Bioengineer Dr. Mofizur Rahman is offering new hope for targeted cancer therapy-eliminating cancer cells precisely while bypassing the excruciating side effects and physical toll of traditional chemotherapy.
Combining bioengineering, nanomedicine, and immunotherapy, his lipid-polymer-based nano-platform functions much like a “smart guided missile,” delivering therapeutic agents accurately to cancer cells without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.
The young Bangladeshi scientist completed his higher education at the Discipline of Pharmacy in Khulna University. He is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the world-renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the United States.
Harnessing the synergy of nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and the human immune system, he has developed a groundbreaking approach to cancer treatment.
In his research, Dr. Rahman and his colleagues discovered a novel cancer immunotherapy strategy utilizing SARS-CoV-2 mRNA. Under this method, a custom-engineered nanomedicine delivers a genetic message to cancer cells, instructing them to produce the coronavirus “spike protein.”
As the cancer cells begin expressing the spike protein, the body’s immune system recognizes the tumor through pre-existing immune memory formed against SARS-CoV-2. Consequently, the body’s natural immunity against the virus is redirected to identify and destroy the cancer cells.
In pre-clinical trials conducted on mice with breast cancer, this nanomedicine demonstrated a robust anti-tumor immune response, significantly inhibiting tumor growth. Furthermore, the nanomedicine accumulated directly inside the tumor tissue, leaving healthy tissue unharmed and drastically enhancing the precision of cancer immunotherapy.