School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Ashim Malhotra Awarded Prestigious Pardee Foundation Grant

The Elsa U. Pardee Foundation has awarded School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Ashim Malhotra, B.Pharm, PhD, a grant of $108,000 to fund his research into overcoming the resistance of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy.

Pancreatic cancer kills over 40,000 Americans every year, and only 5 percent of patients diagnosed live more than five years after their initial diagnosis, a high mortality rate due in large part to its resistance to chemotherapy. Dr. Malhotra’s research proposal, “Identifying Protein Targets for Overcoming Chemoresistance in Pancreatic Cancer”, focuses on the mechanisms by which pancreatic cancer resists treatment. Using cellular models of pancreatic cancer, Dr. Malhotra and his lab will concentrate on the role of specific mitochondrial anti-apoptotic proteins which have been linked to resistance to drug therapy in cancer. This research has the potential to result in new and more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer.

The Pardee Foundation Grant is a highly competitive national grant program supported by the Pardee Foundation of Midland, Michigan, which issues grants to support the research and treatment of all types of cancer. Since 1944 the Pardee Foundation has funded important and path-breaking cancer research at institutes such as UCLA, University of Pittsburgh, Dana Faber, the Mayo Institute, and Harvard University.