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Researchers and Staff
May 19, 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
Director's Message
Dear Colleagues:
Great news! The National Cancer Institute has renewed our designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. We received the official notification last week, just a few weeks short of one year after the scrutiny of our scientific and administrative programs by our site visitors last June.
I never had any doubt that our designation would be renewed, and now that we have the official notification, I want to emphasize that our renewed designation is due to you and your efforts. NCI awards the comprehensive designation only to institutions that make ongoing, significant advances in cancer research, treatment, and education. In plainer words, NCI rated our scientific programs and administrative capabilities as excellent because of your knowledge, commitment, and work.
As an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, our Masonic Cancer Center is part of an elite group of 41 cancer centers in the country to hold this top-level designation. We've consistently achieved this designation since first applying for it in 1998. We're the only cancer center in the greater Twin Cities to hold this designation and one of two in Minnesota—Mayo Clinic is the other.
Let's savor this achievement. My congratulations and thanks to every faculty and staff member for making the Masonic Cancer Center the great place it is.
Sincerely,
Douglas Yee, M.D.
Today's Seminar
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 12-1 p.m., 450 MCRB
Genetic approaches to cancer gene discovery
Lara Collier, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Host: David Largaespada, Ph.D.
A peek at the next seminar:
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 12-1 p.m., 450 MCRB
The tissue-specific function of BRCA1: the regulation of progesterone receptors and breast cancer stem cells
Eva Lee, Ph.D., Chancellor's Professor, Departments of Biological Chemistry & Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California-Irvine, School of Medicine
Host: Carol Lange, Ph.D.
For a complete schedule and to watch recorded seminars, visit the Web site.
News
Shared Resources host Spring Poster Session and Symposium
The Masonic Cancer Center's Shared Resources hosted the 10th annual Spring Poster Session and Symposium May 14 in the Masonic Cancer Research Building. The event featured research supported by Shared Resources. This year posters were judged by Masonic Cancer Center leaders. Congratulations to the following people who received awards for their posters: Colleen Evans, Robyn Leary, Keli Hippen, Elizabeth Dickson, Shawn Groth, Mingyao Wang, Rachel Bergerson, Lynn Heltemes Harris, Heather Nelson, Xianzheng Zhou, Chris Valley, and Kristopher Lofgren.
Event photos, a list of oral presenters, and a list of the award winners with their poster titles and award categories are available on the Web site.
Kudos
Congratulations to Jasjit S. Ahluwalia, M.D., M.P.H., Prevention and Etiology Program and associate dean of clinical research on his receipt of the Society of General Internal Medicine's 2009 Herbert W. Nickens Award. The Nickens Award honors an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to cultural diversity in medicine or to improving minority health. Ahluwalia accepted the award at the society's annual meeting in Miami last weekend.
Network outage this weekend
There will be network outages between the hours of 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, May 24th, affecting the Phillips-Wangansteen, Telecommunications, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, and Information Technology buildings. The Masonic Cancer Center Research building should not be affected. Contact the AHC-IS Help Desk, 625-5100 with any issues of concern after that time.
Education and Events
Center for Drug Design Seminar
Wednesday, May 20, 2009. 10:30-11:30 a.m., 2-520 Moos Tower
HIV Integrase Inhibitors
Yves Pommier, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
The 18th Annual Mark E. Nesbit Lectureship in Pediatric Oncology
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 12:15-1:15 p.m., 2-530 Moos Tower
Treatment success in childhood ALL: So far and yet so near
Gregory H. Reaman, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Chair, Children’s Oncology Group
Sponsored by University of Minnesota Pediatric Grand Rounds.
Molecular Therapeutics of Cancer Research Conference
July 19-23, 2009, Stanford University
Co-Sponsored by the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Research Association and Stanford University
The Molecular Therapeutics of Cancer meeting has been reborn. This meeting was held for many years as a Gordon Research Conference. In order to update the format and venue of the meeting, the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Research Association has been created to plan and run this meeting, separate from the GRC. Registration is now open.
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
Tumor Biology and Progression Program Meeting
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 9:15-10:15 a.m., 11-207 Moos Tower
Amplification of the MYC locus in breast cancer: A functional study
Kaylee Schwertfeger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology
and
Anindya Bagchi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development
For a complete schedule visit the Web site.
BMT Program Conference
Monday, May 25, 2009, 1:15-2:15 p.m., 450 MCRB
No meeting due to University holiday.
For a complete schedule, visit the Web site.
Funding News and Opportunities
Internal
2009 Masonic Cancer Center Internal Grant Program applications due
Final application for the 2009 Masonic Cancer Center Internal Grant Program are due Friday, May 22, 2009, 4 p.m. The application, including a signed proposal routing forms, should be submitted as one pdf file to Aaron Schilz, preaward services coordinator, at schil226@umn.edu. Contact Aaron if you have any questions.
AHC Translational Research Grants
Deadline: July 17, 2009
Funding: Up to $200,000 over two to three years
The AHC Translational Research Grant Program supports the translation of research from the bench to the bedside. We anticipate funding 2 grants in 2009. For the purposes of this grant program, translational research is defined as the process of moving basic discoveries through proof-of-concept (e.g., screening systems, animal models of disease, etc.) to clinical trials for the purpose of developing a therapy or diagnostic tool. This grant program requires a pairing of at least two co-investigators, either a basic scientist with a translational researcher or a translational researcher with a clinical researcher, in order to move a project down the translational research continuum to or towards a clinical application. For more information and application instructions, visit the Web site.
External
Pediatric Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Research Grants
William Lawrence & Blanche Hughes Foundation (WLBHF)
Funding: Direct costs: $150,000/year. Upon successfully annual review, may be renewed on a yearly basis for up to 2 subsequent years. Indirect costs: 10% per year.
WLBHF is a non-profit organization whose major goal is to foster discoveries in pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia with a goal of developing effective therapies for the disease. Applicants must either be either an established investigators with an association to an academic institution or must be working closely and part of a lab working with an established investigator. More information and a pdf application.
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.