Best of: Guided missiles target cancer

Almost everyone knows someone who has battled cancer. Today, on The Future of Everything, we’re re-running our episode with Professor Jennifer Cochran who is bringing some hope in this area through work she and her lab are doing to find ways to localize therapies directly to the site of cancer tumors for more efficient and effective treatment. You won’t want to miss this one, it’s full of inspiring insights that will hopefully move us toward a future of improving outcomes for cancer patients.Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / MastodonConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / FacebookChapters:(00:00:00) IntroductionHost Russ Altman introduces the episode, highlighting the widespread impact of cancer and the need for innovative treatment methods.(00:00:45) Traditional Cancer TreatmentsOverview of conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Challenges and limitations associated with existing treatments.(00:03:30) New Approaches to Cancer TherapyExploration of targeted therapies utilizing biological understanding of cancer cells. (00:05:46) Guided Chemotherapy MissilesIntroduction of guest Dr. Jennifer Cochran and her work developing ‘guided chemotherapy missiles’. Dr Cochran explains how they work and the benefits of them.(00:09:04) Directed Evolution and Designer ProteinsIntroduction to the concept of directed evolution, the process of driving evolution in a test tube to create designer proteins with specific properties.(00:11:16) Utilizing Squirting Cucumber Seed Peptides for ChemotherapyDr. Cochran discusses how they transformed a peptide from the seeds of the squirting cucumber into a tumor-targeting agent, the challenges of the process and the current state of the research.(00:14:56) Immunotherapy and Cancer TreatmentIntroduction to immunotherapy and how these therapies work in our body to fight cancers(00:16:45) Orchestrating Immune Responses: Combining Immunotherapy and Targeted MoleculesDr. Cochran explains the collaboration between tumor targeting technology and immunotherapy and current developments.(00:20:08) Making Immunotherapy Accessible: Challenges and InnovationsDr. Cochran discusses the availability of immunotherapies for cancer patients and the need for broader accessibility.(00:21:30) Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Technology ApplicationExploration of interdisciplinary collaborative research, the challenges and opportunities.(00:22:59) Translating Lab Discoveries into TreatmentsRuss & Jennifer discuss the process and challenges of translating lab research from academia into actual drug development including “ the valley of death” Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / MastodonConnect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.