Mona Jhaveri

Last updated
Mona S. Jhaveri
Nationality American
Alma mater SUNY Binghamton,
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Known for Cancer research and entrepreneurship
SpouseMichael Irwin Brown
Scientific career
Fields Biochemistry and Biotechnology
InstitutionsFoligo Therapeutics Inc and Sound Affects

Mona Jhaveri is an American biotech scientist and entrepreneur notable for innovative approaches to cancer research, detection, and funding. From 2005 to 2010, [1] she founded and ran Foligo Therapeutics Inc., a biotech startup that worked to develop and commercialize a DNA-based compound as a potential treatment for ovarian cancer. [2] She is also the founder and executive director of Sound Affects, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving financing for cancer research through collaboration with musicians. [3]

Contents

Education

Jhaveri received a bachelor's degree from SUNY Binghamton, and a doctorate in biochemistry from the Wake Forest School of Medicine. [4]

Career

Jhaveri worked as a postdoc at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland (1997–2001), where she co-discovered the compound FOLIGO 002 with Patrick Elwood. She continued to develop the compound as a potential cancer therapeutic at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. [5]

From 2002 to 2005 she specialized in intellectual property and technology transfer at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in New York City, where she filed patents for vaccines and licensed them to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. [4]

In 2006, she founded Foligo Therapeutics, a biotech company with a mission of developing ways to improve the detection and treatment of ovarian cancer. This included working to commercialize a DNA-based therapeutic compound as a potential treatment for ovarian cancer. [6] [1] Foligo Therapeutics later folded due to lack of funds. [5] [6]

Subsequently, Jhaveri founded Sound Affects, a non-profit organization dedicated to "changing how the war on cancer is fought and financed." Sound Affects, using a crowd-funding model, partners with independent musical artists to raise awareness and funding for cancer campaigns. Artists are motivated to raise money knowing that if they win, they can perform at an event that will provide them with exposure. For example, two acts participating with Sound Affects in 2015 raised enough money to win an opportunity to perform during New York Fashion Week. [3] [7] [8]

Awards and honors

Jhaveri received the SPORE Fellowship Award for Breast Cancer Research at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2001. [5] In 2008, she received the Cartier Women's Initiative Award, which was granted to five female entrepreneurs selected by an international jury of entrepreneurs and members of the business community for the creativity, sustainability, and social impact of their start-up projects. [2]

In 2017, Jhaveri was invited to appear on the 2018 SXSW lineup to present her innovative work with Sound Affects. [9]

Personal life

Jhaveri is married and the mother of two children. [4]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovarian cancer</span> Cancer originating in or on the ovary

Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different cell types including epithelial cells, germ cells, and stromal cells. When these cells become abnormal, they have the ability to divide and form tumors. These cells can also invade or spread to other parts of the body. When this process begins, there may be no or only vague symptoms. Symptoms become more noticeable as the cancer progresses. These symptoms may include bloating, vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, abdominal swelling, constipation, and loss of appetite, among others. Common areas to which the cancer may spread include the lining of the abdomen, lymph nodes, lungs, and liver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roche</span> Swiss multinational healthcare company

Fertility medications, also known as fertility drugs, are medications which enhance reproductive fertility. For women, fertility medication is used to stimulate follicle development of the ovary. There are very few fertility medication options available for men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doxorubicin</span> Chemotherapy medication

Doxorubicin, sold under the brand name Adriamycin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. This includes breast cancer, bladder cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphoma, and acute lymphocytic leukemia. It is often used together with other chemotherapy agents. Doxorubicin is given by injection into a vein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Targeted therapy</span> Type of therapy

Targeted therapy or molecularly targeted therapy is one of the major modalities of medical treatment (pharmacotherapy) for cancer, others being hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific targeted molecules needed for carcinogenesis and tumor growth, rather than by simply interfering with all rapidly dividing cells. Because most agents for targeted therapy are biopharmaceuticals, the term biologic therapy is sometimes synonymous with targeted therapy when used in the context of cancer therapy. However, the modalities can be combined; antibody-drug conjugates combine biologic and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ifosfamide</span> Chemotherapy medication

Ifosfamide (IFO), sold under the brand name Ifex among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes testicular cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer. It is administered by injection into a vein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folate receptor 1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Folate receptor 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FOLR1 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALDH1L1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ALDH1L1 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLK9</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Kallikrein-related peptidase 9 also known as KLK9 is an enzyme which in humans is encoded by the KLK9 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olaparib</span> Chemical compound (cancer therapy drug)

Olaparib, sold under the brand name Lynparza, is a medication for the maintenance treatment of BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer in adults. It is a PARP inhibitor, inhibiting poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), an enzyme involved in DNA repair. It acts against cancers in people with hereditary BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which include some ovarian, breast, and prostate cancers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PARP inhibitor</span> Pharmacological enzyme inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases

PARP inhibitors are a group of pharmacological inhibitors of the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veliparib</span> Chemical compound

Veliparib (ABT-888) is a potential anti-cancer drug acting as a PARP inhibitor. It kills cancer cells by blocking a protein called PARP, thereby preventing the repair of DNA or genetic damage in cancer cells and possibly making them more susceptible to anticancer treatments. Veliparib may make whole brain radiation treatment work more effectively against brain metastases from NSCLC. It has been shown to potentiate the effects of many chemotherapeutics, and as such has been part of many combination clinical trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hani Gabra</span>

Hani Gabra PhD FRCPE FRCP is a British oncologist and Professor Emeritus in Medical Oncology at Imperial College London.

On 29 March 2010, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found several of the patent claims on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes held by Myriad Genetics to be invalid. The patents were initially issued on the basis that the genes were isolated and purified to a non-naturally occurring state, however the court found, amongst other things, that the purification was not markedly different from a product of nature and thus was not patentable. The ruling may have implications for holders of other gene patents and the patentability of other naturally occurring substances. It has the potential to directly affect the operation of the healthcare and medical research industries, particularly with regards to cancer treatment and prevention, and may alter the accessibility of such therapies to patients.

Pelareorep is a proprietary isolate of the unmodified human reovirus being developed as a systemically administered immuno-oncological viral agent for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Pelareorep is an oncolytic virus, which means that it preferentially lyses cancer cells. Pelareorep also promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses. Preliminary clinical trials indicate that it may have anti-cancer effects across a variety of cancer types when administered alone and in combination with other cancer therapies.

Antineoplastic resistance, often used interchangeably with chemotherapy resistance, is the resistance of neoplastic (cancerous) cells, or the ability of cancer cells to survive and grow despite anti-cancer therapies. In some cases, cancers can evolve resistance to multiple drugs, called multiple drug resistance.

Prescient Therapeutics Ltd is a clinical stage oncology company. The company is focused on the development of a universal CAR-T platform (OmniCAR), enhanced CAR-T cell manufacturing & function (CellPryme) and on two small molecule drug targeted therapies.

GT198 is a human oncogene located within the BRCA1 locus at chromosome 17q21. It encodes protein product named GT198, Hop2 or TBPIP. The GT198 gene is found to be mutated with its protein overexpressed in human cancers including breast and ovarian cancers.

Puma Biotechnology is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

The NCI-60 cancer cell line panel is a group of 60 human cancer cell lines used by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the screening of compounds to detect potential anticancer activity.

References

  1. 1 2 "Board of Directors". Sound Affects.
  2. 1 2 "Mona Jhaveri, Founder of Biotech Company aimed at Improving Detection of Ovarian Cancer, is Winner of 2008 Cartier Women's Initiative Awards". BusinessWire.
  3. 1 2 "Our Mission". Sound Affects.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mona Jhaveri, Michael Brown". The New York Times. October 10, 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Jhaveri, Mona (15 September 2011). "Finding the Best Treatments for the Fight Against Cancer". LiveScience.
  6. 1 2 Gewin, Virginia (January 2, 2012). "Women in business: Finding a way in". Nature. 481 (7379): 103–105. doi: 10.1038/nj7379-103a . PMID   22229161. S2CID   31405989.
  7. Josiezohny (December 17, 2015). "Non-Profit "Sound Affects" Teams With Artists To Fight Cancer". The Source. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  8. Cuevas, Jasmina (March 23, 2017). "Music Beats Cancer Showcase Shines Light on What is Important". Respect. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  9. "SXSW Schedule: Mona Jhaveri". Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.