WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

WINTER 2015

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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20 Winter 2015 W π connections Catching Cancer Early Grad student and professor share Kalenian Award for potential screening test for pre-cancerous cells S arah Hernandez, a ffth-year student in the biology and biotechnology doctoral program, and her advisor, Tanja Dominko, associate professor of biology and biotechnology, won a 2014 Kalenian Award and $10,000 in prize money. Their discovery? An enzyme that appears to be involved in help- ing stem-like cells—or cancer cells that have characteristics like normal stem cells—stay alive and continue dividing. "Sarah made a connection," says Dominko of the enzyme discovery. "She speculated that the new enzyme could also be present, at the very early stages of cancer formation, helping those cells stay alive and divide. If so, then a blood test to check for this biomarker could become an important early diagnostic tool." Their re- search has a revolutionary potential to devel- op screens and treatments for a disease that patients have yet to develop. "We have termed this change in phenotype 'induced regeneration competence', or iRC," says Hernandez. Checking for the presence of the enzyme could potentially take the place of colonoscopies as a diagnostic procedure for cancer, she says, and change preventive medi- cine. Hernandez credits the National Science Foundation IGERT fellowship she received in 2012 for sparking connections between the biomarker and commercial potential. The Kalenian Award—named for the late Aram Kalenian '33, an inventor—evaluates the novelty of a competitor's concept; its potential in the commercial market; how a business plan could evolve from the idea; and the likelihood of its success. With the foundations of the research already in place, Hernandez and Dominko applied for the award, looking at their lab fndings from a different angle and incorporating them into a plan for commercialization. The $10,000 in prize money, says Dominko, will be used to continue with the research. "This is a potentially important discovery." — Susan Shaloub

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