A huge thank you to the American Cancer Society @americancancersoc.bsky.social for funding this work in our lab through a Research Scholar award!

This work was spearheaded by two amazing grad students, co-first authors Vikas Peddu & Alex Hill, with significant contributions from Sreelakshmi Velandi Maroli & Connor Mattingly, as well as our wonderful collaborators Joshua Gardner, Karen Miga, and Rebecca Fitzgerald!

Our study highlights the utility of our long-read sequencing-based RNA liquid biopsy approach for discovering and targeting early stages of disease with molecular precision.

Through our LOCATE-seq RNA liquid biopsy platform technology, we also discovered potential therapeutic targets, including metabolic, signaling, and immune checkpoint pathways, that are highly upregulated in both precancer and cancer patients.

Using these novel, unannotated cell-free RNAs, we built a custom transcriptome reference for quantification, feature selection, and machine learning to accurately classify both precancerous Barrett's esophagus with high-grade dysplasia and early-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma.

We leveraged the power of single-molecule, long-read sequencing of cell-free RNA using Oxford Nanopore Technologies' PromethION platform @nanoporetech.com to discover over 270,000 novel, intergenic cell-free RNAs.