Project number: JTFN-00169
The ONCO-Q project develops and clinically validates quantum sensing technology for personalised colorectal cancer diagnostics and drug testing. It is a collaboration between the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), LIFE Cooperative, QT Sense, and Fodran Lab. Within the project, Fodran Lab contributes to the development and functional evaluation of new spirocyclic drug candidates.
The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Just Transition Fund (JTF), with total project costs of approximately €1.95 million and a subsidy contribution of €800,000.
ONCO-Q aims to:
Within ONCO-Q, Fodran Lab focuses on androgen receptor binders as candidate therapeutics. Prostate cancer often depends on a single molecular switch: the androgen receptor. When this receptor is activated, it fuels tumour growth — and while existing treatments can block it, cancer cells frequently find ways around them.
Our lab has developed a promising spirocyclic lead compound that we believe could offer real advantages over existing treatments like Bicalutamide and Enzalutamide. While we're still uncovering exactly how it interacts with the androgen receptor, we're optimistic about its potential as a new therapeutic option.
Within ONCO-Q, this work is supported by €800,000 in JTF subsidy funding (total project costs of approximately €1.95 million), enabling us to jumpstart development and functional evaluation of these compounds as part of a wider collaboration with UMCG, LIFE Cooperative, and QT Sense, bringing together clinical, cooperative, and quantum sensing expertise to push this research toward real-world impact.
We're recruiting a postdoc to help lead the next phase of this project. If you're excited about designing the next generation of cancer therapeutics, we'd love to hear from you.
The Just Transition Fund (JTF) is a European fund supporting regions hit hardest by the shift to a green economy. Its goal: help the EU reduce socio-economic inequality as this transition unfolds. The JTF is rooted in the European Green Deal, the EU's roadmap to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. In the Northern Netherlands, €330 million has been committed through 2027 to support this shift.
ONCO-Q (project number JTFN-00169) is co-funded by the European Union through the Just Transition Fund.
The JTF subsidies are implemented by the Northern Netherlands Partnership (SNN), a collaboration between the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Fryslân, the municipality of Emmen, and the Labour Market Table Northern Netherlands — a public partnership between the three northern labour market regions (municipalities and UWV) and the three northern provinces.
X-ray of AR taken from Pereira de Jésus-Tran, K.; Côté, P.-L.; Cantin, L.; Blanchet, J.; Labrie, F.; Breton, R. Protein Sci. 2006, 15, 987–999. PDB
