Chasing a cure: Honours student, Leah Bennett, part of Acadia team developing new photoactive drugs as anticancer agents
Acadia researcher, Sherri McFarland, and her lab group, are making progress in developing the next generation of anti-cancer technologies. Photodynamic therapy is a promising strategy for treating cancer, whereby light is used to activate a nontoxic drug that can destroy tumours. It holds key advantages over traditional forms of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
Dr. McFarland believes this technology has the potential to destroy many types of cancer, and has the opportunity to go mainstream as a primary cancer treatment within the next few years.
Leah Bennett (photo right) is a Chemistry Honours undergraduate who is synthesizing molecules for photodynamic therapy for her thesis.
For more information on Dr. McFarland’s research, visit: http://mcfarland.acadiau.ca/home.html