Some discoveries begin as a single, stubborn question that refuses to leave. What if there were a way to destroy cancer without harming the rest of the body?
In one case, that niggling question led to others, and they uncovered extraordinary answers. What if we could deliver chemotherapy only to the cancer itself, leaving the rest of the body untouched? What if the two most powerful cancer treatments, chemo and radiation, could work together and finally give patients with aggressive cancers a fighting chance?
For Daniel Fologea, a professor of biophysics, this wasn’t a passing thought. It became the problem he wanted to solve, and it drew two students who grew up in Boise, Maddie Grier (BS, biology, 2022; MS, biomolecular sciences, 2025, Ph.D.; biomolecular sciences, in progress) and Aviana Smith (BS, physics and vocal performance, 2024) into an unforgettable journey.
The problem they faced
Cancer treatment follows a familiar pattern: chemotherapy, then a pause; radiation, then another pause. For aggressive cancers, those gaps can be deadly. Cancer doesn’t wait. But the delays are necessary because combining the two treatments too closely can be lethal. One in 10 patients could die from the toxicity.
But what if the danger could be removed?
A small team with a big idea
Grier and Smith joined Fologea to pursue a bold idea: deliver chemotherapy straight into cancer cells and use radiation to trigger its release—while sparing the rest of the body.
The key was liposomes: microscopic, fat-based spheres built in the lab to carry chemotherapy drugs. They’re small enough to slip through the leaky blood vessels around tumors, and their fatty makeup makes them irresistible to cancer cells. The cells absorb the liposomes.
But inside, hidden like tiny Trojan horses, is chemotherapy. When radiation is applied to the tumor, the liposomes burst open, releasing the drug exactly where it’s needed. The result is a one-two punch: chemo and radiation delivered at the same time, targeting only the cancer cells hit by radiation. The kidneys flush out any unused liposomes, which means fewer side effects for the rest of the body.
“We’re not flooding the body with toxic chemicals, we’re delivering them only where they’re needed.” — Daniel Fologea
From theory to reality: How grants transformed their journey
Turning this idea into a treatment required more than science. It needed funding, partners and a path to production. Two National Science Foundation grants gave the Boise State team critical support—covering research costs and connecting the team with biotech experts, helping bridge the gap from lab to market.
“Taking something I understood scientifically and putting it into a business context was completely new,” Grier said. Smith agreed: “Passion alone isn’t enough. It has to be profitable and wanted by the right people.”
A conversation with a biotech company in France that had made the leap from prototype to product proved pivotal. That company later licensed the team’s patent, opening the door to commercialization. Partnering with scientists in France, they developed specialized lipids for building liposomes at a fraction of the cost. Manufacturing for clinical trials is now underway.
The patent was issued in January. What began as a “what if” is becoming a treatment headed for patients.
The human side of the breakthrough
For Grier and Smith, this wasn’t just another research project. It changed how they saw science and their futures.
Grier, a Ph.D. candidate who works at a Boise biotech company, gained “a healthy respect for the entrepreneurial side of research.” Smith, now also pursuing her Ph.D., saw how discovery must also meet the market to make a difference.
For Fologea, it’s the heart of his work. “Create something meaningful, teach students how to bring it to life, and let it change the world,” he said.
Looking ahead
Advancing through clinical trials, meeting all safety regulations and partnering with larger organizations that can bring this breakthrough to fruition can take years, but this time feels different. The vision is a future where deadly gaps between treatments are eliminated, and the side effects of chemotherapy are greatly reduced, bringing hope.
From a question in a Boise State lab to an international collaboration, their work shows what can happen when curiosity meets persistence and when students are invited to stand at the center of discovery.
It’s a story about science, but it’s also about people. A mentor who refused to accept the limits of the current system. Two students who stepped into uncharted territory. And the countless patients who may one day benefit from a treatment that began with a simple, quiet question:
What if?
Meet the scientists
Daniel Fologea
Professor of physics and biophysics
With a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Bucharest, Fologea joined Boise State in 2011. His research explores how molecules cross membranes, particularly using liposomes as carriers for more precise drug delivery. He has published his research widely and presented it internationally.
Madelynn M. Grier
Graduate researcher
Grier works under Fologea’s mentorship, working on liposome preparation and transport across lipid membranes. Her role in developing the chemotherapy and radiation delivery method is central to the project’s real-world promise.
Alongside this work, she studies how to find and measure small pollutants in the environment. Her research uses a method called the kinetic exclusion assay, adapted to work with specialized molecules that can recognize these pollutants.
Aviana R. Smith
Student scientist
Before moving to Ohio, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in biophysics, Smith was a member of Fologea’s team. She helped in a project that created liposomes from red blood cells—liposomes designed to avoid immune reactions.
*This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under award No 3941020.