MCC Member & C2i Genomics Co-Founder Dan Landau's Achievement - C2i Genomics Named Finalist for Nature’s Spinoff Prize
Early cancer detection can make all the difference for a patient. Yet many cancers aren’t diagnosed until it’s too late. Drs. Dan Landau and Asaf Zviran are working to develop ultra-sensitive blood tests – called “liquid biopsies” – to detect cancer at its earliest stages. Their company, C2i Genomics, was recently named a finalist for The Spinoff Prize 2021. This prestigious award, sponsored by Nature Research in partnership with Merck, showcases and celebrates global excellence in the commercialization of research through the creation of companies specifically designed to leverage the outputs generated from research conducted at a university or research institute.
Dr. Landau, a member of the Meyer Cancer Center (MCC) and Core Faculty Member at the New York Genome Center, co-founded C2i Genomics with Dr. Zviran based on their research, which was published in June 2020 in Nature Medicine.
The researchers developed a method to detect exceedingly small amounts of DNA from cancerous cells circulating through the body. They demonstrated the potential value of the tests using blood drawn from patients who had melanomas, colorectal cancers, and lung cancers. The results showed that the new technique can be used to detect blood-borne tumor DNA even when it is much too sparse to be detected by existing methods.
In an effort to win The Spinoff Prize’s €30,000 cash award, C2i Genomics and seven other finalists will present their technology and business plans to a panel of expert judges at a virtual slam event. Judges will announce the winner as part of the Future Insight Virtual Event, to be held on July 12, 2021. Learn more about C2i Genomics and their discoveries in Nature announcement and profile.
*Disclaimer: Dan Landau is a cofounder with equity, scientific advisory board member, and speaker for C2i Genomics.
A version of this article first appeared on the New York Genome Center Newsroom.
