UNBC Closer To Unique Cancer Drug Research Program
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UNBC Professor Dr Chow Lee's research project receives CFI funding
Prince George, B.C. - A research effort at UNBC that hopes to one day pinpoint more potent anti-cancer drugs has received a financial boost from the federal government...
The project, spearheaded by Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Professor, Dr. Chow Lee, has been awarded a grant of $87,376 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The funding will help purchase highly-specialized equipment that will allow researchers to screen chemical molecules for their cancer-fighting potential and provide a glimpse into how they might act as drugs.
Dr. Lee says the research will be the first of its kind in Canada - its goal is to develop a method of flagging chemicals that interfere with cancerous activity. Lee has been studying the protein CRD-BP, which is only over-produced in many cancers including: breast, lung, ovarian, colon, and skin cancers. Research at UNBC, and around the world, so far indicates that CRD-BP is associated with cancers because it physically interacts with certain RNA molecules that code for cancer-causing proteins. Dr. Lee and his team hope to find chemical molecules that have the ability to break that interaction.
"This equipment will allow researchers to 'preview' how the identified molecules act as anti-cancer agents," says Dr. Lee. "Any chemical molecules that we flag are expected to act through a new molecular pathway to inhibit the development of tumours."
In responding to news of the grant, Prince George-Peace River MP, Bob Zimmer, says, "Our government's commitment to helping universities, like UNBC, attract world-leading research talent will lead to discoveries that improve the quality of life of Canadians and create new jobs."
The CFI funding brings the total collected for the equipment to more than $135-thousand dollars of the $223-thousand dollar overall cost. "I'd also like to thank the Northern Cancer Control Strategy for their contribution, as well as the university for investing seed money into this project," says Dr. Lee.
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Posted by: gus on January 28 2012 10:13 AM
If cancer tumors were in fact a fungus, I expect the treatments would be quite different than the conventional ones.
This is a very touchy subject and involves billions of dollars each year spent on research.