$1 million awarded to launch two clinical trials in North Carolina

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Novant Health announced August 20 that it is making a $1 million investment to launch two physician-led clinical research projects in North Carolina.

“The two $500,000 research grants to address urgent health issues represent the largest single investment in the collaboration between Novant Health, UNC Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The funding will launch joint studies between Novant Health and the UNC School of Medicine focused on treating patients with asthma and advanced pediatric prostate cancer,” Novant Health said in a statement.

Teams from Novant Health NHRMC and UNC Children's will collaborate to study why children with asthma in southeastern North Carolina are hospitalized at higher rates than the national average. The project will be led by Dr. Michelle Hernandez, Dr. Marzena Krawiec and Dr. Jack Sharp.

The second project focuses on men with prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. It will investigate how new imaging technologies and focused radiation can be used to improve cancer outcomes. Doctors will work to identify areas of disease that no longer respond well to anti-hormone therapy, so they can remove those areas with focused radiation, thereby better controlling the disease.

“This initiative, the Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography (PSMA-PET)-Guided Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Oligometastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer project, is led by Dr. Shivani Sud, Dr. Michael Papagikos, Dr. Matthew Milowsky, Dr. Steven Rowe, and Dr. Neil Wijetunga,” the announcement continued.

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