ABOUT THIS PROJECT

At the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, we bring together over 110 researchers from 19 different departments to ensure collaboration and creative breakthroughs in all aspects of cancer. When you donate to our cancer center, 100% of your gift goes directly to our most promising cancer research. Your gift ensures that we are able to fund cancer research breakthroughs immediately, instead of waiting for grants, which can take years to come through, if at all. Please take a moment today to help us reach our goal of $10,000 by September 20th to fund cancer research waiting in the pipeline.

All donations to this project will be matched $1 for $1!

WHAT WE DO:

Cell Identity and Signaling 

Cancer cells are profoundly influenced by complex "signaling pathways" that affect growth and metastasis. Researchers in the Cell Identity and Signaling Program of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research study key molecules and processes that distinguish a cancer cell from a normal cell. Using their expertise in biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology and developmental biology, program members are engaged in discovery efforts targeting three critical areas of basic cancer research: Learning how signaling affects cancer cell growth and proliferation; investigating how cells control growth and differentiation decisions at the level of gene expression; and using animal models, including genetically engineered mice, to examine cellular function in the context of tissues, organs or a whole organism.

Chemical and Structural Biology

The Chemical and Structural Biology Program probes the underlying mechanisms involved in cancer to identify specific biological targets for chemotherapy and develop potential chemical approaches to cancer treatment. The program addresses molecular mechanisms using high-resolution imaging technologies and an array of biophysical techniques. Having a structural understanding of molecules and their interactions provides a chemical framework on which mutations and modifications associated with cancer can be understood, potentially leading to new treatments. The program investigates biochemical details of certain molecules relevant to cancer, employing high-throughput methods.

Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing

The Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing Program is based on strengths in cancer research at Purdue University that closely match initiatives from the National Cancer Institute. In particular, NCI encourages research in cancer imaging, nanotechnology, genomics, proteomics and biomarker discovery. Most program members are "molecular tool" designers and developers. Researchers primarily use nanotechnology to develop drug delivery systems that target cancer with specific ligands (binding molecules) that recognize cancer cells. Program researchers also devise new imaging technology and organ-on-a-chip techniques for the study of disease.

Medicinal Chemistry

Discovering, designing and evaluating cancer treatment molecules for humans — and helping animals along the way — is the focus of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research’s Medicinal Chemistry Program. Twenty-eight scientists from Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Science, and College of Health and Human Sciences work together to understand the chemical, cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer and develop new ways to treat it.