UAB Pancreatobiliary Disease Center Director and Division of Surgical Oncology Associate Professor J. Bart Rose, M.D., MAS, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Veterans Administration (VA) for his study, "Targeting induced surface calreticulin as a tumor agnostic therapeutic approach." The grant is expected to begin in April 2025 and last up to September 2028.
Since his arrival at UAB in 2017, Rose has been actively involved in research alongside his clinical practice. He focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment, and clinical outcomes for tumors of the liver, pancreas, biliary duct, small bowel, and stomach; with a focus on neuroendocrine tumors. As one of the principal investigators at the Neuroendocrine Cancer Research Laboratory at UAB, he leads initiatives in clinical, translational, and basic science research.
Current Research
Dr. Rose, Dr. Rachael Guenter, and their research team have shown that a protein called calreticulin (CALR) can be moved to the surface of cancer cells after treatment with various drugs. Once on the surface of the cancer cells, CALR can be targeted for imaging purposes and/or delivery of cancer therapy. Two novel targeting agents have been developed for this purpose in partnership with Drs. Benjamin Larimer and Lucinda Hall in the Department of Radiology.
With funding from the VA, the research team aims to further develop their novel targeting agents, find tumor specific inducers of surface CALR, and treat patient-derived tumor models.
"Finding tumor specific markers for targeted therapy has been challenging in most cancers.,” says Rose. “By forcing the cancer cells to put CALR on their surface, we can theoretically use the same targeted agent for most cancers, the only difference would be identifying which drug is best for inducing CALR on a per tumor basis."
Additional research personnel include: Rachael Guenter, Ph.D., Benjamin Larimer, Ph.D., Lucinda Hall, Ph.D, Karin Hardiman, M.D., Ph.D., Ali Ahmed, M.D., Jeremy Foote, BS, DVM, and Chandler McLeod, M.S., Ph.D.