Many studies have shown that the cancer cells within a tumor form a remarkably diverse population. These cellular differences play a significant role in how the tumor develops and how it responds to therapy. A technology called flow cytometry (a high-throughput method for characterizing single cells) has been critical for these findings; however, the technology is inherently limited because it can only measure biochemical processes that can be interrogated using a fluorescent molecule.

Dr. Pratx, an engineer by training, is developing a novel method that would enable flow cytometry to measure single cell uptake of any non-fluorescent molecule. This challenging feat will be accomplished by exploiting the fact that molecules can be labeled by radioisotopes. This new tool could transform the ability to study normal and abnormal molecular processes in single cancer cells by allowing flow cytometry to interrogate a much wider range of biomolecules, with high throughput and high temporal resolution.