Hecate OncoSolutions
Welcome to Hecate OncoSolutions
We are a very strong team with diverse scientific, medical, business and life science experiences from Texas Medical Center, the world largest medical center. We started as a business plan competition for the Neuro Startup Challenge (www.neurostartupchallenge.org) organized by the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Heritage Provider Network (HPN). Our goal is to translate basic science findings into effective treatments by developing channels and collaborations to expedite this complex route for promising antineoplastic agents. We have entered for the startup phase of the challenge to incorporate, apply for licenses, and execute other regulatory/developmental needs.
There are more than 90,000 patients currently living with Neurofibromatosis Type I (NF1) in the USA. NF1 is a genetic disease caused by the malfunction of neurofibromin, a regulatory protein. Most of the patients develop benign tumors that can be removed by surgery. However, 1 in 20 develops malignant tumors, such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) and, optic and malignant gliomas. These malignant tumors have very poor prognosis with current treatment options. Our flagship product is a small molecule that affects only NF1 mutant cancer cells by disrupting their cytoskeleton without affecting normal cells and, thus, a suitable therapeutic solution for benign and malignant tumors developed in patients with NF1.
Key Activities
Our Team
Daniel Davila-Gonzalez works as a graduate research fellow at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Daniel graduated in Biosciences at Monterrey Tec in 2012. He is currently involved in a M.D. Ph.D program from Monterrey Tec. His primary thesis project focuses on develop a target therapy against cancer stem cells using patient derived xenografts of Triple Negative Breast cancer. He was finalist on the Dell social innovation Challenge with the project “Perpetual Nutrition Kit” where he was the leader of the team. He understands the urge to design and develop new business strategies that improve the trajectory of basic science discoveries into the clinical practice.
Arvind Bambhroliya holds an MBBS degree from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, an MPH and MS degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. During his studies, he worked on various epidemiological and clinical research projects as a research assistant at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and UTHealth. He is extremely interested in learning and applying everything that matters in bringing science from the bench to the clinic.
Berenice Adriana Gutierrez Grebenkova is a graduate student from Queretaro, Mexico. She studied Biosciences at Monterrey Tec, graduating in 2012. She is currently involved in an M.D. Ph.D program from Monterrey Tec, and is developing her thesis work at the Pulmonary Medicine-Research Department of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Her main work centers on determining the relevance of mast cells proteases in lung adenocarcinoma, although she is also collaborating in vesicular traffic research. She is also interested in neurology, and aspires to do some clinical or basic research on that field. Although her career goals are not quite set, she aspires to do a medical residency after finishing her M.D.
Maitri Shah is currently involved in a PhD program at the University of Texas Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston. She holds a BPharm degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India and an MS degree from the East Carolina University.
We are a very strong team with diverse scientific, medical, business and life science experiences from Texas Medical Center, the world largest medical center. We started as a business plan competition for the Neuro Startup Challenge (www.neurostartupchallenge.org) organized by the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Heritage Provider Network (HPN). Our goal is to translate basic science findings into effective treatments by developing channels and collaborations to expedite this complex route for promising antineoplastic agents. We have entered for the startup phase of the challenge to incorporate, apply for licenses, and execute other regulatory/developmental needs.
There are more than 90,000 patients currently living with Neurofibromatosis Type I (NF1) in the USA. NF1 is a genetic disease caused by the malfunction of neurofibromin, a regulatory protein. Most of the patients develop benign tumors that can be removed by surgery. However, 1 in 20 develops malignant tumors, such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) and, optic and malignant gliomas. These malignant tumors have very poor prognosis with current treatment options. Our flagship product is a small molecule that affects only NF1 mutant cancer cells by disrupting their cytoskeleton without affecting normal cells and, thus, a suitable therapeutic solution for benign and malignant tumors developed in patients with NF1.
Key Activities
- Selected as the business plan winner and entered the startup phase of the Neuro Startup Challenge on May 20, 2015.
- Initiated engagement with the National Institute of Health and the inventor of the technology to on drafting business plans for submitting licensing application.
- Arranged a series of meetings to potential seed funders and seasoned entrepreneurs.
- Became the I-Corps Team for the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program through Southwest I-Corps Node at the University of Texas for Lean Start Up I-Corps Approach on July 20, 2015.
Our Team
Daniel Davila-Gonzalez works as a graduate research fellow at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Daniel graduated in Biosciences at Monterrey Tec in 2012. He is currently involved in a M.D. Ph.D program from Monterrey Tec. His primary thesis project focuses on develop a target therapy against cancer stem cells using patient derived xenografts of Triple Negative Breast cancer. He was finalist on the Dell social innovation Challenge with the project “Perpetual Nutrition Kit” where he was the leader of the team. He understands the urge to design and develop new business strategies that improve the trajectory of basic science discoveries into the clinical practice.
Arvind Bambhroliya holds an MBBS degree from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, an MPH and MS degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. During his studies, he worked on various epidemiological and clinical research projects as a research assistant at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and UTHealth. He is extremely interested in learning and applying everything that matters in bringing science from the bench to the clinic.
Berenice Adriana Gutierrez Grebenkova is a graduate student from Queretaro, Mexico. She studied Biosciences at Monterrey Tec, graduating in 2012. She is currently involved in an M.D. Ph.D program from Monterrey Tec, and is developing her thesis work at the Pulmonary Medicine-Research Department of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Her main work centers on determining the relevance of mast cells proteases in lung adenocarcinoma, although she is also collaborating in vesicular traffic research. She is also interested in neurology, and aspires to do some clinical or basic research on that field. Although her career goals are not quite set, she aspires to do a medical residency after finishing her M.D.
Maitri Shah is currently involved in a PhD program at the University of Texas Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston. She holds a BPharm degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India and an MS degree from the East Carolina University.