Governor Jack Markell Tours NCCCR

On Tuesday, October 6, 2009, Gov. Jack Markell toured the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) in Wilmington, Delaware. In honor of September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Joe McDonough, President of the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation and Honorary Member of the NCCCR, invited Gov. Markell to this new research facility at Nemours, Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children.

Gov. Markell met with NCCCR Director, Ayyappan Rajasekaran, PhD, and several researchers at the Cancer Center. Gov. Markell observed images of live cells taken by advanced microscopic techniques at the Live Cell Imaging Facility of NCCCR. Dr. Rajasekaran introduced basic concepts of childhood cancer research, including the inherent differences of adult vs. childhood cancers and the need for new approaches to improve outcome in childhood cancer. He addressed the ongoing research at NCCCR on biomarker discovery, drug delivery and drug discovery approaches focused on childhood cancer. They discussed the future plans of the NCCCR and strategy for the state of Delaware to become a leading force in pediatric cancer research.

Andrew Napper, PhD, Head of the Nemours High Throughput Screening (HTS) – Drug Discovery Laboratory explained to the Governor basic concepts of high throughput screening, the need for new targeted drugs to treat childhood cancer and his plans to establish this facility at NCCCR. Finally the Governor visited the new space for the HTS – Drug Discovery Laboratory prior to leaving NCCCR.