The American Cancer Society has awarded a three-year, $716,000 grant to RTI to seek anti-cancer pharmaceuticals from mushrooms.
Nicholas H. Oberlies, PhD, is principal investigator for the research. Dr. Oberlies works in RTI's renowned Natural Products Laboratory, in which the cancer drugs Taxol(r) and Camptothecin(tm) were discovered from samples of tree bark. http://www.rti.org/patents/cancer/home.cfm
The prestigious "Research Scholar Grant" will enable RTI researchers to test more than 10,000 different mushroom species to see if they contain chemicals that have potential as chemotherapy drugs.
For more than 50 years, the American Cancer Society has been identifying and funding researchers who have potential to make major contributions to cancer research.
"Dr. Oberlies is one of the brightest young scientists I have ever known," said RTI Chief Scientist Monroe E. Wall, PhD, co-discoverer of both Taxol and Camptothecin. "He has the potential to become a leader in the discovery of pharmaceuticals from natural sources."
Dr. Oberlies earned his PhD in medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy in 1997 from Purdue University. After postdoctoral study at American Cyanamid, Inc., he joined RTI's Natural Products Laboratory in 1998. He is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Natural Products, and in 2001 he cofounded the American Society of Pharmacognosy's Younger Members Committee and served as its first chairperson.
In 1997, he received three significant awards for emerging researchers. These included the Abbott Medicinal Chemistry Award for Excellence in Research from the Purdue Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, the Jenkins/Knevel Award for Excellence in Research from the Purdue School of Pharmacy, and the Kilmer Prize, jointly awarded by the American Society of Pharmacognosy and the American Pharmaceutical Association.
The RTI project will be supported by American Cancer Society grant number RSG-02-024-01-CDD, "Isolation of Potential Anticancer Agents from Basidiomycetes (Mushrooms)."
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide, community- based voluntary health organization. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the ACS has state divisions and more than 3,400 local offices. http://www.cancer.org
RTI is an independent, nonprofit research organization dedicated to conducting research that improves the human condition. With a staff of more than 1,900 people, RTI turns knowledge into practice in the fields of health and medicine, environmental protection, technology commercialization, decision support systems, and education and training.http://www.rti.org
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