Georgia Tech Receives $3M NIH Award to Study Nervous System's Role in Cancer

Nick Housley, an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech, has been awarded a five-year, $3 million Stephen I. Katz Award from the National Institutes of Health. His research will focus on how the nervous system interacts with ovarian cancer, a leading cause of cancer death among women. The study aims to explore the connections between cancer and neural circuitry, which could lead to new therapeutic strategies.

Research Focus

Housley's lab will begin by creating a neural map of the ovarian system, comparing healthy and cancerous ovaries. This foundational work is crucial as there is currently no complete understanding of the neural circuitry in healthy ovaries, let alone how it changes with cancer. The research will investigate how ovarian cancer cells communicate with neurons and how these interactions influence tumor behavior.

Implications for Treatment

The goal is to understand the structural and functional connections between the nervous system and ovarian cancer. By manipulating specific populations of neurons, Housley’s team hopes to determine how neural activity impacts tumor development and response to treatments. This research could pave the way for innovative approaches to cancer therapy, similar to the advancements seen in immunotherapy over the past decades.