Taking advantage of Uniquely UF strengths and supported through startup funds provided by the UF Office of Research, the UF Health Cancer Institute has launched a new Cancer & Engineering Working Group that unites engineers and clinicians. Its goal is to bridge engineering and clinical expertise through a collaborative platform that drives transformative progress in cancer diagnostics, theragnostics and patient care.
Co-chairs of the Cancer & Engineering Working Group (left to right): Tarik Benidir, M.D., Carlos-Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D., and Blanka Sharma, Ph.D.
The Working Group’s co-chairs are Tarik Benidir, M.D., a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Urology; Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D., a professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemical Engineering; and Blanka Sharma, Ph.D., an associate professor and associate chair for graduate studies in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The leaders have complementary expertise by design. Engineering brings strength in advanced materials, imaging, data science (AI/ML), modeling and technology development, while clinical expertise harnesses those innovations in a manner that serves patients in the best possible way.
The Working Group aims to build an active, interdisciplinary community at UF through recruiting faculty, trainees and staff whose work intersects with opportunities to engineer solutions to the cancer problems faced by our scientific, clinical and patient communities. It will hold regular meetings, lightning talks, matchmaking activities and educational activities to foster new collaborations, team science grants and pilot projects.
“This new Working Group is a fantastic example of bringing Uniquely UF strengths together to support the UF Health Cancer Institute’s strategic pillars and goals,” said Thomas George, M.D., FACP, FASCO, the institute’s interim director. “With an accomplished and experienced multidisciplinary leadership team now in place, this new working group is poised to help accelerate advancements that improve cancer care and move the scientific field forward on behalf of our patients.”
The group will develop and share technologies that enable cancer research, like three-dimensional tumor models, laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic technologies, drug carriers and imaging agents, imaging technologies, computational tools and artificial intelligence-driven solutions to health care problems. The group will also promote the use of UF Health Cancer Institute Shared Resources, including informatics, genomics, imaging and biostatistics.
“Engineering labs across campus are developing advanced tools and technologies with untapped potential to transform cancer detection and treatment,” Sharma said. “What they need are meaningful connections with clinicians and cancer researchers to help define the most pressing challenges. Working all together, innovation can be directed at where it can make the most impact.”
Benidir noted that clinicians do not need to be an expert in clinical research, have engineering experience or have innovative plans already in motion to join the group.
“This Working Group is meant to foster open communication about unmet needs in our clinical day-to-day lives and to explore potential solutions with our engineers and data scientists,” he said.
The Working Group will host a kickoff meeting at 10 a.m. May 15 via Zoom. All Cancer Institute members and trainees are welcome. To join or learn more about the Working Group, email ResearchDevelopment@cancer.ufl.edu.
Kickoff MeetinG: May 15
Join the Cancer & Engineering Working Group
The new Cancer & Engineering Working Group will hold a kickoff meeting at 10 a.m. May 15 via Zoom. All UF Health Cancer Institute members and trainees are welcome.
