Q&A with Anh Cong: Finding Drugs to Protect the Heart During Chemotherapy
November 3, 2025Anh Cong, a PhD student at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, is studying the sister proteins targeted by anthracycline chemotherapy drugs, which are effective against many cancers but often leave patients with heart complications.
When Anh Cong started her PhD at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, she hadn’t envisioned herself working in drug development. But partway through her studies, her research on the structure and function of specific proteins led her to take on a new project that turned out to have big drug discovery implications.
“This has been a very important turning point moment for me because now I’m seeing a completely new trajectory in my career,” she said.
Cong received a 2025 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Discovery for her research on the sister proteins targeted by anthracycline chemotherapy drugs, which are effective against many cancers but often leave patients with heart complications. Anthracyclines block proteins called Topoisomerase 2 (TOP2), including TOP2A and TOP2B. Inhibiting TOP2A stops cancer DNA from being repaired during replication, but inhibiting TOP2B causes DNA damage in the heart.
Cong’s goal is to create a new drug that will stop anthracyclines from binding with TOP2B while still allowing binding with TOP2A, thus protecting the heart during chemotherapy.
Watch this video to learn more about Cong and her research.
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