Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

 

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Cancer Center Update

November 14 , 2006

Cancer Center Update is sent to Cancer Center members and staff every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Please note: Sandi Sherman will be out of the office until December 3. Please submit items for publication in Update to Gina Kennedy by e-mail to kenne069@umn.edu by noon the previous Friday.

In This Issue

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

News

Events

Professional Education and Events

Grant Information and Announcements

 

Reminders

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Regulation of breast cancer metastasis by the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor
Deepali Sachdev, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota

A peek at next week's seminar:
Molecular basis of cancer and cancer prevention
Zigang Dong, M.D., Dr.Ph., Hormel-Knowlton Professor, McKnight Presidential Professor in Cancer Prevention, Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota
Host: Stephen Hecht, Ph.D.

For a complete schedule visit the Cancer Center Web site Seminar Series listing.

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News

Members in the news

  • Linda Burns, M.D., Daniel Vallera, Ph.D., and Brenda Weigel, M.D., are featured in the article, "Bench to Bedside: Pioneering Treatment for Leukemia," in the November issue of Accelerate, the monthly newsletter of the Academic Health Center's Office of Clinical Research.
  • Linda Carson, M.D., wrote an article about how surgery followed by IV/IP therapy greatly improves survival for women with advanced ovarian cancer in the November issue of Minnesota Health Care News.
  • Stephen Ekker, Ph.D., was quoted in an article about nanobiotechnology in the November issue of Minnesota Medicine.
  • Anna Masellis, Ph.D., wrote an article for the St. Paul Pioneer Press about being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the experimental treatment she has undergone, and the importance of supporting pancreatic cancer research. A link to the article is provided on the Cancer Center Web site's Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Resources page.

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University of Minnesota BMT program opens in India

The internationally recognized blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) program at the University of Minnesota has an additional address—Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, India. Led by Cancer Center member Daniel Weisdorf, M.D., professor of medicine and chair of the adult BMT program, this research and clinical care partnership with Manipal is the first of its kind for University of Minnesota Physicians. Learn more about the program and view photos.

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Hecht receives AACR-CRPF Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., will receive the fifth annual Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting this week in Boston. The award is co-sponsored by AACR and Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation (CRPF). Hecht, who holds the Wallin Chair in Cancer Prevention and is leader of the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, is being honored for more than three decades of research on tobacco and its link to cancer formation and growth. Read the AACR news release.

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Welcome new faculty member Kaylee Schwertfeger, Ph.D.

Welcome to new faculty member Kaylee Schwertfeger, Ph.D., who joined the Cancer Progression and Metastasis Program October 31. Schwertfeger is an assistant professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver; and she received post-doctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston from 2002 to 2006. Schwertfeger's research focuses on the roles of: 1) fibroblast growth factor receptors and 2) inflammatory cells in mediating early stages of breast cancer initiation and progression.

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Jameson to speak at Immunotherapy 2006: Targeting Complexity

Cancer Center member Stephen C. Jameson, Ph.D., professor, Center for Immunology and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, will speak at the "Immunotherapy 2006: Targeting Complexity" conference in Havana, Cuba, November 14-19. The conference has invited about 50 speakers from around the world, and is organized by the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization. Visit www.cim.sld.cu/IT2006/index.htm.

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Barnes and Noble Holiday Book Drive to benefit Care Partners at University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview

The Barnes and Noble stores in Burnsville, Apple Valley, Maplewood, and downtown Minneapolis have chosen the Care Partners Book Cart program as the recipient of their Holiday Book Drive. Customers will be encouraged to purchase books to be donated to the program in which volunteers wheel a cart stocked with new books to the pediatric units every week. Each child is given a book to keep, which the volunteer offers to read aloud. The Care Partners program is funded in part by the Children's Cancer Research Fund, and provides its services at University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview. More information.

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Cancer Center researchers presenting at ASH meeting

Several Cancer Center researchers and University of Minnesota colleagues will be among the presenters at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in Orlando, Fla., December 9-12, 2006. Presenters include:

Poster presentations:

  • Rachel Bergerson, Largaespada lab, "A Screen for Mll-AF9 Cooperating Mutations in Leukemogenesis Using MLV-Based Mutagenesis"
  • Weili Chen, Kersey lab, "The Mll-AF9 Knock-In Fusion Gene Results in Reprogramming and Enhanced Self-Renewal of Hematopoietic Progenitors, Especially in the HSC and CLP Populations"
  • Sonja Johnson, LeBien lab, "Distinct IL-7 Signaling Outcomes in Normal Human B and T-Lineage Progenitors"

View a complete list of ASH presenters from the Cancer Center that have been submitted to Update. Corrections for previous listings in Update are incorporated on this page. If you or someone from your laboratory is giving an oral or poster presentation at ASH, and you have not been listed yet, please e-mail Gina Kennedy, kenne069@umn.edu, to be included on the list and in a future edition of Update.

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Cancer Center Web site offers RSS news feed, podcasts

You can now receive news items from the Cancer Center Web site delivered via RSS feed. The RSS news feed allows you to see when new articles have been added to the site without going to the home page. RSS feeds can be viewed through handheld devices, software on your computer, personalized Web pages, and Web browsers. Podcasts, such as the one the Cancer Center produced for the September 11 President's Cancer Panel, are also delivered through RSS feeds. For more information and to subscribe to these feeds, visit www.cancer.umn.edu/news/rssinfo.html. If you have questions about RSS, please contact Peter Fleck, fleck004@umn.edu, 5-8668.

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Events

Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases Conference

Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 4 p.m., 450 CCRB
Childhood Hodgkins Lymphoma Dr. Angie Smith, Fellow, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT Contact: Linda DeVoe, 6-2778

Cancer Biology Journal Club

Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 12-1 p.m., 5-122 MCB
Tim Starr will present.

The Cancer Biology Journal Club is held every Wednesday. A complete schedule is available at the MICaB Web site. For more information contact: Sonja Johnson (john4368@umn.edu) or Rachel Bergerson (sapl0005@umn.edu).

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Hope Has No Boundaries Blue Jeans and Black Tie Gala and Shopping Extravaganza for Hope Chest for Breast Cancer

The Hope Chest for Breast Cancer's 4th Annual Hope Has No Boundaries event on Thursday, November 16, will include a live and silent auction, shopping, celebrities, food, and entertainment. Tickets are $75 for the VIP Celebrity Reception & Gala (6-11 p.m.) and $50 for the Gala only (7-11 p.m.). The Hope Chest also will have a Shopping Extravaganza, free and open to the public, November 17-18. The Gala and Shopping Extravaganza will be at the former Menards (next to the new Menards) in Burnsville, Hwy. 13 & I-35W. Hope Chest for Breast Cancer helps fund breast cancer research, early detection and treatment programs, and hospice care for people battling the disease. For more information about Hope Chest and the "Hope Has No Boundaries" event and sale, visit www.hopechest.us/php/index.php.

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1st Annual Children's Cancer Research Fund Norma K.D. Ramsay, M.D., Distinguished Visiting Professor Lectureship

Friday, November 17, 2006, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Human polymorphism and childhood cancer: How we are different and how we are the same
Stella M. Davies, M.B.B.S, Ph.D., M.R.C.P., Jacob G. Schmidlapp Endowed Chair and Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

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Professional Education and Seminars

Epidemiology Interest Group Seminar

Friday, November 17, 2006
Cancelled to encourage attendance at 1st Annual Children's Cancer Research Fund Norma K.D. Ramsay, M.D., Distinguished Visiting Professor Lectureship (see above)

For a complete schedule visit the seminar Web page.

BMT Conference

Monday, November 20, 2006, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB
Attending meeting

For a complete schedule, visit the conference Web page.

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Grant Information and Announcements

Request for Information (RFI): Possible Page Limit Reduction for the Research Plan Section of the Research Project Grant (R01) Application
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-014.html

Development, Application, and Evaluation of Prediction Models for Cancer Risk and Prognosis (R21)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-022.html

Image-Guided Cancer Interventions (STTR [R41/R42])
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-041.html

Image-Guided Cancer Interventions (SBIR [R43/R44])
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-042.html

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Reminders

November 1-30: Open Enrollment for benefits-eligible employees

University of Minnesota employees can review their benefits and make changes during Open Enrollment, November 1-30. Changes to medical and dental benefits are allowed if desired. Employees who wish to use flexible spending accounts must make an election for 2007. Medical and dental plan rates, plan changes, and other enrollment news was provides in a recent "U & Your Benefits" newsletter and is posted on the benefits Web site. All benefits changes and elections must be completed online at Employee Self-Service.

December 7: Mark your calendars for the Cancer Center holiday event

This year's Cancer Center holiday event on Thursday, December 7, will begin at 4 p.m. in the West Wing of the Campus Club. Appetizers, beverages, and live entertainment will be provided.

Help in the fight against childhood cancer with Children's Cancer Research Fund note cards

Mary Schultze is taking orders for the Butterfly note cards (12/pkg @ $15/pkg) to benefit the Children's Cancer Research Fund. There are four different butterflies, each one designed by a child currently undergoing cancer treatment. Mary can be reached at schul032@umn.edu, 612-626-2961.

Support the Children's Cancer Research Fund when you shop

Just shop online at your favorite stores, or explore the many other affiliates available, and a percentage of each purchase will be donated to the Children's Cancer Research Fund. Start shopping at www.shopccrf.com.

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