Research News

Clinical trial to test immunotherapy combination in surgical pancreatic cancer patients    

Pancreatic Cancer trial

Hollings Cancer Center researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina received $900,000 in funding for a three-year oncology translational studies program concept from Merck to do a Phase II study that potentially can offer a new treatment for pancreatic cancer patients, a population in desperate need of new treatment options, said one of the leading researchers and surgeon E. Ramsay Camp, M.D.Camp, who joins forces with Mark Rubinstein, Ph.D., on this study, said it capitalizes on the innovative immunotherapy research happening in Rubinstein’s lab.

Drs. Mehrotra and OgretmenLipo-ImmunoTech,receives grant to develop a novel cancer immunotherapy technology

Lipo-ImmunoTech, LLC, a startup based in Charleston, South Carolina, recently received a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant of just over $224,000 to continue to develop its novel adoptive cell therapy technology for cancer. The startup is a joint venture involving Shikhar Mehrotra, Ph.D., an immunologist, and Besim Ogretmen, Ph.D., a sphingolipid expert, both of whom are Hollings Cancer Center researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. Lipo-ImmunoTech also executed an option agreement with the MUSC Foundation for Research Development, which gives it the rights to evaluate the technology further with an eye toward eventually licensing it for commercialization.

 

Ashley Hink, M.D., MPH leads national collaborative research study on gun violence 

Firearm injury is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. for youth and young adults, and those who survive their injuries may suffer long-term poor physical, mental health and social outcomes. Ashley Hink, M.D., MPH, is a key member of a research team with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma who secured a grant from the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research to prospectively study risk factors and outcomes of firearm injuries treated at over 70 trauma centers across the U.S. Dr. Hink and Dr. Anne Andrews from the Department of Pediatrics are also laying the groundwork to initiate an MUSC Hospital and Community Violence Prevention & Intervention Program for our patients and community members. 

Hongjun Wang, Ph.D.named to prestigious NIH Study Section  

Hongjun Wang, Ph.D. in her labDr. Hongjun Wang has been invited by the NIH to serve as a  permanent member of the Cellular Aspects of Diabetes and Obesity Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, for the term beginning July 01, 2020 and ending June 30, 2024.  They will meet three times a year and review 70-80 submissions per meeting. Wang has been a temporary reviewer for the NIH since 2016. She had been invited to participated in more than 20 NIH study sections sessions and has served as chair of two NIH special emphasis panels. A highly rigorous process, members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline.   “It is a great honor to serve the NIH as a permanent member of this Study Section,” said Wang.