Breaking Barriers: Help UM Scientists Beat Brain Cancer
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Dr. Eden Tanner, an Ole Miss professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is literally breaking barriers with her research.
Tanner, a drug delivery scientist, is dedicated to finding ways to make sure life-saving drugs can cross the blood-brain barrier and effectively treat diseases that affect the brain, especially cancer.
Patients suffering from brain cancer almost always need surgery, because the current drug delivery system for chemotherapy is very ineffective against the natural mechanisms in the brain that protect it against outside chemicals.
“The brain is an example of perhaps the most difficult place in the body to deliver medicine to,” Tanner said. “The problem with chemotherapy for brain cancer is that you just can't get enough of the medicine into the brain, and you can't keep it there at high enough concentrations for it to be effective. So, basically, people are left with very few options, one of which is surgical resection. But that’s not always possible.”
A Literal Breakthrough
Dr. Eden Tanner presented her research earlier this year in a Tedx Talk.Tanner and her research team have discovered a way to break through the blood-brain barrier and deliver life-saving medicine directly into the brain using nanotechnology. Microscopic particles of medicine are coated with an ionic liquid that helps the particles bind to red blood cells and travel to the brain. The nanoparticles are designed to detach in the tight junctions of brain capillaries, ensuring that life-saving medicine gets where it should go.
“Imagine you live in, like, a remote part of the country, and you've never been able to receive mail,” Tanner said. “Our job is to basically plow the roads, design the mail route and make sure that the mail gets delivered.”
Tanner’s research with ionic liquid-coated nanoparticles of medicines can be used to treat other diseases in other areas of the body as well.
Loss of Crucial Funding
However, it’s her research into treating glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer, that recently lost its National Institutes of Health grant in federal funding cuts. Tanner is in the process of applying for alternate grants, but the approvals can take months. In the meantime, this life-saving research must continue!
The University of Mississippi College of Liberal Arts is committed to supporting Tanner’s team and their research fighting brain cancer while she waits on alternate grant funding. To keep this barrier-breaking research going, we are asking for your help! Your gifts can keep graduate students working on Tanner’s team and help pay for chemical agents and other lab supplies.
Time lost on this important research could mean more lives lost to brain cancer. Tanner feels strongly that with or without grant funding, this project must continue. With this project, Ole Miss is fighting cancer on the front lines. Please join us in the fight and make a gift to this research now!
Dr. Tanner and one of her research partners, Dr. Jason Paris, are researching the ways ionic liquids can transform drug delivery and help beat cancer. Give now to keep their research going!
$50
50% of Malignant Tumors
Glioblastomas account for more than 50% of all malignant brain tumors diagnosed and can affect people of all ages. Unfortunately, the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with glioblastomas is between 5%-10%. The research conducted by Dr. Eden Tanner's team aims to increase that survival rate by improving the drug delivery system to the brain and making non-surgical treatments more effective.
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Increasing Rates
Recent studies published in medical journals have indicated that glioblastoma diagnosis rates are rising significantly in recent years. One 10-year study of 100 people published in 2020 showed an increase in cases from less than one person in 100,000 to more than four people in 100,000. Although these increases may be driven by improved imaging and diagnostic technology, some researchers believe rates may be rising due to radiation or pollution. Since glioblastoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and among the hardest to treat, any research that can be used to improve outcomes is essential -- quickly!
$365
365 Days
After Dr. Tanner's team was informed that their grant funding would not continue, they immediately re-applied for new funding using a different source. The researchers believe that they will be approved for new grant funding, but the process from grant submission to funding takes about one year. "People living with glioblastoma, frankly, don't have a year," Tanner said. "So we can't stop our work. We have to keep going now." Please give $365 to keep Tanner and her team working on this life-saving research.
$1,000
1,000 Cases Every Month
In the United States, around 12,000 cases of glioblastoma are diagnosed each year, or about 1,000 per month. Currently, there is no cure for glioblastoma, and most treatments are unfortunately not effective in the long term. Even if a tumor is surgically removed, it almost always recurs. With Dr. Tanner's research, Ole Miss can be at the forefront of fighting this deadly disease and help people survive. Please give $1,000 to keep fighting brain cancer!