$175K in pilot grants awarded to UC cancer researchers
Pilot grants totaling $175,000 were recently awarded to University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers to fund projects dedicated to advancing science and finding new therapies for pancreatic and head and neck cancers.
Xiaoyang Qi, PhD, and Fukun Guo, PhD
GIVEHOPE Pancreatic Cancer Research and Awareness Fund:
$47,500 to Xiaoyang Qi, PhD, professor in the Division of Hematology Oncology, member of the Cincinnati Cancer Center and UC Cancer Institute. Qi and his team will study a cellular structure and function in metastatic pancreatic cancer cells and determine the therapeutic efficacy of nanovesicles by blocking certain cancer-causing pathways in cancer development and spread.
$47,500 to Fukun Guo, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a researcher at Cincinnati Children’s. Guo and his team will determine the efficacy of chemical targeting of animal and human regulatory T cells (a type of white blood cells) as a way to trigger immunity against pancreatic tumor formation.
Yana Zavros, PhD
Steven Goldman Memorial Pancreatic Cancer Research Grant:
$55,000 to Yana Zavros, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology, and her team. As Zavros received funds from the Goldman grant last year, her continuing project will focus on putting individual pancreatic cancer patient immune cells into an organoid culture to predict the best treatment for that person. An organoid is a three-dimensional, multicellular miniaturized version of the tissue or organ from which it was derived. The hope is that this personalized assessment will improve outcomes for patients.
Vinita Takiar, MD, PhD
Brandon C. Gromada Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Research Fund:
$25,000 to Vinita Takiar, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and member of the UC Cancer Institute, and her multidisciplinary team including medical oncologist Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, surgeon Alice Tang, MD, and post-doctoral fellow Christina Wicker, PhD. Their project will collect pilot data for a new approach to treatment of head and neck cancers by looking first at patient-derived organoids. Growing tumors in the lab directly from patients will provide the researchers with a new way to study head and neck cancers and test treatment options.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.
Combination immunotherapy helps overcome melanoma treatment resistance
November 10, 2025
MSN highlighted research led by the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center's Trisha Wise-Draper showing a combination of immunotherapy medications can activate a robust immune response and help overcome treatment resistance in patients with refractory melanoma.