Several days following the Federal Drug Administration’s approval of a new cancer drug, Erik Nelson (ACPP) was still processing the news.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that this is actually happening,” he said from his breast cancer research lab in Burrill Hall. “This is why I get up every morning: to hopefully impact a patient's life.”

Cancers that begin in the brain, or start elsewhere in the body and spread to it, are notoriously difficult to treat. Illinois researchers in the Cancer Center at Illinois labs are looking to improve those odds by developing better therapeutics.

Tandy Warnow (BCXT/IGOH) and Cecilia Leal (M-CELS), who are both scientists at the Cancer Center, have been recognized for their achievements by the Grainger College of Engineering.

Several Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) and IGB members are joining forces with scientists from the Mayo Clinic and Georgetown University on an expansive project targeting improved treatment for glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive form of brain cancer. The team, led by Brendan Harley (RBTE leader/EIRH), professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, recently received a $3M grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for their research which will unite the cell biology, bioengineering, and chemistry behind cancer drug development.