The First Lady of Greece, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, toured the lab of Elisa Konofagou to learn more about focused ultrasound and its ability to open the blood-brain barrier for improved delivery of chemotherapy to the brain. Photo by Chris Taggart for Columbia University Irving Medical Center
On Sept. 26, the First Lady of Greece, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, visited the CUIMC laboratory of Elisa Konofagou, which is developing a new therapy for children with brain cancer.
Grabowski-Mitsotakis, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, toured the Konofagou lab to learn more about focused ultrasound and its ability to open the blood-brain barrier for improved delivery of chemotherapy to the brain.
The Greek delegation also met pediatric neuro-oncologist Stergios Zacharoulis for a demonstration of the technique, now in phase I/II clinical trials at Columbia University Irving Medical Center for children with diffuse midline glioma, a rare brain cancer. In Zacharoulis and Konofagou's trial, ultrasonic sound waves are directed at the brain to vibrate small bubbles in the blood-brain barrier; as the bubbles expand and contract, they open a path for chemotherapy drugs to follow and reach the tumor.
Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, the First Lady of Greece, with Columbia biomedical researcher Elisa Konofagou (right). Photo by Chris Taggart for Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Grabowski-Mitsotakis earned a Masters of International Affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and founded Columbia's Global Center in Athens, where she is a member of the center's senior council.
"I've been following Elisa's work, and I was very pleased to see the improvements, the new technology, and the passion of the doctors involved," Grabowski-Mitsotakis said during the visit. "[The work] requires an incredible commitment in many ways."
In addition to developing focused ultrasound for brain cancer treatment, the Konofagou lab is also adapting the technique to deliver therapeutics for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and gene therapy for the treatment of several neurodegenerative diseases.
"I was delighted to host Ms. Grabowski-Mitsotakis, who took time out of her busy schedule during UN week to visit my lab and find out more about the focused ultrasound technology we are developing for drug delivery to the brain," Konofagou said. "We had an in-depth discussion about what it takes to treat this vulnerable patient population and about one day making the technique available to patients in Greece."
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Additional information
Elisa Konofagou, PhD, is the Robert and Margaret Hariri Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of radiology (physics) and of neurological sciences (in neurosurgery).
Stergios Zacharoulis, MD, is the Herbert and Florence Irving Associate Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology.
