funds granted

UH team lands $4.7M grant for discovery linking origins of two aggressive cancers

A team of researchers out of the University of Houston has secured funding to continue research on aggressive stomach and esophageal cancers. Photo via Getty Images

Frank McKeon, professor of biology and biochemistry and director of the Somatic Stem Cell Center at the University of Houston, will lead a new five-year $4.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to advance important findings about aggressive stomach and esophageal cancers.

McKeon and a team of researchers have already uncovered a surprising finding about two types of cancers: stomach and esophagus esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and intestinal gastric cancer (iGC). According to their research, the two cancers have identical precursor stem cells or "cells of origin."

The cells are highly susceptible to mutations, which can cause them to develop into cancerous lesions.

Currently, patients who present these types of lesions struggle with an advanced disease with a low survival rate, according to a statement from UH.

"We anticipate that the identification of these cells will enable drug discovery to pre-empt these cancers at their site of origin,” McKeon said in a statement.

Uncovering this information about the cancers' cells of origin also helps researchers group EAC and iGC as a cluster distinct from other gastric and esophageal cancers.

McKeon will be joined on the project by Wa Xian, research associate professor of biology and biochemistry at UH, and Dr. Jaffer Ajani of MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Xian is an expert in stem cell cloning. The team aims to clone the EAC and iGC precursor legions to better understand the evolution of the cancers as part of their research.

"We anticipate that our studies will provide new insights into the biology and origin of these remarkably similar and widespread cancers, provide datasets essential for prospective early detection screens and yield highly selective therapeutics that eliminate the nascent lesions essential for the evolution of these cancers,” McKeon added in the statement.

Other UH researchers have received major grants for cancer-fighting innovations in recent months. Shaun Zhang, director of the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling at the University of Houston and a M.D. Anderson professor in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry, received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a cancer-fighting virus in July.

The nonprofit Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) also shelled out nearly $22 million in grants to successfully lure nine high-profile cancer researchers to Houston late last year.

Wa Xian (left) research associate professor of biology and biochemistry, with Frank McKeon, professor of biology and biochemistry and director of the Somatic Stem Cell Center at UH. Photo via UH.edu

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Building Houston

 
 

XSpace — a huge multi-use commercial condo concept — will be opening its Houston facility in the next few months. Rendering courtesy of XSpace

To some, Houston’s lack of zoning laws is a beautiful thing. The first time Byron Smith visited the city, he remarked on seeing a church, school, office building, and strip club all in startlingly close proximity.

At the time, the Sydney-born entrepreneur, whose previous experience was primarily in the automotive industry, was living in New York. But he fell in love with Space City.

“I was like, ‘We need to be in Texas,” he recalls, referring to expanding his next venture, XSpace, to the Lone Star State.

XSpace is a multi-use commercial condo building that allows entrepreneurs to own a home for their business.

“We’re a cool warehouse space that you own,” Smith explains, calling it “evolutionary space” where a business can grow from the roots up.

Though his family business was commercial real estate, Smith first dipped his toe into working with buildings with last year’s opening of the first XSpace in Austin. The city became “a natural fit” for the first project because Smith identified it as “a little bit more receptive to new things.” But Houston was part of the plan from the very beginning.

Located at 7022 Old Katy Road — close to both an escape room and an Aston-Martin dealership, among other diverse businesses — the Houston XSpace’s 86 units are already between 20- and 30-percent pre-sold, says Smith.

Rendering courtesy of XSpace

Confirmed owners of the spaces include “car guys,” such as a car-wrapping business; media companies that plan to podcast from XSpace; and an interior design company. Smith says that he’s been impressed with Houston’s depth of market.

“We’re trying really hard not to be rich-guy car condo stuff,” explains Smith. “It’s about cool, interesting people who are successful or are going to be successful.”

Though multiple businesses will all operate in XSpace, don’t think of it as a coworking space. In fact, coworking space is just a component included in the package of what owners get when they purchase part of XSpace. That’s inside the Owner’s Lounge, a flexible 4,000-square-foot area.

Each unit has natural light, but also metered electric and hot and cold running water. The whole facility is air-conditioned and well-ventilated and offers 24/7 access. The building is triple-gated for optimum security and includes a backup generator to ensure that owners will be able to work even in the case of another power grid failure.

Smith says that groundbreaking for XSpace will take place in seven weeks. Likely, owners will be able to start moving into the building in the summer of 2024. Until then, Smith says to expect some “sexy announcements” about upcoming partnerships and additional XSpace sites.

Though Smith says that global expansion isn’t yet in the plans for XSpace, “North American domination” is.

“All the cool cities, we’re going to be there,” he says. And it was all inspired by the coolest city of all and its eclectic business landscape.

Rendering courtesy of XSpace

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