Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

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Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota

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 Available

Today's Cancer Center Seminar

Tuesday, April 3, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Deciphering the complexities of cancer in mouse models
Terry VanDyke, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Host: Paul Marker, Ph.D.

A peek at next week's seminar:
Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Inflammation, humoral immunity and epithelial cancer development
Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cancer Research Institute and Anatomic Pathology, University of California-San Francisco, Co-Director, Mouse Pathology Core Facility, UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center

Host: Jim McCarthy, Ph.D.

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

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News

Sturla receives AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award

Shana Sturla, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program is one of 26 early-career scientists to receive an American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Awards. These awards provide financial support to minority scientists to participate in the 2007 AACR Annual Meeting. Sturla will present a poster entitled "Investigating the mechanism of selective toxicity of antitumor acylfulvenes: Identification of depurinating acylfulvene-DNA adducts" in the Chemical Biology in Carcinogenesis, Therapy and Drug Delivery session during the conference. Xiaodan Liu, a graduate student in the Sturla lab, will present a poster titled "The action of anticancer acylfulvenes on thioredoxin reductase" during the same session.

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Members in news

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., director of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center and co-leader of the Masonic Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on April 2, 2007, in a story about tobacco addiction and the research she is leading on a nicotine vaccine. The story also featured a local participant in a nicotine vaccine trial Hatsukami is conducting. View the story at CBS.com. Hatsukami was also quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American last week.

Douglas Yee, M.D., Cancer Center director, was quoted in a Star Tribune article about new recommendations from the American Cancer Society that women at high risk for breast cancer receive MRI in addition to mammography screening. Read the article.

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Members in the journals

Tobacco research findings by more than a dozen Cancer Center members is featured in a special supplement, "Addressing Tobacco in Communities: Findings from Minnesota," recently published by Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal. ClearWay Minnesota’s research grants program funded this research. The Masonic Cancer Center has 20 copies of the supplement and anyone interested can get a copy from Sven Olsen, olsen057@umn.edu, on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Cancer U: Ask the Experts series begins April 12

Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, strategies for reducing cancer risk, and how cancer screening can make a difference will be the topics for the spring Cancer U: Ask the Experts series, jointly sponsored by the Masonic Cancer Center and University of Minnesota Medical Center. This free community education series is an opportunity to talk with University cancer doctors, researchers, nurses, and counselors about cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and research. The first program in this series is:

Prostate Cancer -- Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment
Thursday, April 12, 2007, 6-8 p.m., Radisson University Hotel, 615 Washington St. SE, Minneapolis
Kenneth Koeneman, M.D., urologic surgeon and director of the Center for Prostate Cancer at the University of Minnesota, will give a presentation and answer questions about prostate cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The program is free, but seating is limited. Learn more and pre-register.

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New member

Wei Shen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Institute of Technology
Program area of interest: Breast Cancer Research
Area of scientific interest: Engineering probes for molecular imaging of diseases; biomaterials; tissue engineering

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

Online registration for the Eighth Annual Spring Poster Session and Symposium is now open 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 16, 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, visit the Masonic Cancer Center Web site, or contact Sabine Fritz at 4-7151, fritz017@umn.edu.

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Education and Events

Cancer Biology Journal Club

Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 5-122 MCB
Todd Knutson will discuss the paper by Anderson AR, Weaver AM, Cummings PT, Quaranta V. "Tumor morphology and phenotypic evolution driven by selective pressure from the microenvironment." Cell. 2006;127:905-915.

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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Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disease conference

Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 4 p.m., 450 CCRB
Astrocytoma
Troy Lund, M.D., Fellow, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT

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Reception for Dr. Yee and Dr. Kersey

Thursday, April 12, 2007, 10:30 a.m.-noon (program at 10:45), 450 CCRB
All Cancer Center faculty and staff are invited to a reception to welcome Douglas Yee, M.D., to his new position as director of our Cancer Center, and to recognize Dr. Kersey for his 15 years of service as the founding director. Refreshments and light foods will be served. Watch Update for information about guest speakers. Visit the Web site to read the news release about Dr. Yee's appointment.

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Survivorship Series: 'A Focus on Fertility'

Saturday, April 14, 2007, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota, 200 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota
In this free educational conference on childhood cancer survivorship, learn about fertility and relationships after cancer from experts in the long-term effects of cancer therapy. Learn more and register.

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Public Health Roundtable

Friday, April 27, 2007, 8:30 a.m.-noon, Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Institute
This roundtable brings outstanding external speakers together with Minnesota colleagues and is the formal launch event for the Program in Tobacco and Human Rights at the University of Minnesota. The objectives of the roundtable include: Understanding the impact of the tobacco-related burden of disease on the developing world; exploring the emergence of human rights framings regarding international tobacco control; understanding the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; and considering the degree of application of human rights framings and challenges to this application.

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Cancer Summit 2007

Tuesday, May 8, 2007, Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center
Health care professionals, advocates, and cancer survivors will discuss how cultivating leadership can strengthen comprehensive cancer control in Minnesota at the fourth annual Cancer Summit, hosted by the Minnesota Cancer Alliance. The keynote speaker will be Tom Kean, M.P.H., executive director of C-Change.

The Summit will feature breakout sessions ranging from primary prevention to palliative care, and discussions with cancer experts, including the directors of the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic cancer centers. The Summit is open to anyone interested in learning about Minnesota cancer control efforts. Continuing education credits will be offered. The Masonic Cancer Center will pay the Cancer Summit registration fee for members and staff. Visit the Masonic Cancer Center Web site for more details.

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Symposium in Developmental Biology

September 25-26, 2007, Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota
Mark your calendars! Next fall's Symposium in Developmental Biology, "Cells Doing Development," will feature key cell biological processes that underlie developmental events. Session topics will include: Cell migration; signal reception, processing and trafficking; cellular mechanisms for generating asymmetry; cytoskeletal functions in development. Invited speakers will cover a wide array of systems including worms, flies, plants, and mammals. Attendees are also invited to a banquet held on Tuesday evening, September 25, at the Weisman Art Museum on the Minneapolis campus. For more information visit the Developmental Biology Center Web site.

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Cancer Center Program Meetings

Immunology Program

Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., 6-101 NHH
Speeding immune reconstitution following bone marrow transplantation
Ryan Kelly, graduate student in Blazar Lab

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

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Cancer Biology Research Club

Friday, April 6, 2007, 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., 450 CCRB
Regulation of T cell integrins in the immune response
Jason Mitchell, Ph.D., Shimizu lab

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

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BMT Conference

Monday, April 9, 2007, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB
Umbilical cord blood
Claudio Brunstein, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of HOT, University of Minnesota

For a complete schedule visit the Web site.

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Grant Information and Announcements

Innovations in Biomedical Computational Science and Technology (R01)

(PAR-07-344) Application Receipt Date(s): multiple (see Web site)
The NIH is interested in promoting research and developments in computational science and technology that will support rapid progress in areas of scientific opportunity in biomedical research. As defined here, biomedical computing or biomedical information science and technology includes database design, graphical interfaces, querying approaches, data retrieval, data visualization and manipulation, data integration through the development of integrated analytical tools, and tools for electronic collaboration, as well as computational and mathematical research including the development of structural, functional, integrative, and analytical models and simulations.

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American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant

Deadline: April 16, 2007
Amount: Up to $30,000
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. Applications may be obtained by contacting LeAnn Micek, 612-626-1926, micek003@umn.edu.

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Position Available

Postdoctoral fellow

A postdoctoral fellow position for a Ph.D., M.D. or MD/PhD is available immediately in the Division of Hematology, Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics. The research focus is to develop immune-based therapies of leukemia and hematological malignancies post-chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation. Projects investigate human dendritic cell subsets and their roles in regulating T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity and immune tolerance. Responsibilities include participating in the experimental design, implementation, and evaluation of research projects; collecting and analyzing data; presenting research results at conferences; and publishing first- and co-authored manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Research training in the field of immunology, cancer immunotherapy, and/or molecular biology; with demonstrated excellence of publications in basic or clinical research, is required.

Please send a curriculum vitae and names of three references to: Wei Chen, MD, PhD, Masonic Cancer Center, MMC 806, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 or email: chenw@umn.edu. For more information on the Chen laboratory vist his Web site.

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