Notre Dame Research Shows Promising Results for Improving Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
New Notre Dame research has been used to support the Orphan Drug designation for IT-139, a compound that when used in combination with chemotherapy has proved to be significantly more effective in treating pancreatic cancer than the current standard of care. The Orphan Drug program is administered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and identifies promising drugs that are intended for the treatment of rare diseases, which impact fewer than 200,000 Americans at any time, or affect more than 200,000 people but are not expected to recover the costs of developing and marketing a treatment drug. Currently, pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest cancer survival rates, with one-year and five-year rates of 20 and 7 percent, respectfully.
Researchers Receive $1.5 Million NSF Award to Study Sustainability of Recreational Fisheries
Recreational fishing is a longstanding American outdoor tradition, generating $25 billion annually. Whether fishing on lakes, rivers or streams; from shorelines, boats or embankments; freshwater fishing remains the most popular form of fishing, attracting more than 37 million participants last year. While recreational fisheries are culturally and economically valuable, freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation and collapse.
New NIH-funded research to solve problem of drug-resistant malaria
University of Notre Dame biologist Michael Ferdig, Ph.D., is leading a new $11.5 million program project (P01) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Ferdig and his team at Notre Dame are partnering with researchers at the Center for Infectious Disease Research (CID Research) in Seattle and Texas Biomedical Research Institute (TBRI) to better understand the genes in the malaria parasite that are responsible for drug resistance and virulence in order to reduce and ultimately eliminate the often deadly disease.
Jennifer Tank elected President of the Society for Freshwater Science
Jennifer Tank, Galla Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Environmental Change Initiative, has been announced as the president-elect of the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS).