Cornell to partner MSKCC on cancer

Cornell University is to collaborate with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) on a $10m facility which will look to develop new cancer therapies based on nanotechnology.

The MSKCC-Cornell Centre for Translation of Cancer Nanomedicines will be funded by an $8.2m grant from the National Cancer Institute’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer and a further $1.9m from MKSCC.

MKSCC, which was one of three institutes which provided the technology for immunotherapy’s poster child Juno Therapeutics, and Cornell will provide scientists, engineers, and physicians to develop new technology focused on melanoma and brain cancers.

The centre will have two facilities, one based at Cornell, the other at MSKCC in New York City. The facilities will concentrate on Cornell dots, nanoparticles smaller than 10 nanometres in size which can attach to cancer cells and could potentially lead the way to precise drug delivery.

Lance Collins, dean at Cornell’s engineering department, said: “We couldn’t be more proud to have this centre supporting the partnership between Cornell and MSKCC. This moment is the culmination of many years of innovative work by many exceptional researchers at both institutions. Without the foundational success of C dots, we likely would not have been successful with the grant.”