A new project that aims to reduce side effects for anticancer drugs that treat blood cancers has been awarded $1 million, as part of the latest round of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant scheme.
The three-year project is being led by University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow Dr Christina Cortez-Jugo, Associate Professor Francesca Cavalieri and Dr Roop Bhangu, all from the Department of Chemical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.
Their team will collaborate with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and Biotech company Aculeus Therapeutics. They will seek to develop new formulations that enable extended release of chemotherapy drugs, allowing for lower dosage and reduced side effects in treatment.
“Current treatment of aggressive blood cancers using high dosages of chemotherapy can result in severe side effects and long hospitalisation time,” Dr Cortez-Jugo said.
“Through this grant, we can explore safer ways to administer treatment and expand options for thousands of Australians and people across the globe.”
Blood cancers include leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. An estimated 20,000 Australians will be diagnosed with a blood cancer this year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This accounts for 12 per cent of all cancer cases in Australia.
The NHMRC Ideas Grants program is designed to support innovative and creative health and medical research projects. This project forms part of the $278 million in funding awarded to successful applicants in this round.
