Apr 20, 2022 | Cancer Center News
Shannon Sirk Technological advancements over the past few decades have laid the groundwork for the use of microbe-based drugs to treat diseases. Bioengineering professor Shannon Sirk and her lab are engineering human commensal microbes into living therapeutics,...
Mar 30, 2022 | Cancer Center News
Shannon Sirk and the Sirk Research Group. Urbana, Ill. – An Illinois research team is developing a method of producing and delivering monoclonal antibody treatments for breast cancer through commensal microbes in the gut. If successful, this approach could increase...
Nov 3, 2021 | Cancer Center News
Urbana, Ill. – On Sept. 17, the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) and the Microbial Systems Initiative (MSI) held the Cancer and Microbes Workshop as part of a new partnership formed between the CCIL and the MSI to promote collaboration at the interface of...
Oct 20, 2021 | Cancer Center News
Photo of Shannon Sirk. Urbana, Ill. – Therapeutic antibodies have revolutionized the treatment of many diseases, including cancer. However, these drugs can be prohibitively expensive and are not an option for every patient. Shannon Sirk, Cancer Center at Illinois...
Oct 12, 2021 | Cancer Center News
Nicholas Wu – professor of biochemistry; recipient of NIH New Innovator Award Urbana, Ill. – Nicholas Wu, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received a National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award,...
Nov 3, 2020 | Cancer Center News
Although small molecule drugs and antibodies continue to be the standard for cancer treatment, a new class of therapeutics — lasso peptides — may prove effective, especially for disease targets that thwart traditional approaches. Combining the power of antibodies and...
Jun 30, 2020 | Cancer Center News
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A method known as CAR-T therapy has been used successfully in patients with blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia. It modifies a patient’s own T-cells by adding a piece of an antibody that recognizes unique features on the surface of cancer...