Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio School of Dentistry have received three U.S. National Institutes of Health grants totaling $6 million to study oral cancer pain management.
The projects aim to focus on stopping oral squamous cell carcinoma, treating oral mucositis, and reducing oral cancer pain to guide future drug development.
A two-year, $315,000 grant to Dr. Cara Gonzales, PhD, will test targeting transient receptor channels in mouse models to assess their effects on tumor growth, immune response, and potential drug approaches.
A five-year, $3.1 million grant to Shivani Ruparel, PhD, and Brij B. Singh, PhD, will study calcium, transient receptor potential, and inflammasome signaling in oral mucositis to discover new treatment mechanisms.
Finally, a four-year, $2.6 million grant to Ruparel will investigate the role of the truncated isoform receptor in tumor-related pain.
