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Indian American scientist selected for Biden Cancer Moonshot scholars program
Dr. Jyothi will participate in the five-year funding-supported program, which is expected to significantly improve liver cancer treatment
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Dr. Jyothi Menon / Image: Professor Jason Jaacks-University of Rhode Island.
Indian-origin associate professor at Rhode Island University, Dr. Jyothi Menon, is one of the eleven researchers selected for the first cohort of the Biden Cancer Moonshot Scholars program. The White House chose her research proposal to create a multifunctional nanoparticle formulation to slow the progression of chronic alcoholic liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma.
A native of Kerala, Jyothi grew up in Doha, Qatar. She moved to the United States in 2006 to pursue her higher studies under the joint program between UT Arlington and UT Southwestern medical center, Dallas. In 2014, she went to the United Kingdom and spent time at Oxford University, where she completed her post-doctoral studies in oncology research. On moving back to the States in 2017, she joined the University of Rhode Island..
"I am developing a carrier for the drug treating liver cancer in alcoholic patients," the research scientist explained to New India Abroad. "Liver cancers cause deaths that are the fastest among those caused by other cancers. The nanoparticle formulation will deliver effective treatment of the target cells," she added.
To put it into perspective, one nanoparticle will be 500-1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The super tiny nanocapsules can stay in the blood for a longer period of time and will not be cleared quickly. The goal is to keep the drug from being consumed in the stream before it reaches the target tissue.
Orally administered drugs must pass through the stomach, liver, and other organ tissues, where they are absorbed, reducing the amount of drug that reaches the target area and making the treatment less effective. This is where the carriers come into play. According to Jyothi, these nanocarriers also protect healthy tissue from drug exposure.
The drug delivered via nanocarrier will eventually be released to treat the target's tissue. The surface material of these nanocarriers can be modified using natural lipids, gelatin collagen, or using synthetic ones produced in labs so that they recognize the molecules released by the target tissue, Jyoti elaborated.
President Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot program a year ago to support early-career researchers and help build a cancer research workforce that better reflects the diversity of the United States. The Biden-Harris Administration, through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is committing $5.4 million in the first year to support the inaugural cohort.
The diverse group of researchers announced in the first cohort are working on projects at institutions across the country to advance research in prostate, pancreatic, liver, lung, cervical, brain, and rectal cancers. The Administration intends to fund up to 30 additional Cancer Moonshot Scholars by 2025, with the next application period closing in February 2024, said a White House release.
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