Georgia CORE awards Collaborative Cancer Research Seed Grant

5/02/2022, Georgia CORE

Just in time for Cancer Research Month, Georgia CORE has awarded Jack Arbiser, MD, PhD (left) of the Emory University School of Medicine and Lisa Flowers, MD, MPH of the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady a Collaborative Cancer Research Seed Grant from the Georgia Cancer Research Fund. The grant will fund a clinical trial titled, "Phase I Dose Escalation Study of the Use of ACU-D1, a Topical Proteasome Inhibitor in HPV associate Vulvar and Perianal Lesion in People with HIV." It will study the efficacy of a self-applied medication that has the potential to treat and reduce the volume of vulvar and perianal premalignant disease and will widen the preventive treatment options in populations significantly burdened by vulvar and perianal cancers.  

Explains Dr. Arbiser, the study’s Principal Investigator, "ACU-D1 has been shown to be an effective and safe treatment for rosacea, and the way in which it works may address the unmet need for treatment of premalignant HPV-related anogenital disease among people living with HIV and others affected by this medical condition. Our research team will investigate this novel drug to: (1) determine whether it triggers anti-cancer effects in HPV-related precancers, (2) assess whether it increases the presence of immune cells that target HPV-infection, and (3) see whether this medication is safe and tolerable."

The Collaborative Cancer Research Seed Grant provides seed funding for a cancer research project that involves two or more Georgia institutions or organizations that will collaborate on new research. “This proposal is deeply rooted in science and focused entirely on a population reflecting health care disparities and unmet needs," said Dr. Sheryl Gabram, Georgia CORE's Chief Scientific Officer who is overseeing the grant process. "The winning study is exactly in synch with our purpose and mission."

Last tax season, Georgia residents recognized that although we were in a pandemic and still uncertain economic times, cancer is not going away, and neither should our research efforts to fight it. With a quick and easy indication on their GA 500 forms, tax filers donated to the state's Cancer Research Fund, from which Georgia CORE has granted $100,000 starting July 1 for the Vulvar/Perianal premalignant HPV/HIV study.