Katharina Maisel, an associate professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) and a member of the UMD Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences, is leading the development a topical gel to treat a precancerous condition that affects the cervix.
Totaling $3.4 million over five years, the project is supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at developing low-cost technologies to expand access to cancer care in communities with limited medical resources.
The precancerous condition Maisel is studying—low-grade cervical dysplasia—may resolve on its own and is often monitored rather than immediately treated. That approach depends on patients returning for follow-up screenings to make sure the condition does not progress. In low-resource communities, however, patients may face barriers to returning for care. Current treatments can also require equipment or supplies that are difficult to access in rural settings.
To address this gap, Maisel will develop a topical ethanol-based gel for low-grade cervical dysplasia that can treat abnormal tissue while leaving healthy cervical tissue intact.
Jenna Mueller, an Associate Professor in BIOE and Maisel’s co-PI, is leading the design of the applicator and cup device to keep the treatment concentrated at the cervix. A clinical trial to test the gel is scheduled for 2028 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSM).
Additional project collaborators include Michele Kaluzienski, a research technician and faculty specialist who works in both Mueller’s and Maisel’s labs; and Dr. Julie Hurvitz, an assistant professor in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UMSM.
—Story adapted from an article by the Fischell Department of Bioengineering