Bionano Announces 2023 Winners of its Innovator Research Grant Program - Seite 2

Dr. Khodadoust at Stanford University, along with postdoctoral researchers Dr. Nicolas Bastidas and Dr. Safa Najidh, will use the Saphyr system to conduct research on CTCL (cutaneous T-cell lymphoma), which is a group of rare and aggressive extra-nodal lymphomas. The researchers plan to utilize OGM to detect SVs that may influence potential treatment options and to assess the utility of SVs as biomarkers to predict and monitor response to therapies.

Dr. Stefan Rentas at Duke University plans to leverage clinical and research bio-banking initiatives in the university’s department of pathology to perform OGM on fresh-frozen CNS (central nervous system) tumor and lymphoma samples to improve research into the detection of clinically significant somatic variants that might impact treatment and prognosis.

Dr. Afia Hasnain at The Hospital for Sick Children will use the Saphyr system for a proof-of-concept study to explore the technical capabilities of OGM compared with traditional cytogenetic methods for research into ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) using samples from subjects enrolled in Children’s Oncology Group research protocols, as well as other lymphoma and brain tumor samples.

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to leverage the Saphyr system to explore drug-resistance in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.  We believe that structural variants represent the key actionable events in the evolution of this lymphoma.  Our sensitivity to detect key structural variants using next-generation sequencing methods has been a limiting factor in our work. The Bionano Innovator Research Grant will enable us to resolve structural variants as they arise during treatment and to determine their role in drug resistance. We hope this work will lead to a better understanding of how to match patients with therapies most likely to benefit them and will inform new strategies to maximize our current treatment options,” stated Dr. Khodadoust.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of submissions and the global scope of the interest in OGM,” commented Erik Holmlin, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Bionano. “All of the submissions were incredibly innovative and scientifically compelling. Selecting the winners was a tough and exhausting task for our review committee. The Bionano Innovator Research Grant program was established to attract applicants with projects that demonstrate exemplary vision and creativity in leveraging OGM and genomic technologies to tackle complex challenges. The winning projects exemplify these qualities, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in genomics research and its potential to impact clinical practice.”