Emory Healthcare neurosurgeon Edjah K. Nduom, MD, has been granted a 5-year, $1.96 million R01 research award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will support his research to find effective treatment options for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor resistant to current therapies.

Nduom is a neurosurgical oncologist at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and the Emory Brain Health Center and is the Daniel Louis Barrow Endowed Chair in the department of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine.

Nduom’s grant is focused on immunotherapy, an area of medical research dedicated to developing and optimizing treatments that harness the power of the immune system to fight diseases, particularly cancer.

Genetic material in the immune cells of patients with cancer differs from the immune cells of healthy people. By studying this genetic material, called long non-coding RNAs in the immune cells of patients with glioblastoma, Nduom and team hope to redirect these immune cells to attack brain tumors instead of supporting their growth.

Glioblastoma, the most common type of malignant brain tumor among adults, has no known cure, only treatments to help ease symptoms.

He specializes in surgically treating brain and spinal cord tumors, with a particular focus on safely removing cancerous growths found in critical or sensitive regions of the brain, such as the brainstem and spinal cord.

Holding numerous positions in national and international medical societies, Nduom is notably a board member of the National Brain Tumor Society and the Scientific Program Chair for the Congress of Neurological Surgeon. Prior to joining Emory in 2020, Nduom was an assistant clinical investigator in the Surgical Neurology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH.