January 24, 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.

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In This Issue:

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

News

Events

Professional Education and Seminars

Grant Information & Announcements

Reminders

TODAY'S CANCER CENTER SEMINAR

Convergence of the catenin p120ctn and the transcription factor Kaiso on target genes of the Wnt/Beta-catenin/TCF pathway

Juliet M. Daniel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario

 

Host: Jennifer Westendorf, Ph.D.

 

A peek at next week's seminar:

Breast cancer in Asian Americans

Anna H. Wu, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

 

Host: Mimi Yu, Ph.D.

 

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

NEWS

RECRUITMENT SEMINAR

Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, 12–1 p.m., 450 CCRB

Pleiotropic effects of FGFR1 activation in a mouse model of preneoplastic progression

Kathryn Schwertfeger, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston Texas

 

Dr. Schwertfeger is a Cancer Progression and Metastasis Program faculty candidate in the Cancer Center and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

CANCER CENTER MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

 

Chris Pennell, Ph.D., appeared on the annual Fraternal Order of Eagles Telethon on KTTC-TV in Rochester Saturday to accept a donation of $110,000 from the Eagles to the University of Minnesota Cancer Center for research.

 

Linda Carson, M.D., was featured in a KARE-11 TV news report on IP/IV therapy for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.  A link to a video of that report is available on our home page.

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.

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR NCI BEST CASE SERIES (BCS) PROGRAM: PROSPECTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS (PHASE II ONLY)

National Cancer Institute (NCI), Notice Number: NOT-CA-06-006

 

The Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is seeking contract proposals that enhance the state of science on cancer treatment. The NCI Best Case Series (BSC) Program is designed to seek out alternative approaches to cancer treatment and this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will provide funding opportunities that support prospective research projects on selected topics identified via the NCI BCS Program. The detailed BAA (i.e., Request for Proposals, RFP No. N01-CO-57035-48, which was posted on the FedBizOpps web site on December 6, 2005) is available on the web site of the Office of Acquisitions, NCI, at the following URL: http://rcb.cancer.gov/rcb-internet/appl/rfp/published_rfps.jsp

 

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR NCI BEST CASE SERIES (BCS) PROGRAM: DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT AND PROSPECTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

National Cancer Institute (NCI). Notice Number: NOT-CA-06-008

 

The Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is seeking contract proposals that will enhance the state of science on cancer treatment. The NCI Best Case Series (BSC) Program is designed to seek out alternative approaches to cancer treatment. This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will support developmental support and prospective research projects as part of the BSC as well as additional research when warranted. This BAA is intended to provide funding opportunities that will support compilation of the documentation on patient cases to be submitted to NCI OCCAM and reviewed as part of the NCI BCS Program. This BAA requests proposals for collaborative projects that involve pairing cancer investigators with CAM practitioners for conduct of the proposed efforts. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation should be two-part contracts consisting of two distinct phases. The detailed BAA (i.e., Request for Proposals, RFP No. N01-CO-57034-48, which was posted on the FedBizOpps web site on December 6, 2005) is available on the web site of the Office of Acquisitions, NCI, at the following URL:

http://rcb.cancer.gov/rcb-internet/appl/rfp/published_rfps.jsp

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

CARCINOGENESIS AND CHEMOPREVENTION PROGRAM MEETING

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006, 3 p.m., 450 CCRB

Nitrite, N-Nitroso compounds, heme and red meat in the etiology and chemoprevention of colon cancer

Sidney Mirvish, Ph.D., Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer, University of Nebraska Medical Center

 

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

 

CORE CURRICULUM SEMINAR

Friday, Jan. 27, 2006, 10 a.m., 450 CCRB

HIV Related Malignancies

Doug Rausch, M.D.

 

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

 

CANCER BIOLOGY RESEARCH CLUB

Friday, Jan. 27, 2006, 3:30-4:30 p.m., 450 CCRB

Searching for biomarkers for ovarian cancer

Amy Skubitz, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

 

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

 

BMT CONFERENCE

Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB

Lymphoma – Is it Auto matic?

Marcie Tomblyn, M.D., M.S. , Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation

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

 

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

 

REMINDERS

 

SEEKING RECOGNITION AWARD NOMINATIONS

 

We are currently accepting nominations for the 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 Cancer Center in these areas, are eligible for this award. Nominees do not need to be Cancer Center employees.

To submit a nomination online, 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.

 

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 at http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/docs/TTURC_Pilot.pdf .

 

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. For more information about the closure and areas that will affected by the renovation, a pdf file can be accessed at http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/docs/lobby_closure.pdf .