£30k donation to Professor Maya Thanou ActNano project

Iggy’s Fund has donated £30,000 towards Professor Maya Thanou’s research into a new technology called ActNano. 

Professor Maya Thanou and her team have developed a new small molecule technology called ActNano that’s capable of delivering multiple drugs to tumours without affecting healthy cells.  

The study we’re funding will use focused ultrasound to briefly open the blood brain barrier surrounding the tumour so the ActNano molecules can reach the site of the tumour. The ultrasound also breaks down the molecules to release the drugs inside them, so they only affect the tumour cells. 

While this project focuses on treating glioblastomas, this technology has the potential to benefit children and adults diagnosed with a range of brain tumours.

Why is this research so important? 

Firstly, being translational research means it aims to help the team generate the evidence required to bring the technology into clinical trials. This is a vital step in making promising new interventions available to people diagnosed with brain tumours. 

Secondly, it has the potential to overcome a key obstacle in research into brain tumours. Designing therapeutics that target brain tumours is difficult due to the restrictive nature of the blood brain barrier. If ActNano can successfully and safely deliver drugs across this barrier directly to the tumour, it could be a promising treatment strategy without the adverse side-effects seen with current treatments. 

“We are sincerely grateful to Iggy’s Fund for their generous support of Professor Maya Thanou’s research. Funding translational research like this is essential to turning scientific discovery into practical advances, helping us move promising ideas closer to patient benefit. Their contribution will directly accelerate progress and ensure that innovative research can deliver meaningful benefits where they are needed most.”

Dr Simon Newman, Director of Research