NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – Wei R. Chen, Ph.D., Stephenson Chair, Professor and Interim Director of the Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, recently organized a session titled Immunophotonics for the Gordon Research Conference Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology, held from July 7 to 12, in Lewiston, Maine. Chen also gave an oral presentation, "Localized Immunophotonics for the Treatment of Metastatic Cancers" at the conference.
Chen presented recent results of pre-clinical and clinical results in cancer treatment using their novel immunophotonics technology. Chen’s doctoral students, Trisha Valerio and Coline Furrer, also presented their research results at the conference with posters.
Chen is a pioneer in the field of immunophotonics. His research team is among the first to use biophotonics to induce immune responses to treat late stage, metastatic cancers through the abscopal effect — a phenomenon when a local therapy shrinks not only the targeted tumor, but other untargeted tumors in the body. Specifically, Chen’s team developed a unique combination of laser ablation and a novel immunological drug for the treatment of late-stage, metastatic cancers through local intervention.
Chen is a co-founder of Immunophotonics, Inc. and has served as a member of its Board of Directors since its inception. Immunophotonics has been conducting clinical trials in Europe for the past several years. In 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a phase 1b/2a multiple center clinical trial for late-stage patients with colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma, using the novel therapy developed by Chen’s team.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.
Mike Banad, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to pursue the development of advanced materials that could shape the future of energy-efficient electronics and photonics.
A new partnership between the University of Oklahoma School of Music and the Norman-based nonprofit SunHive Collective is giving OU students hands-on experience working with young adults with special needs, an opportunity that music education faculty member Melissa Baughman, Ph.D., calls “pure joy.”
The University of Oklahoma has once again been awarded the Davis Cup in recognition of its enrollment of Davis United World College Scholar freshmen. This marks the 11th time in 13 years OU has received the award. A total of 75 Davis UWC Scholars began their studies at OU this fall.
