Stanford SPARK grant awarded for microMESH research

January 31, 2022

Congratulations to Claudia Petritsch, PhD, Gerald Grant, MD, FACS, as well as Dr. Paolo Decuzzi from the Italian Institute of Technology, who received funding from Stanford SPARK to commercially develop a microMESH for the locoregional delivery of  chemotherapy and immunotherapy to treat therapy-resistant pediatric brain tumors.

The microMESH has the shape of a micrometric polymeric net, it is made with biodegradable materials and wraps around the tumor resection cavity. Its structure consists of two separate compartments in which different drugs can be loaded which are released towards the tumor mass in an independent, precise, and prolonged fashion. The microMESH can 'attack' brain tumors by combining different therapies: chemotherapy, nanomedicine, and immunotherapy.

Image credit: D. Beghetto/IIT