The goal of the OSUCCC – James Center for Cancer Engineering is simple. “We’re not trying to engineer cancer; we’re using engineering processes and principles to better diagnose and cure cancer,” said Matthew Ringel, MD, co-director of the Center along with Jonathan Song, PhD. The Center is a collaborative effort between the James, the College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences and several other colleges across Ohio State. “We’re taking advantage of the incredible people we have here at Ohio State,” said Ringel, a thyroid cancer specialist who also leads the James Department of Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics. “We have 56 members right now … and a core group is moving soon to the new Pelotonia Research Center (on Kenny Road).” There are numerous connections between cancer science and engineering. Developing the MRI technology used to diagnose cancer is a great example, Ringel said. The Center’s areas of focus include imaging technology, creating and studying cancer tissue structures, using data analytics and artificial intelligence to better diagnose patients, and nanotechnology to deliver treatment more precisely and effectively. The Center’s metastasis on a chip program is led by Aleksandar Skardal, PhD. Cancer cells are placed on “chips” and then researchers study how they metastasize and spread throughout the body. “This increases the discovery of the pathways that regulate the metastasis process as well as determining the drugs that may impact this,” Ringel explained. This process will ultimately be utilized for individual patients to better analyze and treat their specific cancer mutations “and is a great example of personalized care,” Ringel said. Another of the center’s program’s utilizes bio printing. “This is led by Dr. VanKoevering in our head and neck cancer department,” Ringel said. “For example, we can CT scan the jaw of a patient and then bio print an exact replica of [the portion of the jaw removed during surgery]. That bio-printed material then goes into the patient rather than a pre-made product that may not be the exact size.” Artificial intelligence programs can analyze groups of digital pathology images, or an individual patient’s pathology “and assist our pathologists to help them better see patterns to give a better diagnosis and better predict outcomes,” Ringel said. Nanotechnology is being utilized to create microscopic structures that “can carry what we call cargo directly to the cancer cells,” Ringel said. “The goal is to better treat the cancer and minimize the side effects.”