Patrick Stayton, a professor of bioengineering at the UW, was recently awarded a grant of more than $7 million by the Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF). According to its Web site, the LSDF supports innovative research in Washington state to promote life sciences competitiveness, enhance economic vitality and improve health and health care. The grant will be used to build a new interdisciplinary Center for Intracellular Delivery of Biologics (CIDB).

“The funding will accelerate the pace of our research focused on the targeting of anti-cancer agents to intracellular locations in cells ­— particularly cancer cells,” said Oliver Press, co-director of the research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The grant money is also being put to use researching biologic drugs, advanced drugs that are made up of large molecules like DNA, RNA or proteins. “Biologics have many potential advantages compared to small molecules as can be seen in their efficacy and safety profiles with targets outside of cells,” Stayton said.

Currently, the biggest problem with these drugs is that there is no way to get them inside of the cells. Stayton and his team of researchers, who come from many different areas within the health sciences field, are developing polymers that will transport these big molecules past the cell membranes.

“Viruses and pathogens such as diphtheria have remarkable molecular machines that enhance transport of DNA, RNA or proteins across the cell membrane and to the proper locations inside of their target cells,” Stayton said. “Our group became interested in these biological strategies, and has developed synthetic polymers that exhibit similar functional properties. We are still at a very early stage, but if we can really solve this difficult challenge with safe and effective biologic carriers, we would open up a new universe of intracellular targets that are currently inaccessible to biologics development.”

The CIDB will bring together an interdisciplinary team of scientists to try to perfect the polymer.

“This grant allows a multi-disciplinary attack on cancer that spans several departments, research institutes and [industries],” Press said.

The CIDB has many implications for the bioengineering industry, especially for students hoping to enter the field.

“The bioengineering and other students will, of course, benefit from relevant training that is connected to current needs, and should find better job opportunities in the biotechnology world,” Stayton added.

Stayton and his team see the grant as a much-needed opportunity to take their research to the next level.

“It is very difficult to find the sort of large funding needed to bring together researchers across the spectrum of bioengineering, pharmaceutics and clinical medicine, and to fund this type of translational work that is aimed at developing real medical products.” Stayton said. “This grant … can truly develop new early-stage therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory diseases.”

Reach reporter Chaitra Sriram at news@dailyuw.com.