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Researchers and Staff
March 24 , 2009
Update is sent to Masonic Cancer Center members and staff every Tuesday morning. Please submit items to Sandi Sherman, sherm019@umn.edu, by noon the previous Friday.
In This Issue
Funding News and Opportunities
Today's Seminar
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 12-1 p.m., 450 MCRB
End negotiations: The roles of the Ku heterodimer at telomeres and double strand breaks
Alison Bertuch, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
Host: Eric Hendrickson, Ph.D.
A peek at the next seminar:
Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 12-1 p.m., 450 MCRB
Comparative examination of human T-cell leukemia virus and human immunodeficiency virus: diverse strategies for retrovirus persistence and pathogenesis
David Derse, Ph.D., Head, Retrovirus Gene Expression Section, Senior Investigator, National Cancer Institute
Host: Louis Mansky, Ph.D.
For a complete schedule and to watch recorded seminars, visit the Web site.
News
Members in the news
Timothy Church, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted in the Pioneer Press, Minnesota Public Radio, WCCO Radio, KMSP-TV and KSTP-TV about findings of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial that annual screenings for prostate cancer do not equal fewer deaths from the disease. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Church is the principal investigator for the University of Minnesota's PLCO trial site, which enrolled 17,099 men, making it the largest of 10 sites in the United States. He also is a co-author on the NEJM article. Read more.
Ohlfest receives two grants for brain tumor therapy clinical trials
John Ohlfest, Ph.D., member of the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer and Tumor Biology and Progression programs, has received two grants that will support brain tumor therapy clinical trials. The first, "Immunotherapeutic targeting of brain tumor stem cells: a phase I/II clinical trial," is a $300,000 one-year grant from the Gateway Foundation for Cancer Research, which funds an FDA-approved clinical trial that will begin in 2009 at the University of Minnesota. Patients with recurrent glioma, medulloblastoma, and ependymoma will be vaccinated with Type-1 polarized dendritic cells that have been pulsed with highly immunogenic brain tumor stem cell lysates. The novel aspects of this trial relative to previous vaccines are the use of dendritic cells polarized to prime superior T cell responses, and the source of tumor antigen is grown in hypoxia in stem cell media, which significantly improves the probability of targeting tumor initiating cells that cause disease progression.
The second grant, from the American Cancer Society, is a 4-year grant for $720,000 and will study "The role of NK cells in brain tumor immunotherapy." Since glial tumors have developed several strategies to avoid T cell recognition, these studies will examine the molecular basis for immune escape from T cells and determine the consequence of concurrent NK cell attack on T cell-resistant tumors. The grant culminates in a clinical trial conducted in pet dogs with spontaneous gliomas. Dogs will be treated with the combination of gene therapy (recruits NK cells into tumor) and vaccination that primes a T cell response against the tumor. These studies could have important translational significance, since the use of dogs with naturally occurring tumors can establish the efficacy of this combination therapy as a prelude to human studies.
Education and Events
Cancer Biology Journal Club
Wednesday, March 25, 2009. 12-1 p.m., 114 LHI (KE)
Tucker LeBien, Ph.D., will discuss "The TEL-AML1 leukemia fusion gene dysregulates the TGF-beta pathway in early B lineage progenitor cells," Ford AM, et al., Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2009.
The Cancer Biology Journal Club is held every Wednesday. For more information contact Sonja Johnson (john4368@umn.edu) or Rachel Bergerson (sapl0005@umn.edu).
University Forum Series on Research and Professional Ethics
Monday, March 30, 2009, 4-5:30 p.m., President's Room, Coffman Memorial Union
I want to do clinical research but the FDA wants me to do what?!?
Harvey M. Arbit, PharmD, M.B.A., Director of the IND/IDE Assistance Program, AHC Office of Clinical Research, Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) sponsors the University Forum series to help faculty and investigators meet the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) continuing education Awareness/Discussion requirement. The session is targeted for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students conducting drug trials. For more information and to register, visit the OVPR Web site.
Visit the Upcoming Events Web page for more event listings.
Visit the Professional Education Web page for more conference and special lecture listings.
Program Meetings
Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program Meeting
Thursday, March 26, 2009, 4-5 p.m., 3-110 Moos Tower
MicroRNA expression profiles of human sarcomas
Subree Subramanian, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology
For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.
BMT Program Conference
Monday, March 30, 2009, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 MCRB
Haplo NK (MT2003-23): Palliative care collaboration
Bronwyn Long, D.N.P., R.N., A.C.H.P.N., Palliative Clinical Nurse Specialist, University of Minnesota Medical Center
For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.
Funding News and Opportunities
No funding opportunities were submitted this week.
Visit the Funding News & Opportunities Web page to see listings previously published in Update. Also, a list of organizations that provide funding for cancer research is provided on our Research Funding Resources page.
Employment Opportunities
Research Technician
Research technician position is available in a NIH-funded lab located at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation on the campus of HCMC in downtown Minneapolis. The laboratory studies liver regeneration and carcinogenesis, cell cycle control, and metabolism. Please contact Jeffrey Albrecht, M.D., albre010@umn.edu.
For more information about these positions and additional opportunities visit the Employment Opportunities Web page