Georgia Tech and Emory University have been selected as one of seven National Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.

The center will be named the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology and will be housed both on the Tech campus and at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute.

The National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health designated the Tech-Emory facility as a "discovery accelerator" to integrate nanotechnology into personalized cancer treatments and early detection. The awarded amount is $3.66 million for the first year and is expected to reach up to $20 million over a five-year period.

"This grant demonstrates the high level of confidence the National Cancer Institute has in Emory University, Georgia Tech and in the state of Georgia," said Gov. Sonny Perdue. "The progress we have made would not have been possible without collaboration among these universities and agencies such as the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Research Alliance. The state of Georgia is truly at the cutting edge of biomedical research."

Coupled with the new genomic understanding of human cancers, nanotechnology offers promise for much earlier cancer detection, personalized diagnostics for targeted treatment and the creation of new nanoscale drugs for metastatic cancers.

"Nanotechnology will eventually apply to all cancers; however, this grant is focusing on breast and prostate cancers because they represent a number of compelling challenges and opportunities in cancer research,” said Bill Todd, IM 71, president and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. “These cancers are among the most common cancers and have high mortality rates, yet there is evidence that with targeted therapies for these types of cancer we can improve survival in Georgia and in the nation."