Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center Logo

Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota

Print this page. Mail this link to a friend.

Cancer Center Update

March 6 , 2007


Cancer Center Update is sent to Cancer Center members and staff every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Please submit items to Sandi Sherman, sherm019@umn.edu, by noon the previous Friday.

In This Issue

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

News

Education and Events

Cancer Center Program Meetings

Grant Information and Announcements

Position Opening

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

Tuesday, March 6, 2006, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Signaling networks of telomere and stress-induced cellular aging
John M. Sedivy, Ph.D., Herman C. Bumpus Professor of Biology, Professor of Medical Science, Chair, Departments of Moledular Bioliogy, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University

Host: Eric Hendrickson, Ph.D.

A peek at next week's seminar:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Dysregulation of BLyS in B-cell malignancies: Tipping the scales towards survival
Anne Novak, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic

Host: Yoji Shimizu, Ph.D.

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

Back to top

News

Yee named Cancer Center Director

In a message to colleagues March 2, Frank Cerra, M.D., senior vice president for health services, announced the appointment of Douglas Yee, M.D., as director of the Masonic Cancer Center. Yee, leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program, joined the faculty in the departments of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Minnesota eight years ago. He received his M.D. from the University of Chicago and has held faculty positions at Georgetown University Medical Center and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center.

Cerra noted, "[Yee] has a distinguished national clinical and research profile in breast cancer, and has been at the forefront in discovering and delivering new treatments for breast cancer patients. In the laboratory, Yee's work in the growth-regulation of tumors offers promise for slowing breast cancer growth."

Yee's official start date as director is March 12. John Kersey, M.D., the founding director of the Masonic Cancer Center, plans to continue his research as holder of the Children's Cancer Research Fund Land Grant Chair in Pediatric Oncology and as Founding Director Emeritus of the Masonic Cancer Center.

Visit the Masonic Cancer Center Web site to read the news release about Yee's directorship as soon as the announcement is made public this week.

Back to top

New Members

Michele L. Allen, M.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health
Program area of interest: Prevention and Etiology
Area of scientific interest: Tobacco and substance abuse prevention among adolescents with a focus on Latinos. A parenting program to prevent the initiation of the use of tobacco and other substances is under development, which will be tested in the community.

Rafael S. Andrade, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Thoracic Surgery
Clinical focus: Thoracic Cancer
Area of scientific interest: Development of novel minimally invasive techniques for diagnosis, staging, and treatment of lung cancer and esophageal cancer.

Karen M. Kuntz, ScD
Professor, Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health
Program area of interest: Prevention and Etiology
Clinical focus: Colorectal, breast and gynecologic cancer
Area of scientific interest: Development of mathematical models to evaluate/compare different cancer control strategies.

Allen S. Levine, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources
Program area of interest: Prevention and Etiology
Area of scientific interest: Biological basis of feeding behavior

Peter P. Ruvolo, Ph.D.
 Associate Professor, Hormel Institute/Division of Cell Signaling & Apoptosis
Program area of interest: Translational Research
Clinical focus: Hematologic malignancies
Area of scientific interest: Signaling mechanisms regulating cell death pathways, with a focus on hematologic malignancies.

Back to top

Registration opens for Cancer Center Spring Poster Session and Symposium April 2

Online registration for the Eighth Annual Spring Poster Session and Symposium will open Monday, April 2, 2007 with a final deadline of April 27, 2007. This event is sponsored by the Masonic Cancer Center Core Facilities and will be held Wednesday, May 17, 2007, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Students, staff, postdocs and PIs are invited to participate by presenting a poster. The research presented in the poster must include the use of a Cancer Center Cores Facility. For more information, call Sabine Fritz at 4-7151 or send an email to fritz017@umn.edu.

Back to top

Education and Events

Medicinal Chemistry seminar

Tuesday, March 6, 2007, 3:30 p.m., 7-135 Weaver-Densford Hall
Chemical biological tools from Nature: A case for pharmacoproteomic approaches to drug discovery and development
V. Jo Davisson, Ph.D., Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University

Back to top

Cancer Biology Journal Club

Wednesday, March 7, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 5-122 MCB
Rachel Saplis, Largaespada lab, will present "Senescence and tumour clearance is triggered by p53 restoration in murine liver carcinomas" Xue W et al., Nature 2007;445:656-660.

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).

Back to top

Save Your Skin & Win

Wednesday, March 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Great Hall, Coffman Memorial Union Thursday, March 8, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Minnesota Commons, St. Paul Student Center

"Save Your Skin & Win" is a skin cancer awareness and sun-safety program being offered the week before spring break to encourage students to protect their skin while enjoying their break. The program, developed by the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation (CPRF), will include an interactive age-progression exhibit so students can see how their skin could look when they reach middle age if they don’t protect it from the sun. Every student who tries the age-progression program will receive a $25 STA Travel voucher. The event will also include prize drawings and giveaways. The Masonic Cancer Center has joined with the Academic Health Center, Boynton Health Service, Housing & Residential Life, the Department of Recreational Sports, and STA Travel to co-sponsor this free program with CRPF. Visit the Masonic Cancer Center Web site for more information.

Back to top

Invitrogen Seminar

Thursday, March 8, 2007, 2 p.m.-3:25 p.m., 450 CCRB
RNA interference made siMPLE Matt Lawes, Ph.D., M.B.A., Gene Expression Profiling Specialist, Invitrogen

This presentation is organized into two parts with a 10-minute intermission:
2-2:30 p.m.—Basic Concepts and Approaches
2:40 p.m.-3:25 p.m.—Advanced Systems, Applicants and Services

Back to top

College of Pharmacy seminar

Thursday, March 8, 2007, 3:30 p.m., 7-135 Weaver-Densford Hall, Room KP1z 372 Duluth (via ITV)
Mitogenin I: a novel mitochondrial fusion protein
Dr. Naokatu Arakaki, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Medicine, Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan

Dr. Arakaki is a visiting professor in the College of Pharmacy

Back to top

Center for Bioethics seminar

Friday, March 9, 2007. 12:15 p.m.–1:30 p.m., 2-122 MCB
Addicted to Smoking: Brain Disease? Genetic Mishap? Social Failure?
Barbara Koenig, Ph.D., Faculty Associate, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota; Director, Bioethics Research Program and Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Back to top

Special Seminar

Friday, March 9, 2007, 1-2 p.m., 450 CCRB
Dissecting acute myeloid leukemia progression and the makings of leukemic stem cells
Ya-Huei Kuo, Ph.D., Program in Gene Function and Expression, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Dr. Kuo is a faculty candidate in molecular oncology for the Department of Pediatrics. For more information contact Arlys Clements, 612-626-2961.

Back to top

Open house to celebrate new Cancer Center space and welcome faculty

Wednesday, March 14, 2-3:30 p.m., Moos Tower, 2nd floor (enter through doors directly across from room 2-520)
Celebrate our new Cancer Center space and welcome the faculty housed in Moos Tower. Coffee and cake will be served.

Back to top

Cancer Center Program Meetings

Immunology Program meeting

Wednesday, March 7, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m., 6-110 NHH
Cell Sim™: A computing platform for modeling cellular tissue and its development, organization, and function
William Crowley, Richard Newman, Tim Otter, Ph.D., and Mason Vail, Crowley Davis Research, Inc., Chris Pennell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, University of Minnesota

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

Back to top

Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program meeting

Thursday, March 8, 2007, 4:15 p.m., 450 CCRB
Formation, biochemistry and biomonitoring of heterocyclic aromatic amines: potential human carcinogens
Robert J. Turesky, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences, SUNY Albany

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

Back to top

Cancer Biology Research Club

Friday, March 9, 2007, 450 CCRB
Meeting cancelled.

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

Back to top

BMT Conference

Monday, March 12, 2007, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB
High dose granulocyte transfusion therapy for the treatment of infection in neutropenia
Jo-Anne van Burik, M.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Infectious Disease
-and-
Jeffrey McCullough, M.D., Professor Lab Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

Back to top

Grant Information and Announcements

Other funding Opportunities

American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant
Deadline: April 16, 2007.

This grant is for assistant professors who have no independent national funding and are engaged in cancer-related research. Cancer-related research includes genetic mechanisms of cancer, molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis, development of novel cancer therapeutic models and translational research, cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Funding is available up to $30,000. Applications may be obtained by contacting LeAnn Micek, 612-626-1926, micek003@umn.edu.

Back to top

Position opening

Assistant or Associate Professor in Prostate Cancer Research (tenure-track, requisition 145924)

The Masonic Cancer Center, the Basic Science Research Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, and the Department of Urologic Surgery are expanding the Masonic Cancer Center Research Program in Prostate Cancer Research. We invite applications for a tenure track faculty position at the assistant or associate professor level. We are interested in candidates with specific research interests, experience, publication and external funding in prostate biology, prostate cancer, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with prostate cancer genesis, invasion and metastasis, and experimental therapeutics. For more information visit the Web site.

Back to top