AI Summary
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has awarded $45 million to a team of researchers led by Rice University. The funding will be used to develop implant technology that monitors cancer and adjusts immunotherapy treatment in real time. The technology aims to improve outcomes for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer. This approach, known as 'closed-loop therapy,' has been successful in managing diabetes. The researchers believe this technology has the potential to significantly reduce cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has awarded $45 million to rapidly develop sense-and-respond implant technology that could slash U.S. cancer-related deaths by more than 50%.
The award to a Rice University-led team of researchers from seven states will fast-track development and testing of a new approach to cancer treatment that aims to dramatically improve immunotherapy outcomes for patients with ovarian, pancreatic and other difficult-to-treat cancers.
Instead of tethering patients to hospital beds, IV bags and external monitors, we’ll use a minimally invasive procedure to implant a small device that continuously monitors their cancer and adjusts their immunotherapy dose in real time. This kind of ‘closed-loop therapy’ has been used for managing diabetes, where you have a glucose monitor that continuously talks to an insulin pump. But for cancer immunotherapy, it’s revolutionary.”
Omid Veiseh, Rice bioengineer, principal investigator (PI) on the ARPA-H cooperative agreement
Rice President Reginald DesRoches said, “Rice is proud to be the recipient of the second major funding award from the ARPA-H, a new funding agency established last year to support research that catalyzes health breakthroughs. The research Rice bioengineer Omid Veiseh is doing in leading this team is truly groundbreaking and could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. This is the type of research that makes a significant impact on the world.”
The team includes engineers, physicians and multidisciplinary specialists in synthetic biology, materials science, immunology, oncology, electrical engineering, artificial intelligence and other fields spanning 20 different research