About Us
Our Ovarian Cancer Research Scientists Are Recognized for Their Excellence Around the World
The Ovarian Cancer Institute (OCI) is a 501©3 not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the discovery of a highly accurate diagnostic test for early-stage ovarian cancer and to the investigation of more efficacious and less toxic forms of treatment for this most dreadful disease. Our laboratories are located at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where our researchers have access to multiple departments including biochemistry, bio-informatics, nanotechnology, and computer science.
In addition to the diagnostic test, our researchers are developing machine-learning algorithms to predict, with startling accuracy, the optimum drug for an individual patient’s cancer, which is known as personalized or precision medicine. Another project involves the use of an RNA vector to deliver the chemotherapy drug directly to the cancer cell, allowing vast increases in dosage while greatly reducing or eliminating toxic side effects. One of our other researchers has developed a microfluidic device capable of capturing circulating cancer cells which will allow the diagnosis of a recurrent cancer to be made almost immediately. These cells can also be subjected to RNA sequencing which could be used to elucidate the correct treatment immediately. Research on this level is extremely expensive causing OCI to continue to explore novel modalities of funding.
Our Leadership Team
This innovative fight for ovarian cancer research can only be provided at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Still, we gear our work towards helping those across the United States and even the rest of the globe. Our first-class ovarian cancer research team includes leading cancer researcher Dr. Jeffrey Skolnick. They also reach out to experts in other fields, such as engineering, computer science, and nanotechnology, to see how they can apply their knowledge to the fight. Meet more of our team below:
Jeffrey Skolnick, PhD, MPhil
Regents’ Professor, Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair & GRA Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology, Director, Center for the Study of Systems Biology, & Professor, School of Biological Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology.
Nick Housley, PhD, PT, DPT
Dr. Housley is a classically trained neuroscientist with a PhD focused on sensorimotor neurophysiology, a Doctor of Physical Therapy specialty training treating neurologic disorders, a former professional cyclist, and a traumatic brain injury survivor.
Dr. Housley is also Fellow in the Sensorimotor Integration Lab & Integrated Cancer Research Center at Georgia Tech. In the broadest terms, my interests center on how the nervous system, cancer, and its treatment interact in mammalian systems. My research interests rest on my recent discoveries that securely establish the existence of reciprocal interactions between cancer, cancer treatment and the nervous system. In addition, my other area of study centers on how the nervous and musculoskeletal systems interact to encode sensorimotor information and how integration in the mammalian spinal cord results in physiologically relevant movement. Using in vivo electrophysiological methods, I investigate synaptic function and firing behavior of isolated neurons and population responses. I am actively examining how encoding and decoding behavior of neuronal circuits can be challenged and how they adapt to a variety of pathological states.
Board of Directors
Chair
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Receive Ongoing News & Updates
Stay in touch and aware by signing up for our mailing list and help get the word out about what we’re accomplishing and spreading general awareness. This is a good way to support the team’s research efforts without spending a single dollar. We are asking you to partner with the Ovarian Cancer Institute by spreading the word about our accomplishments and aspirations. Who knows, maybe you will be the one who gets us our first million-dollar donation.