Graduate Student Taufeeque Ali has been selected by MIDD members based on scientific merit and potential to accelerate the development of Novel Combination Strategies for Tumor-Selective Activation of ROS-Activated DNA Cross-Linking Agents.

Together with undergraduate students Dhivyashree Senthil Murugan, Alexis Peterson and Jatin Pandey, Taufeeque will investigate the transcriptional changes that occur upon treatment of ROS-activated prodrugs. Using these compounds in combination with agents that increase ROS levels in cancer cells is expected to improve potency. In addition, this combination therapy will be tested with glioblastoma cells to develop an novel treatment option for this aggressive and difficult to treat cancer.