May 7, 2013
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in North Carolina, and chemotherapy has shown very limited effectiveness in treating it, one main reason being that the current standard therapy cannot penetrate tumor tissue.
James Byrne, a graduate student in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics, designed and fabricated an electric field-assisted delivery device that would administer gemcitabine directly into the tumors. His preliminary evaluations of the device’s effectiveness in a mouse model with patient-derived pancreatic tumors indicate a greater reduction in tumor volume using the device compared to gemcitabine delivered intravenously.
Byrne received a Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award from the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in recognition of his work. Each year the Graduate School recognizes graduate students whose research is of exceptional benefit to North Carolina. This year forty-one Impact Awards were given out.
Overall, local drug delivery using the device could have dramatic implications for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and other difficult-to-treat solid tumors. Drug delivery using the device may also reduce the side effects that accompany intravenous administration of chemotherapies and improve the quality of life for pancreatic cancer patients.
“I have absolutely no doubt that James will be an extraordinary and exemplary physician-scientist who will provide significant contributions to science and translational medicine in his career,” said adviser Joseph DeSimone, PhD, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry and director of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
Byrne earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He entered the School’s PhD program in fall 2008 and is pursuing a combined MD/PhD.
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