Virginia Tech researcher receives collaborative grant to improve cancer therapies
Chemical engineering Professor Padma Rajagopalan is designing 3D liver organoids to test the effects of chemotherapy.
Developing more effective treatment options for various diseases, including cancer, has become a top priority for researchers today.
In order to establish new forms of treatment, numerous steps must be taken to determine if the proposed treatment method is a viable option. The testing process can be challenging. It is often difficult to get samples, limiting the number of conditions tested, and current methods to image such samples are slow and tedious.
This has led Padma Rajagopalan, the Robert E. Hord Jr Professor of Chemical Engineering, to engineer a solution that is more sustainable and accurate when testing cancer treatments.
Rajagopalan, industry partner Ramona Optics, and Wake Forest Medical School, received a $2.4 million National Institute of Health Small Business Innovation Research grant to design 3D liver organoids using patient derived cells and new microscopy imaging technology.
Rajagopalan’s research on organoids — human-made mini-tissues that replicate the characteristics of organ tissues — is part of a larger, $18 million grant announced by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The award brings together five universities and more than 20 researchers, academics, and public health experts to establish the Virginia Tech-led Center for Community Empowering Pandemic Prediction and Prevention from Atoms to Societies (COMPASS).
Mini-tissues, major impact
The use of organoids represents a significant advancement in biomedical research. By providing a more accurate and comprehensive model of human tissues, organoids enable better understanding of drug effects and personalized treatment strategies, ultimately leading to improved health care outcomes.
“Using organoids for treatment testing instead of simpler, cell-based methods allows us to obtain more precise information,” Rajagopalan said. “Organoids provide better insights into how drugs or treatments, whether administered individually or in combination, affect each cell type and the tissue as a whole.”
Testing cancer treatments using a combination of microscopy and organoids is crucial because it allows researchers to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of new treatments in a more accurate and personalized manner, without worrying about destroying the sample. This approach is more sustainable and can lead to better-targeted treatments, ultimately speeding up the development of effective cancer therapies.
A clearer view of the future of cancer treatment
The team’s tailored approach to cancer treatment is made possible by patient-derived cancer cells provided by Wake Forest Medical School. These cells enable Rajagopalan’s research group to develop organoids that closely resemble a patient’s actual tumor environment, allowing for the testing of new drugs and evaluation of their effectiveness.
As part of the three-year study, Ramona Optics is teaming up with Rajagopalan’s team to employ a new microscope platform that will significantly accelerate the 3D imaging of organoids. This advanced microscope technology can simultaneously image 96 samples, operating 50 times faster than current methods. Additionally, it incorporates new machine learning image analysis software to automate quantification and generate novel insights.
The patient-derived 3D tumor organoids developed at Virginia Tech will be screened using this cutting-edge imaging technology to identify the most effective treatments, or combinations of treatments.
“We are incredibly excited about this project, especially considering its potential impact on cancer research,” Rajagopalan said. “We hope that our research will further enhance treatment options.”
Bridging academia and industry to create solutions
Collaborations between universities and industry partners create opportunities to develop technologies that can be easily translated to practical applications. Roarke Horstmeyer, the co-founder and scientific director of Ramona Optics, points to the significant impact of shared, continuous improvement goals between academic researchers and industry professionals on medical research.
“Universities are the foundational engine of basic scientific research where the boundaries of science are constantly being redefined. For example, Dr. Rajagopalan’s group designs and continually improves liver organoids, and tests the impact of drugs and toxins on these novel tissue structures,” Horstmeyer said. “Similarly, companies like ours are developing and refining new tools, such as imaging and image analysis platforms, to streamline scientists’ workflows and enable new discoveries.”
