Biomedical Odyssey

Life at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Concept image of a structure of the genetic code.

Next Generation Cancer Diagnostics Revolutionize Patient Care

October 5, 2020

Next generation cancer diagnostics are poised to change the way that cancer is detected and treated. Ph.D. candidate Roshan Chikarmane shares his perspectives on the teams and technologies that are leading the charge.

Roshan Chikarmane ⋅ Perspectives in Research Cancer, cancer research, cancer treatment, diagnostics, Technology ⋅

Silver bullet in flight

Engineering Magic Bullets for Pancreatic Cancer

February 4, 2019

In a 1909 manuscript titled “Ueber den jetzigen Stand der Chemotherapie” (“About the Current State of Chemotherapy”), Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich proclaimed, “We must learn to aim in a chemical sense.” What did he mean? Ehrlich was referring to his “magic bullet” theory of chemical specificity, the observation that certain drugs can eliminate disease-causing entities […]

Roshan Chikarmane ⋅ Perspectives in Research Cancer, cancer research, Pancreatic Cancer ⋅

Melanoma cells

The Colorful World of Cancer Drug Discovery

September 25, 2018

Melanoma cells stained with PTRF (in red), RPA194 (in green) and nucleus stained in blue. RPA194 is the main subunit of the RNA polymerase I (POL 1) enzyme. Our lab discovered a first-in-class small molecule that inhibits POL 1 enzyme and causes the destruction of RPA194 protein. Here, we are investigating how these proteins are […]

Jin-Yih Low ⋅ Perspectives in Research Cancer, cancer research, in the lab, Instagram ⋅

cancer cell illustration iStock 888730408_640

Using Epigenetics to Fight Tumors

January 30, 2018

While the word cancer treatment may identify everything from chemotherapy to radiation, there is significant variance between the type of cancer and its responsiveness to even the most promising therapies. That has been precisely the case for the α-PD-1 immunotherapy treatment. While it has shown remarkable efficacy in patients diagnosed with lung cancer, other types […]

Rachel Evans ⋅ Perspectives in Research Cancer, cancer research, cancer treatment, ovarian cancer ⋅

scientists machine technology iStock 542939804_640

When Cancer Hits Home: A Researcher’s Call to Action

November 8, 2017

My fifth grade world — a typical one concerned with classes, friends, recess, lunch menus and dreading middle school — forever changed one day, when I sat on the ABC-patterned carpet in my classroom and watched my favorite teacher hide tears from the class. I first met her in third grade. She was always peppy […]

Natalie Joe ⋅ A Day in the Life cancer research ⋅

Did you know that less than 10% of cancer patients enrolled in a clinical trail are racial or ethnic minorities

Understanding Disparities in Clinical Trial Enrollment

August 31, 2017

When scientists and clinicians hear the words “clinical trial”, we may think of hope, discovery, and a new chance at life. But for racial and ethnic minorities, these words may not have the same positive connotation but may rather be associated with inaccessibility, fear, and exclusion. The potential benefits for patients who participate in clinical […]

Brittany Avin ⋅ Perspectives in Research cancer research, clinical research ⋅

petri dishes

Nobel Prize Winning Research May Lead to New Therapies for Cancer, Alzheimer’s

November 3, 2016

Yoshinori Ohsumi of the University of Tokyo was recently awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in mechanisms for autophagy. What is autophagy? From the Greek roots “auto,“ or self, and “phagia,” or eating, the word literally means self-eating. In cell biology, autophagy describes the way that cells recycle unneeded […]

Sarah Robbins ⋅ Perspectives in Research alzheimers disease, cancer research, nobel prize ⋅

Recent NIH Funding and Moonshot Initiatives: Are they They Helping or Hindering?

February 8, 2016

During the final month of 2015, Congress passed a $1.1 trillion federal spending bill that would keep the government fiscally solvent into September 2016. Along with large tax breaks, new cyber security programs and ending a ban on oil exports, new appropriations were made for the world’s largest research agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH). […]

dustingreen ⋅ Perspectives in Research cancer research, NIH, Research Budgets ⋅

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