7-AKFau"}}},"media_ids":["70146"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"247","name":"Emory"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"248","name":"IBB"},{"id":"168899","name":"Shuming Nie"},{"id":"14382","name":"Transformative NIH Grant to Support Imaging of Lung Cancer During Surgery"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hkorsch@emory.edu\u0022\u003EHolly Korschun\u003C\/a\u003E - Media Contact\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["hkorsch@emory.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}