Improving cancer therapies

Confocal microscopy image showing the uptake of fluorescently-labelled pore forming proteins (green) by cancer cells (membrane in red, nuclei in blue).

October 2011

The ability to efficiently deliver large therapeutic molecules into cancer cells without harming healthy cells remains a largely unsolved technological challenge. Dr. Christina Cortez Jugo from Monash University aims to address this problem by developing sophisticated, nanoscale therapeutic carriers, with improved efficacy and specificity. Her Fellowship project will investigate the use of pore-forming proteins, which have the ability to temporarily puncture cells, in order to facilitate the transport of therapeutic molecules into cancer cells.

The scientific and technological advances in drug delivery and nanomedicine that would be enabled by this work are poised to revolutionise cancer treatment and lead to improved healthcare for many Victorians.