Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

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Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota

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 Seminar

News

Education and Events

Program Meetings

Funding News and Opportunities


Today's Seminar

Tuesday, April 22, 2007, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
Gene therapy for cancer
Savio Lau-Ching Woo, Ph.D., Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Gene Therapy and Molecular Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Host: Masato Yamamoto, Ph.D.

A peek at next week's seminar:
Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 12-1 p.m., 450 CCRB
miRNA biogenesis and function in mammalian cells
Yan Zeng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota

Host: Xianzheng Zhou, M.D., Ph.D.

Visit the Cancer Center Seminar Series calendar for a complete schedule of lectures.

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News

Please change your email signature and voice mail message
If you have the Masonic Cancer Center listed in your email signature and/or your voice mail message, please change it to Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. Instructions on changing email signatures are available on the Web site (Outlook-PDF, Thunderbird-PDF). If you need instructions for other e-mail clients, contact AHC help, 612-251-5100, Ahc-is@umn.edu.

Register your poster by April 25 for the Spring Poster Session and Symposium
The deadline to register your poster or oral presentation for the Spring Poster Session and Symposium sponsored by the Shared Resources is Friday, April 25. Visit the Web site to register online.

Masonic Cancer Center welcomes Robert Milius
Robert Milius, Ph.D., former assistant director of the Academic Health Center's Center for Biomedical Research Informatics, has joined the Biostatistics and Informatics Core as caBIG™ Deployment Lead. The National Cancer Institute's caBIG™ Program aims to develop and deploy informatics capabilities to facilitate seamless collaborative research within and across sites that conduct cancer research and thereby speed and enhance our understanding and treatment of cancer. Milius will serve as the local, on-site expert for caBIG™ standards, technologies, research tools and applications and provide leadership and coordination within our cancer center and the University to ensure broad and appropriate integration of these resources into our environment. In this new position, Milius' early goals will be to work with the Masonic Cancer Center's investigators, Biostatistics and Informatics core leaders and staff, other core leaders, Clinical Trials Office leaders, and cancer center administration to identify fruitful application foci for caBIG™ tools and resources.

Farewell to Mary Schultze
Mary Schultze, executive assistant in the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, will retire April 28 following 30 years of service to the University. Schultze's University career started in 1975 in the Medicine Clinic. Mary worked in the University of Minnesota Hospital's Patient Relations department from 1977 to 1983 and Home Health department from 1983 until 1995. She has been in her current position since 1998. Mary's work as the primary liaison between the Children's Cancer Research Fund and the Masonic Cancer Center was recognized in 2006 with a Butterfly Award. We thank her for her contributions and wish her well.

Web address changes
Please note some new Web addresses related to recent name changes in research programs and shared resources. The old addresses will automatically route to the new addresses.

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Education and Events

Cancer Biology Journal Club
Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 12-1 p.m., 2-120 Moos Tower
Eric Rahrmann, Largaespada labe, will discuss " Elevated tRNAiMet synthesis can drive cell proliferation and oncogenic transformation," Cell 2008;133:78-89.

The Cancer Biology Journal Club is held every Wednesday. For more information contact Sonja Johnson (john4368@umn.edu) or Rachel Bergerson (sapl0005@umn.edu).

Faculty candidate seminar
Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 4-5 p.m., room 1-450 Moos Tower (below Java City)
Reducing cancer-related health disparities among African Americans: A line of tobacco research and future directions
Monica Webb, Ph.D., M.A., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University

Dr. Webb is a faculty candidate for the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Medical School's Program in Health Disparities Research.

Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases conference
Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 4 p.m., 450 CCRB
Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome
Heather Stefanski, M.D., Fellow, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT

Children's Cancer Research Fund Social Butterfly
Friday, April 25, 2008, 7-11:30 p.m., VIP post party 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m., epic, Minneapolis
Buy your tickets now for one of the Twin Cities' hottest cocktail parties of the year—the fifth annual Social Butterfly. Enjoy a hot dance atmosphere fueled by Kill tha DJ, plentiful hors d'oeuvres from Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events and D'Amico, as well as cocktails, cash bars, raffle drawings, and socializing with local celebrities. Proceeds benefit Care Partners, a Children's Cancer Research Fund quality-of-life program for pediatric cancer patients and their families at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. Order your tickets at ChildrensCancer.org.

Dermatology Research Day
Friday, April 25, 2008, 1:30 p.m., 2-620 Moos Tower
1:30-2:30 p.m.: Seminar
Immune system influences on cancer development and progression
Dr. Michael Girardi, Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology, Yale University

A reception and poster viewing session will follow in the Dermatology Library, 4-274 PWB

Host: Dan Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D.

Spring Poster Session and Symposium
 Thursday, May 15, 2008, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Cancer Center Research Building
The Ninth Annual Spring Poster Session and Symposium sponsored by the Masonic Cancer Center's Core Facilities will include oral presentations from 11 a.m. to noon followed by a poster session and lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. Students, staff, post-docs and PIs are invited to participate by presenting a poster. The research presented in the poster must include the use of a cores facility.

To register, visit the Web site. The final registration deadline is April 25, 2008. For more information, call Sabine Fritz at 624-7151 or send an e-mail to fritz017@umn.edu.

2008 Time to Fly™ Team Challenge—Join Gopher Kids Cancer Research team

Join team Gopher Kids Cancer Research Saturday, June 28, 8:00 a.m. at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul in the race against childhood cancer at the Time to Fly™ Walk/Run. Time to Fly™is a family-friendly event benefiting Children’s Cancer Research Fund in its efforts to eradicate childhood cancer. Our team can be comprised of anyone from co-workers to family and friends. Team members can participate in a 5K Walk, 5K or 10K Run, or a1K Kids' Fun Run.

Our team will have the opportunity to win great prizes for most participants and most money raised. To find out more about Time to Fly™, visit CCRF Time to Fly Event. To register or contribute go to Gopher Kids Cancer Research and click on the join or support buttons to get started. If you have questions, please contact Kim Johnson at john5713@umn.edu or at 612-626-6426.

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Program Meetings

Women's Cancer Interest Group
Thursday, April 24, 2008, 10 a.m., 450 CCRB
Tubulysins: Tubulin polymerization inhibitors for multidrug-resistant cancers
Robert Fecik, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Minnesota

For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.

Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program Seminar
Thursday, April 24, 2008, 4-5 p.m., 3-110 Moos Tower
DNA-PK links strange bedfellows: DNA repair, DNA recombination, telomeres and gene therapy
Eric Hendrickson, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.

Cancer Biology Research Club
Friday, April 25, 2008Meeting canceled.

For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.

BMT Conference
Monday, April 28, 2008, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 CCRB
Updates on cord blood transplantation
Claudio Brunstein, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine/HOT

For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.

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Funding News and Opportunities

The V Foundation Scholar Award
The V Foundation for Cancer Research
Application Receipt Date: June 30, 2008
Funding: $100,000 over 2 years.
Funding is available to pursue cancer research for applicants who have not yet secured their own R01 funding. The University may submit one application. The candidate must have completed at least two years of fellowship training, with no more than five years passing since joining the faculty as instructor or assistant professor.

Minnesota Future Grants Program
The Minnesota Future Grants Program is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President for Research and is designed to foster new pathways of interdisciplinary research. Three awards, providing up to $25,000 each to support a symposium, will be offered during phase one of the program. For details, visit the OVPR Web site.

NIH Announcements:

In Utero Exposure to Bioactive Food Components and Mammary Cancer Risk
(PA-08-140) - R01
(PA-08-141) - R21
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): NIH Mechanism Deadlines
Funding: Standard R01 and R21 limits apply
This Funding Opportunity Announcement encourages innovative preclinical research applications that will enhance the understanding of the relationship between exposure(s) to bioactive food components and/or environmental chemicals in utero, hormonal and growth-factor response, gene expression or epigenetic changes, and subsequent mammary cancer risk in preclinical models.

Mitochondria in Cancer Epidemiology, Detection, Diagnosis and Prognosis
(PA-08-143) - R01
(PA-08-144) - R21
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): NIH Mechanism Deadlines
Funding: Standard R01 and R21 limits apply
This funding opportunity announcement encourages applications that propose to develop and validate new mitochondrial-related biomarkers for cancer early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, risk assessment, and response to preventive and ameliorative treatments.

Quick-Trials for Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions: Exploratory Grants (R21)
(PAR-08-147)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement
Funding: 2 years, $500,000 (no more than $250,000 per year)
This Funding Opportunity Announcement is intended to support clinical trials conducting preliminary evaluation of the safety and efficacy of imaging agents, as well as an assessment of imaging systems, image processing, image-guided therapy, contrast kinetic modeling, and 3-D reconstruction and other quantitative tools. The rapid translation of promising discoveries in the fields of imaging probes, methodologies, technologies and image-guided therapies to clinical practice requires timely support. This FOA will provide investigators with support for either pilot (Phase I and II) cancer clinical trials, or patient monitoring and laboratory studies.

NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13/U13)
(PA-08-149)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): NIH Mechanism Deadlines
Funding: Varies by proposal
The purpose of the NIH Research Conference Grant Program (R13 and U13) is to support high quality conferences/scientific meetings that are relevant to the scientific mission of the NIH and to the public health. A conference/scientific meeting is defined as a gathering, symposium, seminar, scientific meeting, workshop or any other organized, formal meeting where persons assemble to coordinate, exchange, and disseminate information or to explore or clarify a defined subject, problem, or area of knowledge.  Each NIH Institute and Center (IC) has a scientific purview and different program goals and initiatives that evolve over time.

Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24)
(PA-08-151)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.
Funding: Varies by proposal (funds available for salary, fringe, and $50,000 research development costs)
The purpose of the Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research is to provide support to mid-career health-professional doctorates or equivalent who are typically at the Associate Professor level or the equivalent (see Section III. Eligible Individuals) for protected time to devote to patient-oriented research (POR) and to act as research mentors primarily for clinical residents, clinical fellows and/or junior clinical faculty. The intent of this award is two-fold: 1) to enable mid-career clinician scientists to devote more time and to augment their capabilities in patient-oriented research; and 2) to enable mid-career clinical scientists to mentor new clinical investigators in the conduct of patient-oriented research.

Visit the Funding News & Opportunities Web page to see listings previously published in Update.

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