Three research projects have been selected as the winners of the 2017 University of Tennessee Collaborative Research Network (UT CORNET) Awards in Cancer Research.

The awards are designed to promote new lines of team-based research and serve as a catalyst of new collaborative partnerships for UT cancer investigators across Tennessee.

The 2017 winners and their project titles are:

• “Real-time autobioluminescent imaging of NF-kB and Wnt signaling activities and their synergistic co-activation in cancer” - Zhaohui Wu, MD, PhD, (UTHSC), and Steven Ripp, PhD (UTK). In this project, autonomously bioluminescent imaging-based approaches will be developed to enable continuous, real-time monitoring of dysregulated oncogenic signals, such as NF-κB and Wnt, in cancer cells. This new approach will provide a powerful monitoring platform for both investigating cancer progression in animal models and screening novel anti-cancer drugs.
• “Dual Therapeutic Nanoplatform Delivery for Effective Breast Cancer Treatment” - Murali M. Yallapu, PhD (UTHSC), and Hwa-Chain Robert Wang (UTIA). The primary aim of this project is to develop a synergistic therapeutic option for Triple Negative Breast Cancer by combining cisplatin with Romidepsin in a novel nanoformulation for targeted delivery. This treatment methodology lead to develop therapeutic regimens to control Ras-ERK-activated cancers with minimal side effects.
• “Role of lncRNA-NRON and NFAT in CRC health disparity” - Manish K. Tripathi, PhD (UTHSC), Cuilan (Lani) Gao, PhD (UTC). The goal of this project is to delineate the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) health disparity that exists among AA population. This will facilitate the identification of improved diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets to reduce CRC health disparity.

To date, the CORNET Awards have provided more than $622,504 in seed funding to new teams of researchers.