Faculty of Impact Grant for new brain cancer treatment

Dr. Sina Katharina Götzfried of the Faculty of Science and Engineering (University of Groningen) has been awarded a Faculty of Impact grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to develop a new treatment for brain cancer. Götzfried will receive EUR 200,000 and will be coached and mentored over the next two years to turn her ideas into a start-up.

The Faculty of Impact programme is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. It was set up by Dutch universities in collaboration with the NWO and Techleap.

More targeted treatment

The aim of Götzfried's start-up is to develop a new treatment for brain cancer, specifically for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. The therapy uses a light-activated CD73 inhibitor that only becomes active when targeted light is directed precisely at the tumour. This provides better protection for healthy brain tissue and limits side effects.

Breakthrough in the fight against brain cancer

The technology tackles key problems in the treatment of glioblastoma, such as therapy resistance and evasion of the immune system. By reactivating the immune system locally in and around the tumour, the treatment can work more effectively. With this form of advanced photopharmacology and a scalable, modular design, the start-up aims to achieve a breakthrough in the treatment of brain cancer and, in the long term, have a broader impact within precision oncology.

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