Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award

描述（由申请人提供）：这个“指导定量研究发展奖”将促进候选人，工程师，成为一名生物学家。它将通过采取课程，以获得生物学/医学的基础知识，并通过指导研究开发相关的研究技能来实现。选定的课程将包括核心课程，包括生物医学科学的基础知识和高级课程。生物医学研究经验将通过在导师和共同导师的实验室轮换获得。该指导研究旨在开发一个平台，以浓缩和富集急性白血病细胞，用于检测微小残留病（MRD）。MRD是指在治疗期间或治疗后患者处于缓解期（无疾病症状或体征）时残留在患者体内的残留恶性细胞的存在。目前的基准方法对于检测外周血中所有剩余的肿瘤细胞不够灵敏。因此，具有更高灵敏度的平台将是期望的，因为MRD可以将需要强化和潜在毒性更大的治疗的那些患者与不需要的那些患者区分开。该项目的具体目标是：（1）设计和制造白血病细胞富集装置;（2）使用与急性淋巴细胞白血病细胞特异性结合的适体证明装置中白血病细胞的富集;（3）通过分析临床样本中的白血病细胞来验证平台技术并检测MRD。本研究的意义在于以下几个方面。首先，拟议的研究将导致一个平台，用于快速有效地富集急性白血病细胞。该平台将提供一种可测量的方法来确定是否需要任何额外的化疗;这将为白血病患者带来显着的好处，因为可以避免不必要的毒性治疗。其次，该平台可以很容易地适用于其他癌症的稀有循环细胞的富集。这些罕见肿瘤细胞的分离可以为早期癌症筛查和医学诊断提供机会。第三，拟议的研究将推进癌症生物学，生物医学工程和微纳米技术领域。 公共卫生相关性：癌症是导致死亡的主要原因之一，因此，加速癌症生物学研究和理解的创新平台可能会产生重大的社会影响。本研究的目的是建立一个检测急性白血病微小残留病的平台，以有效指导临床治疗，提高治愈率。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This "Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award" will facilitate the candidate, an engineer, to become a biologist. It will be achieved by taking courses to gain fundamental knowledge in biology/medicine and developing relevant research skills via mentored research. The selected courses will include core courses encompassing the fundamentals of biomedical sciences and advanced courses. Biomedical research experience will be obtained through lab rotations in the mentor's and co-mentor's laboratories. The mentored research is to develop a platform to concentrate and enrich acute leukemia cells for detection of minimal residual disease (MRD). MRD refers to the presence of residual malignant cells that remain in the patient during treatment or after treatment when the patient is in remission (no symptoms or signs of disease). The current benchmark method is not sufficiently sensitive for detecting all remaining tumor cells in peripheral blood. As a result, a platform with a higher sensitivity will be desirable since MRD can distinguish those who need intensive and potentially more toxic therapy from those who do not. The specific aims of this project are to (1) design and fabricate a device for enrichment of leukemia cells; (2) demonstrate the enrichment of leukemia cells in the device using aptamers with specific binding to acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells; and (3) validate the platform technology by analyzing leukemia cells in clinical samples and detect MRD. The significance of the research lies in the following aspects. First, the proposed research will lead to a platform for a rapid and efficient enrichment of acute leukemia cells. The platform will offer a measureable approach to determine if any additional chemo-therapy is needed; this will bring significant benefits to leukemia patients since unnecessary toxic therapy can be avoided. Second, the platform can be easily adapted for enrichment of rare circulating cells of other cancers. Isolation of these rare tumor cells could offer an opportunity for early-stage cancer screening and medical diagnostics. Third, the proposed research will advance the fields of cancer biology, biomedical engineering, and micro-nanotechnologies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death hence innovative platforms that would accelerate the research and understanding of cancer biology could have significant societal impacts. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a platform for detecting minimal residual disease of acute leukemia, which can effectively guide clinical care and increase the cure rate.