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Dr. Cathleen Crudden, a world-leading chemist at Queen’s University and Canada Research Chair in Metal Organic Chemistry, is available for media interviews following two groundbreaking studies that looked for ways to treat cancer using tiny clusters of gold and a bit of light.

Her team at Queen’s Carbon to Metal Coating Institute (C2MCI) has developed gold nanoclusters—structures made of fewer than 100 gold atoms—that can enter cancer cells and, when activated by light, destroy them from the inside. Because the clusters are stable, water-soluble, and safely cleared from the body, they hold promise for safer, more targeted cancer treatment.

In two newly published studies (Journal of the American Chemical Society  and ), Dr. Crudden’s interdisciplinary team of chemists, biophysicists, and medical researchers showed:

• How a protective molecule called carbene makes gold nanoclusters stable inside the body.
• That the clusters glow under light, making them easy to trace and ideal for targeted therapies.
• That the clusters are absorbed by cancer cells and effectively kill them when exposed to light—while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

This Canadian discovery could lead to a new generation of cancer treatments that are both more effective and gentler on patients.

To arrange an interview, please contact the media relations team: mediarelations@queensu.ca.