Xu Wins NIH Grant

X. Nancy Xu, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, recently won a $1.25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that underscores her growing reputation in nanobiotechnology.

Xu and her research team will do single-cell and nano-probe research that may one day lead to more efficient gene therapy and to other revolutionary medical treatments for diseases such as cancer.

The NIH award, which provides funding over five years, will allow extensive nanoparticle research, including the development of optimal nanoparticle probes to study the molecular mechanism of a transporter that is primarily responsible for multi-drug resistance in cancer therapy.

In recent years, Xu and her chief collaborators, Christopher Osgood, ODU associate professor of biological sciences, and Jean-Michel Jault, a French researcher, have created nanoparticles that can enter a cell and literally “light up” the interior.