Dr. R. Donald Harvey was awarded the first PPD Bioanalytical Fluid and Tissue Grant Award for his proposal titled, “Defining the Interaction of Docetaxel and Lonafarnib in Advanced Malignancies.” Dr. Harvey will travel to a state-of-the-art PPD facility in Richmond, Virginia, in late January to work and learn from on-site scientists within PPD.

When asked how this grant will help his professional development, Dr. Harvey stated that he hopes this grant will permit continued research with docetaxel-based combinations of agents that are CYP3A4 inhibitors/substrates so that pharmacokinetics (PK) data can be gathered to correlate with tissue-based assays. “At Emory University, we are currently conducting a docetaxel/RAD001 phase I trial that includes PK analysis of both agents as well as modulation of key mTOR pathway components (p-p70S6K, p-AKT, p-4E-BP1, and p-S6) in tumor tissue,” Dr. Harvey said. “This grant will help to publish our current results and help me to establish a path to further PK analysis in anticancer drug development.”

Through this investigator development award, PPD grant award winners will be reimbursed for their transportation and housing costs while working at the PPD facility. PPD will cover the costs associated with the actual analysis. The Research Institute is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for full and associate ACCP members in 2009. Applications will remain open until funding is depleted for 2009. Download an application from http://www.accpri.org and apply today.