Dr. Vivian Cody is working with scientists at the University of Minnesota who are designing novel cancer drug-delivery systems that incorporate two identical copies of a drug that are tethered together and, consequently, cause the target protein to form dimeric particles.  These particles can further assemble into large rings (nanoparticles) that can carry the drug to the cancerous tissues.  These systems are being tested with drugs that bind to the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), an important target for chemotherapy. Dr. Cody is carrying out crystallographic studies of DHFR-drug complexes in order to verify that the potential drug-delivery systems are functioning as intended.