The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.
This award will support a twenty-four month research fellowship by Dr. Elizabeth A. Hillard to work with Dr. Gerard Jaouen at L'Universite Pierre @ Marie Curie, Laboratoire de Chimie Organometallique, in Paris, France. Support is provided by the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate's Office of Multi-disciplinary Activities.
This project will involve the chemical synthesis of new organometallic hormones and the determination of their biochemical properties, such as relative binding affinity and lipophilicity. This work should permit the elucidation of the mechanism of action of this new family of molecules, and to distinguish between antihormonal, cytotoxic, or combined antihormonal/cytotoxic effects, which have never been observed for any previously known molecule and thus may open the way towards a new family of therapeutic agents in the treatment of breast cancer.
