Saunjoo Yoon
University of Florida, FL·Pharmacology
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. Only 5–8% of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common form, survive five years.
- Fields
Pharmacology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biomedical Engineering
- Topics
pancreatic cancer
pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
gemcitabine
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Test the effectiveness of 4NSGnpcetu, anti-EGFR antibody-coated nanoparticles carrying a modified gemcitabine, in patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoids with stroma and in primary tumor cells from patients.
- Evaluate the therapeutic effect of 4NSGnpcetu in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models carrying patient pancreatic tumors under the skin.
- Measure dCK, the enzyme that activates gemcitabine, at the RNA and protein level in PDX tumors, and compare dCK SNP genotypes in pancreatic cancer cases and controls to relate dCK variation to drug response.
More about the research
Some populations in the project's region face higher risk and worse survival after treatment. Strong chemotherapy combinations such as FOLFIRINOX cause serious side effects, and the drug gemcitabine (Gem) often stops working. Gem can fail because tumor cells make fewer nucleoside transporters, the proteins that carry it into cells, and because an enzyme called CDA breaks it down. Gem also needs the enzyme deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) to convert it into its active form.
Why it matters
Pancreatic cancer patients have few effective, tolerable treatment options, and some populations face higher risk and poorer survival. A targeted gemcitabine nanoparticle could make chemotherapy more effective against pancreatic tumors. Linking dCK variants to drug response could also help identify which patients are most likely to benefit.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Shi-He Liu
University of Toledo, OH·Biomedical Engineering
Evaluate whether exosomes displaying both the tumor-homing peptide RGD and the CD47 "don't eat me" peptide on surface protein CD9 (ExoSmart) target pancreatic cancer, using stroma-rich 3D human tumor spheroids in vitro and in vivo.
Nicholas Woods
University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether Tazemetostat, which blocks the gene-silencing complex PRC2, prevents chemotherapy-induced shifts in tumor subtype, using organoids grown from tumors of Black and White PDAC patients.
Tao Lu
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Pharmacology
Scale up production of Abxtal-CM01, the PRMT5 inhibitor CM01 packaged as albumin-coated nanocrystals, and characterize its size and physical properties.
The school
University of Florida: 65 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 795 research doctorates a year.
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