SynthX Center and Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
In 2022, the Rice's SynthX Center joined forces with Baylor College of Medicine’s (BCM) Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. This collaboration aims to explore health problems and develop new treatments through initiatives such as workshops, collaborative meetings, retreats, symposiums. Additionally, to foster innovative partnerships between synthetic chemists and clinical scientists in cancer research, SynthX Center and the Duncan Cancer Center announced a call for seed grants and awarded three proposals.
The Rice-BCM collaboration has expedited the integration of advances in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and machine learning into clinical practices. In December 2024, researchers at Rice and BCM were awarded with a $2.3 million grant from the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to develop a novel antibody therapy for treating bone metastases in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. The goal is to improve treatment for bone metastases, which affect up to 40% of ER+ breast cancer survivors.