Gambhir receives $10 million grant from Ivy Foundation

SANJIV “SAM” GAMBHIR, professor and chair of radiology, has received a five-year, $10 million grant from the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation to develop new molecular-imaging agents for a variety of scanning technologies in order to image, at the molecular level, brain tumors of the variety known as glioblastoma multiforme.

The grant also underwrites the development of these tools for use in monitoring cell-delivery therapies, and for both predicting and monitoring — in real time — patients’ response to therapeutic interventions.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer among adults. Fewer than one in 10 patients survives for more than two years after the condition is diagnosed. While tumors can be excised by brain surgery, any residual cancer cells may be sufficient to cause the tumor’s return. At the same time, surgeons must be extremely careful to leave as much healthy brain tissue intact as possible.

The Ivy Foundation, based in Phoenix, funds research to develop better diagnostics and treatments aimed at improving the life expectancy of patients with brain cancer and eventually curing the disease.

Read the full announcement on the Medical School News website.