Congratulations to Soojung Claire Hur, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, who was honored with a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. The award provides funding for innovative research with the potential to benefit children in the United States.

Hur is working on a new system of gene therapy to treat pediatric cancer patients. Building on the potential of RNA to suppress cancer-promoting genes, Hur is developing a system that would safely and effectively transport RNA to affected cells without harming healthy cells, thus reducing cancer treatment complications and the many side effects of non-targeted treatments.

Soojung Claire Hur, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was selected by The Hartwell Foundation to receive a 2019 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. The award helps researchers pursue innovative, early-stage biomedical research with the potential to benefit children of the United States.

Hur is one of 12 recipients, representing 11 U.S. academic institutions, to have received the award. Hartwell Investigators receive $300,000 in direct cost over three years to pursue highly novel, technology driven research projects that cannot be completed through traditional funding mechanisms.

With the award, Hur will pioneer development of a microfluidic system for delivering personalized gene therapy to treat pediatric cancer patients.

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