Surgeons from around the world now visit Emory to learn this procedure, and Delman and Master are quick to point out that Emory Winship’s culture of discovery and collaboration made the breakthrough possible. This is just one example of the multidisciplinary work that defines Emory Winship—physicians, surgeons, radiation oncologists, scientists, nurses, and social services working together for the common purpose of providing the best care for patients.
Through its innovative partnership with colleagues at Georgia Tech, Emory Winship researchers are working to improve quantum dot technology. Quantum dots, also known as nanocrystals, are a unique class of semiconductor that can be manipulated for applications in science and technology. By creating even smaller particles, Emory and Georgia Tech researchers are producing quantum dots that are better metabolized by the body, helping deliver drugs more effectively to tumors and reducing potential toxicity.
Emory Winship’s leaders in radiology have developed imaging techniques that are enabling physicians to detect hard-to-find cancers and better target tumors. In Emory Winship’s Cell Imaging and Microscopy Core, researchers are examining minute mechanisms within cancer cells that cause them to metastasize. By figuring out how the tumor cells metastasize, researchers can then work with medical oncologists to find targets that may prevent cancer from spreading.
Experts in proteomics—the study of the structure and function of proteins—are reading the molecular signatures of tumors and examining the clinical outcomes of patients with similar biomarkers, allowing doctors to personalize therapy based on an individual’s molecular profile.
Examples like these illustrate why Emory Winship has been named a National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center. This designation gives patients in Georgia and throughout the region access to more National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trials and the most current and potentially lifesaving new therapies. Doctors use what they learn from patients in the trials to inform further research and development of treatments and drugs. The designation also translates into more NCI support for Emory Winship’s research into improved treatments, better diagnostic tools, and innovations that can improve the cancer landscape in profound ways.
With its focus on translational research, the development of new technology, and the pursuit of answers through critical clinical trials, Emory Winship is a rapidly growing cancer center with a fertile environment for establishing novel programs for the treatment and care of patients. With your investment, Emory Winship will find new ways to prevent, detect, treat—and eventually cure—cancers of all kinds.
