Song Li, MD, PhD has received a 5 year RO1 grant from National Cancer Institute entitled “Developing Nano Technology for HER2 Directed Therapy.” This is a multiple grant with Dr. Ajay Rana from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
HER2-positive breast cancer has limited treatment options and can quickly develop resistance to anti-HER2 therapies. Ceramide is effective in killing the resistant cancer cells but has limited efficacy in vivo due to its poor accumulation in the tumor tissues. Li’s group will develop a polymer-based delivery system for selective delivery of ceramide to the tumor tissues to improve the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.
Li is a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Center for Pharmacogenetics, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.