| Grant ID | RP190658 |
| Awarded On | August 21, 2019 |
| Title | Engineering a protoype for label-free separation and staining-free detection of circulating tumor cells |
| Program | Academic Research |
| Award Mechanism | Bridging the Gap: Early Translational Research Awards |
| Institution/Organization | Texas Tech University |
| Principal Investigator/Program Director | Siva Vanapalli |
| Cancer Sites | Breast, Lung and Bronchus, Pancreas |
| Contracted Amount | $657,222 |
| Lay Summary |
Detection of circulating tumor cells in the blood of cancer patients offers rich diagnostic and prognostic value for developing new biomarkers and prescribing personalized treatments. Despite the attractiveness of this liquid-biopsy approach, challenges remain including obtaining CTCs of high purity and detecting them without fixation with markers. A label-free isolation and staining-free detection technology will allow facile genetic sequencing of live CTCs to discover new biomarkers and follow treatment outcomes. In this translational study, we aim to engineer a portable prototype that allows high purity CTC isolation combined with artificial-intelligence-based detection of CTCs. This powe... |