ITRT Pilot Research

Targeted radionuclide therapies (TRT) are a type of cancer treatment that preferentially accumulate in tumors and selectively deliver radiation to these locations. Radiation can damage tumors in a way that makes them more susceptible to being killed by a patient’s own immune cells. The objective of the Wisconsin Immunomodulatory Targeted Radionuclide Therapy (ITRT) Program Grant (MPI: Jamey Weichert, PhD and Zachary Morris, MD, PhD) is to evaluate what effects targeted radionuclide therapies have on immune recognition of tumor cells and test whether these agents may enhance response to diverse forms of cancer immunotherapy.  The ultimate goal of the Wisconsin ITRT program is to develop non-toxic, curative treatment approaches for patients with metastatic cancers of any type.

 

The ITRT Pilot Grant Program seeks to fund pilot project applications that will:

  • Attract new investigators to the field of ITRT. Areas of potential interest include but are not limited to:
    • Development and testing of novel TRT agents
    • Testing TRT agents in combinations with innovative immunotherapies
    • Evaluation of ITRT approaches in unique model systems
    • Image-based dosimetry
    • Development of advanced methodologies for determining the effects of TRT on immune cells, tumor cells, and/or the tumor microenvironment
    • Translational research that may expedite or improve the methodologies for clinical testing and evaluation of ITRT in cancer patients
  • Result in preliminary data to support successful competitive national grants
  • Have potential to develop into a full ITRT P01 project in renewal application