University of Illinois Cancer Center member Paul Grippo, PhD, has been awarded a $75,000 Rick Carone Fellowship Grant for pancreatic cancer research from Project Purple, a nonprofit organization dedicated to early detection and treatment to cure pancreatic cancer.
Grippo, part of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Biology Research Program, will study Cole Relaxation Frequency (CRF) technology as a translational study that includes endoscopic ultrasound for earlier detection of pancreatic cancer. CRF is a signature of how tissues respond to electrical current that may help distinguish cancer from normal tissue. The idea behind the study is that if CRF identifies early pancreas lesions in mouse and human tissue that would support a clinical trial of endoscopic ultrasound with CRF in patients.
“Dr. Grippo has been dedicated to pancreatic cancer research for nearly 30 years,” said Dino Verrelli, Founder and CEO of Project Purple, in a news release. “We’re proud to support his unrelenting pursuit of breakthroughs to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages when the disease is more treatable and curable.”
Grippo is an Associate Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, part of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He has been focused on the design and utility of mouse models of cancer for more than 25 years.