Episode description

Almost everyone knows someone who has battled cancer. Today, on The Future of Everything, we’re re-running our episode with Professor Jennifer Cochran who is bringing some hope in this area through work she and her lab are doing to find ways to localize therapies directly to the site of cancer tumors for more efficient and effective treatment. You won’t want to miss this one, it’s full of inspiring insights that will hopefully move us toward a future of improving outcomes for cancer patients.

Connect With Us:

• Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website
• Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon
• Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Host Russ Altman introduces the episode, highlighting the widespread impact of cancer and the need for innovative treatment methods.

(00:00:45) Traditional Cancer Treatments

Overview of conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Challenges and limitations associated with existing treatments.

(00:03:30) New Approaches to Cancer Therapy

Exploration of targeted therapies utilizing biological understanding of cancer cells. 

(00:05:46) Guided Chemotherapy Missiles

Introduction of guest Dr. Jennifer Cochran and her work developing ‘guided chemotherapy missiles’. Dr Cochran explains how they work and the benefits of them.

(00:09:04) Directed Evolution and Designer Proteins

Introduction to the concept of directed evolution, the process of driving evolution in a test tube to create designer proteins with specific properties.

(00:11:16) Utilizing Squirting Cucumber Seed Peptides for Chemotherapy

Dr. Cochran discusses how they transformed a peptide from the seeds of the squirting cucumber into a tumor-targeting agent, the challenges of the process and the current state of the research.

(00:14:56) Immunotherapy and Cancer Treatment

Introduction to immunotherapy and how these therapies work in our body to fight cancers

(00:16:45) Orchestrating Immune Responses: Combining Immunotherapy and Targeted Molecules

Dr. Cochran explains the collaboration between tumor targeting technology and immunotherapy and current developments.

(00:20:08) Making Immunotherapy Accessible: Challenges and Innovations

Dr. Cochran discusses the availability of immunotherapies for cancer patients and the need for broader accessibility.

(00:21:30) Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Technology Application

Exploration of interdisciplinary collaborative research, the challenges and opportunities.

(00:22:59) Translating Lab Discoveries into Treatments

Russ & Jennifer discuss the process and challenges of translating lab research from academia into actual drug development including “ the valley of death”

Connect With Us:

Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website

Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon

Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook