When Science Meets Compassion: Dr. Pinku Mukherjee’s Path to Cancer Innovation
When Dr. Pinku Mukherjee was a young girl growing up in Bombay, India, she watched her aunt move into their home while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The experience changed the course of her life.
“She was so young,” Mukherjee recalls. “My cousins were devastated. They lost their mom so early, and I saw the pain she went through… the chemo, the sickness, and then she died anyway. That devastation stayed with me. I remember thinking, this is ridiculous. How can this happen? How can we not do better?”
That moment, she says, planted a seed that has grown into a lifelong mission: finding ways to stop cancer from stealing lives too soon.
Today, Mukherjee is a distinguished professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, leading groundbreaking research focused on pancreatic cancer. Her work centers on a novel antibody designed to target tumor cells with precision, leaving healthy cells untouched.
“When I came to UNC Charlotte in 2008, there wasn’t much cancer research here,” she says. “I wanted to create something that only targeted the tumor, not the entire body. That became my focus, and eventually, my patented technology.”
The antibody Mukherjee’s team developed can be used in multiple ways, including engineering T cells– the body’s natural immune fighters, to destroy cancer cells. The innovation lies in its specificity: it attaches to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, potentially allowing patients to receive lower doses of chemotherapy without losing effectiveness.
“In theory, this technology could kill the tumor,” Mukherjee explains. “We’re working to make that a reality.
Mukherjee’s journey to Charlotte followed years of research at institutions such as Penn State, Indiana University Medical Center, and the Mayo Clinic. At each stop, she built on her expertise in immunology and cancer biology. By the time she arrived at UNC Charlotte, she brought several research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, resources that allowed her to set up a state-of-the-art lab and continue advancing her work.
But even with federal support, translating academic discoveries into therapies that reach patients is an uphill climb. “We had made progress, but getting to the clinic requires a lot of regulatory work, testing, and data,” she says. “It’s expensive and time-consuming.”
That’s where NCInnovation stepped in.
In May 2025, Mukherjee and fellow UNC Charlotte researcher Susan Trammell received NCInnovation grants to help bridge the gap between their lab discoveries and potential clinical applications. For Mukherjee, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“When I got the NCInnovation grant, I was like, oh my God,” she says. “It had taken so long to get to that point,” she says. “This support came right when we needed it… to help us derisk the product and prepare for the first-in-human clinical trial.”
The funding is helping her team conduct critical experiments and compile the data the FDA requires before approving trials in patients. The goal: to have a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) submission ready within two years.
“What NCInnovation does is fill that gap,” Mukherjee says. “They understand that if we can get past these last few hurdles, this could save lives. It’s not just about research anymore– it’s about getting to the patient.”
As she peers into the future of her work, Mukherjee remains driven by the same feeling she had as a young girl watching her aunt suffer, the belief that science can and must do better.
“I’ve always had an interest in science,” she says. “But cancer made it personal. I don’t want other families to go through what mine did. Every step forward means hope for someone else.”
Her lab’s technology could one day redefine how physicians treat some of the hardest-to-treat cancers. And with NCInnovation’s support, that future feels closer than ever.
