Elena Dubikovskaya receives Leenaards Award 2014
© 2014 EPFL
The work of Elena Dubikovskaya in targeted breast cancer chemotherapy is recognized with the prestigious Leenaards award for 2014.
The Leenaards Foundation, founded in 1980, awarded this year a total amount of CHF 1,750,000 to two prestigious projects in translational biomedical research. This field combines clinical research and basic science, and aims to rapidly translate basic discoveries into therapeutic applications.
One of the two awards was given to a collaborative project between Elena Dubikovskaya, who heads the Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Imaging (LCBIM) at EPFL, Anita Wolfer at CHUV, and Yann Siembille at HUG. The project develops a new method for precise targeting of breast cancer tumors with potent chemotherapeutic agents. This can be achieved by adding a peptide that specifically targets chemotherapeutic drugs to cancer-specific receptors expressed in tumors.
By improving drug specificity, the researchers hope to minimize systemic toxicity, while significantly increasing therapeutic dose at the site of the tumor, providing breast cancer patients with more efficient treatment.
Elena Dubikovskaya received her PhD in the field of Organic Chemistry and Drug Delivery from Stanford University and joined EPFL in 2011 as a tenure track assistant professor.