Bogdanov receives Catalyst Research Award

Vladimir Bogdanov, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, has received a Catalyst Research Award from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust. The $300,000 two-year grant will support research investigating whether a new biologic drug that Bogdanov and colleagues recently developed can help treat pancreatic cancer, the third leading cause of all cancer deaths in the U.S.

“I was very excited and proud to be the first UC-based faculty to secure this award. This further strengthens and diversifies UC Cancer Center’s research portfolio as it embarks on the path to seek National Cancer Institute designation,” Bogdanov says.

Bogdanov and colleagues developed hRabMab1, a humanized inhibitory monoclonal antibody against alternatively spliced Tissue Factor (asTF), that has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile and tumor suppressing properties in vivo. His work will test in preclinical models whether hRabMab1 can treat pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly lethal cancer currently with poor treatment options.

“We will assess hRabMab1’s ability to suppress the growth of several PDAC cell lines and patient-derived xenografts in combination with standard-of-care regimens and hRabMab1’s ability to impede metastases,” Bogdanov explains about his project titled “Preclinical Development of a First-In-Class Humanized Antibody Targeting Alternatively Spliced Tissue Factor.”

A second part of the research will look at previous findings that circulating asTF levels are high in PDAC patients compared to healthy people. Bogdanov hopes to determine if plasma asTF rises in patients with cancer recurrence and whether the increase in asTF precedes the emergence of conventional signs of recurrence while also serving as a way to evaluate response to therapy.

“Our studies will help us validate asTF as a new target and a biomarker in PDAC, bringing this technology closer to the clinic,” he says. “Our project is really two studies in one, which will allow us to save a lot of time and resources.”

Bogdanov added that the grant will establish the infrastructure necessary to lay the foundation for a subsequent three-year $1 million Transformational Award from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust.

The trust was created by Marian Falk in 1979 to support biomedical research and find cures for diseases for which no definite cure is known. First awarded in 2015, the Catalyst Research Award Program provides seed funding to support high-risk, high-reward projects. Researchers from select midwestern institutions are eligible to apply for these awards.