Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

January 10, 2006

Cancer Center Update is sent to Cancer Center members and staff every Tuesday at 10 a.m. To submit an item for publication, send the information to Sandi Sherman by noon the Friday before publication.

In This Issue:

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

News

Events

Professional Education and Seminars

Grant Information & Announcements

Reminders



TODAY'S CANCER CENTER SEMINAR

Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV: implications for cancer etiology, therapeutics and prevention

Louis M. Mansky, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Microbiology and Oral Sciences, Director, Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota

 

A peek at next week's seminar:

Targeting of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase in cancer

Jason Chesney, MD., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville

 

Host: Alex Lange, Ph.D.

For a complete schedule visit: http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/date.html

NEWS

RECRUITMENT SEMINAR

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, 10-11 a.m., 2-120 MCB

 

"Keap1-Nrf2 Signaling as a Target for Cancer Prevention"

Thomas W. Kensler, Ph.D., Director, Division of Toxicological Sciences, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

Dr. Kensler is a candidate for a senior faculty position.

AHC, BIOMEDICAL GENOMICS CENTER AND SEQUENOM SPONSOR LUNCH SEMINAR

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, 12-1:30 p.m., 2-101 BSBE

New genotyping technologies and quantitative gene expression using MassARRAY™ system

Dr. Charles Tetzlaff, Sequenom

 

QUITPLAN TOBACCO CESSATION CENTER TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE AT SMILEY'S CLINIC

 

Smiley's and Broadway Family Medicine Clinics will be the new sites of QUITPLAN Tobacco Cessation Centers. These centers are able to provide face-to-face counseling and appropriate pharmacotherapy to any resident of Minnesota .  An open house to celebrate the addition of the centers will be held Thursday, Jan. 26, 3-6 p.m. at Smiley's Clinic (2615 E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis ).  It is open to healthcare providers and community members.  Smoking cessation counselors will be available to answer questions, and visitors can have the level of carbon monoxide in their breath measured. Refreshments, games, and giveaways will be available.Please call 612-333-0770 for more information.

TTURC ANNOUNCES PILOT GRANT PROGRAM

 

The Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) is offering grants of up to $25,000 for one year to support pilot projects aimed at reducing the harm from tobacco dependence, or strategies to reduce tobacco use among populations that have been refractory to smoking cessation efforts. This funding may be used for direct costs only. Proposals may involve any level of inquiry, e.g. molecular, genetic, preclinical, clinical, epidemiologic or public policy.

 

Faculty at the University of Minnesota , or faculty at Hennepin County Medical Center/Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation, Minneapolis Veteran's Administration Medical Center or Regions Hospital who have an adjunct appointment at the University of Minnesota are eligible to apply. The application deadline is March 1, 2006 with an anticipated funding date of April 1, 2006. Potential applicants must first contact the Pilot Projects Program Director (Paul Pentel, pentel@umn.edu 612-873-6426) to determine whether the proposed project is within the scope of the Center. Applications that have not been discussed will not be accepted. A full program announcement and application form is available in .pdf format.

NATIONAL OVARIAN CANCER STUDY LEADS TO NCI CLINICAL ANNOUNCEMENT; CANCER CENTER MEMBER IS LOCAL PI
 

The University of Minnesota was one of the institutions conducting research that led to an NCI announcement encouraging post-surgery treatment with anticancer drugs via two methods for women with advanced ovarian cancer. The combined methods, which deliver drugs both into a vein and directly into the abdomen, extend overall survival by about a year. The announcement coincides with publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of a large clinical trial by Deborah Armstrong, M.D., medical oncologist and an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore , and her colleagues in the NCI-supported Gynecologic Oncology Group. Linda Carson, M.D. chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, and a Cancer Center member, was principal investigator for the trials conducted at the U of M.

Check the Masonic Cancer Center web site, for the following information about the study and treatment recommendation:
• Q&A about ovarian cancer and intraperitoneal chemotherapy
• New England Journal of Medicine article
• NCI clinical announcement
• IP educational materials prepared by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG)

LAZOVICH REPRESENTS CANCER CENTER ON STEERING COMMITTEE

DeAnn Lazovich, Ph.D., co-leader of the Prevention and Etiology Program, has been named to the 2006 Steering Committee for the Minnesota Cancer Alliance. The Steering Committee is the governing body of the Alliance and is responsible for the ongoing development, implementation and evaluation of Cancer Plan Minnesota. Lazovich served on the initial steering committee that guided the development of Cancer Plan Minnesota, announced in 2005. She will now serve a two-year term as part of the new 18-member Steering Committee.

CANCER CENTER MEMBERS IN THE NEWS


The following Cancer Center members were listed in the January 2006 "Top Doctors" issue of Mpls./St. Paul Magazine: George Adams, M.D., Edward Y. Cheng, M.D., Maria K. Hordinsky, M.D., David W. Hunter, M.D., Nigel Key, M.D., Michael A. Maddaus, M.D., Robert D. Madoff, M.D., David Rothenberger, M.D., and Daniel Saltzman, M.D. Congratulations to them.

HORMEL INSTITUTE HAS USED NMR SPECTROPHOTOMETER AVAILABLE

 

The Hormel Institute has a NMR spectrophotometer purchased in the early 1990s available free through the University re-use program.  It is a Varian VXR-300S used for lipid analysis. The equipment is in excellent working condition (in spite of being fairly old) and could be used as is or could be used for parts if someone had a similar instrument. Anyone interested should contact Dr. Ann Bode, Associate Director of the Hormel Institute, at 507-437-9615 or ambode@hi.umn.edu .


HOSPITAL LOBBY RENOVATION BEGINS; STAFF SHOULD USE MAYO, DIEHL ENTRANCES BEGINNING FEB. 1

Construction crews began work last week to renovate the 20-year-old University campus hospital lobby. The five-month project will close parts of the lobby starting January 9, but traffic will still be allowed through it, thanks to modifications recently made in the construction project timeline.


Beginning February 1, however, the entire lobby will be closed until late spring. More information about the closure and areas that will affected by the renovation is available in a pdf file.

NEW UNIVERSITY POLICIES FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL EFFECTIVE 01/01/06

 

Significant changes have been made to the University's Travel Policy with regard to meal reimbursements and use of frequent flyer miles. These changes are effective for business travel commencing on or after January 1, 2006.

 

Employees traveling on University business will now be reimbursed the per diem rate for the location where meals are purchased. Reimbursements will be made in accordance with the Federal State Department Per Diem daily amounts as published on the GSA website, Domestic Travel. For the updated policy, please refer to University Policy 3.8.3, Traveling on University Business at http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/policy/Travel.cfm#450 and check out the Frequently Asked Questions for this policy.

 

The new Frequent Flyer policy Accrual and Use of Frequent Flyer Miles is available at http://fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/policy/FrequentFlyer_pol.cfm .

 The changes were made as part of the policy review conducted in conjunction with the new Financial System implementation. For concerns or questions, please call the University Financial Systems Helpline @ 624-1617.

CANCER CENTER WELCOMES NEW STAFF

 

Payroll and Human Resources

 

The Masonic Cancer Center is pleased to welcome Ka Yee Lee as the new Personnel Assistant.  Ka Yee is responsible for processing department payroll, managing vacation/sick leave, and providing clerical assistance with human resource functions. All time sheets and absence cards for Cancer Center staff should be submitted to Ka Yee.  Her office is in the Dinnaken Office Building , 925 Delaware St. S.E., Suite 310 .  She can be reached by e-mail at leex2339@umn.edu , by telephone at 612-625-9469 or by fax at 612-625-1620.

 

SEEKING RECOGNITION AWARD NOMINATIONS

 

We are currently accepting nominations for the Masonic Cancer Center 's recognition award honoring outstanding contributors in Clinical Research and Experimental Therapeutics. Clinical Research/Experimental Therapeutics staff, as well as other staff and faculty contributing to the Masonic Cancer Center in these areas, are eligible for this award. Nominees do not need to be Cancer Center employees.

 

To submit a nomination on-line, go to http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/recogform.html .

Electronic or hard copies of the form may also be requested from cchr@umn.edu . A recognition event will be announced later this month.

 

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

WAXMAN INDIVIDUAL GRANTS IN CANCER RESEARCH

The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting basic, translational and clinical research on the causes of cancer with the goal of developing scientifically targeted cancer treatments. Invitations have been sent to the directors of major cancer research programs requesting the submission of applications from each institution. The research should be in one of the following areas: d evelopment of transcription based therapy-agents in cancer; development of new therapies/pathways to overcome defective differentiation of cancer cells; selective apoptotic agents and pathways in cancer; or targeting aberrant signaling pathways characteristic of the malignant phenotype.

 

The initial two-year grant period will be for $100,000 per year with 15% additional for overhead.

One application is permitted per institution. Internal deadline for proposal submission is January 30, 2006. For further information see: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/funding/requiresnomintation/home.html

http://www.research.umn.edu/opportunities/

 

WAXMAN PROGRAM GRANTS IN CANCER RESEARCH

 

The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting basic, translational and clinical research on the causes of cancer with the goal of developing scientifically targeted cancer treatments. Invitations have been sent to the directors of major cancer research programs, requesting the submission of applications from each institution. The research should be in one of the following areas: d evelopment of transcription based therapy-agents in cancer; development of new therapies/pathways to overcome defective differentiation of cancer cells; selective apoptotic agents and pathways in cancer; or targeting aberrant signaling pathways characteristic of the malignant phenotype.

 

The initial, two-year grant period will be $300,000 per year with 15% additional overhead. The program grant requires proven collaboration between at least two institutions involving no fewer than three research groups. Ideally, program grants should address the development of a therapeutic concept from preclinical models to clinical implementation. One application is permitted per institution. Internal deadline for proposal submission is January 30, 2006. For further information see:

http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/funding/requiresnomintation/home.html

http://www.research.umn.edu/opportunities/

The Grant Opportunities web page is currently under construction. To view a list of cancer research funding resources and links to their web sites visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/grantopp.html .

EDUCATION AND SEMINARS

CANCER PROGRESSION AND METASTASIS PROGRAM MEETING

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB

Cap-dependent translation regulates cancer genesis and progression

Vitaly Polunovsky, Ph.D, Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota

 

For a complete schedule visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/cellbiol.html .

 

CORE CURRICULUM SEMINAR

Friday, Jan. 13, 2006, 10 a.m., 450 CCRB

Immunosuppression

Dr. John Rogosheske, Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy

 

For a complete schedule visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/coreseminar.html .

CANCER BIOLOGY RESEARCH CLUB

Friday, Jan. 13, 2006, 3:30-4:30 p.m., 450 CCRB

Peripheral deletion of naive autoreactive CD4+ T cells

James Moon, Ph.D., Jenkins Lab

 

For a complete schedule visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/grant7.html .

 

BMT CONFERENCE

Monday, Jan. 16, 2006, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB

No conference due to Martin Luther King Holiday

 

For a complete schedule visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/bmtlect.html

 

CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY INTEREST GROUP

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Mayo D327

An investigation of commercial asbestos exposure in Minnesota iron miners who developed mesothelioma — A community based initiative

Alan Bender D.V.M., Ph.D., Section Chief, Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology, Minnesota Department of Health

 

Please RSVP to Logan Spector at spector@epi.umn.edu by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17th to reserve lunch.

For a complete schedule visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/epi_sem.html.