David Largaespada, Ph.D.

Program Leader:
David Largaespada, Ph.D.

Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Research Program members work to understand how mutant genes cause cancer and to test gene therapies. They investigate what occurs inside the cells to trigger cancer and what can be done to stop these processes before cancer begins.

Program News

Ohlfest receives McKnight Land-Grant Professorship
John Ohlfest, Ph.D., is among the 10 University of Minnesota faculty to receive McKnight Land-Grant Professorships for 2010-12. Recipients hold the title of McKnight Land-Grant Professor for two years, and they receive a research grant in each of the two years, summer support, and a research leave in the second year. The winners were chosen for their potential for important contribution to their field; the degree to which their achievements and ideas demonstrate originality, imagination, and innovation; the significance of their research; and the potential for attracting outstanding students. See the Graduate School Web site for more information.

Journal news
Research on testicular teratomas by Vivian Bardwell, Ph.D., and David Zarkower, Ph.D., was published in the December 29, 2009 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read online “The DM domain protein DMRT1 is a dose-sensitive regulator of fetal germ cell proliferation and pluripotency.”  

Subramanian awarded $600,000 for research of role of microRNA in development of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors
Subbaya (Subree) Subramanian, Ph.D., Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Research Program member and assistant professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, was awarded a new 3-year $600,000 grant from the Department of Defense Congressionally Mandated Medical Research Program. The grant will support his research of microRNA gene regulatory networks in peripheral nerve sheath tumors. The aims of Subramanian’s research are 1) to decipher the microRNA-mRNA associations and role in malignant transformation of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors, and 2) to engineer microRNA deregulation in vivo in mice to examine their role in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Anindya Bagchi, Ph.D., and David Largaespada, Ph.D., will collaborate with Subramanian on this project.

National Brain Tumor Society awards Largaespada $558,000 grant, research chair at annual meeting
David Largaespada, Ph.D., program leader, Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Research Program, received a $558,000 grant ($186,000 per year for three years) from the National Brain Tumor Society. The grant was awarded at the organization's annual meeting in September in Arlington, Va. Also at the meeting, Largaespada was awarded the 2009 Seth Harris Feldman Chair of Research for his research on brain tumors using the Sleeping Beauty transposon method.

Largaespada and Cormier receive grant to study colorectal cancer genes
David Largaespada, Ph.D., leader of the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program, and program member Robert Cormier, Ph.D., University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth, are co-principal investigators on a newly-awarded NIH R01 grant "Transposon-based screens for colorectal cancer genes." This grant is based on their recent work that used mouse models and a transposable element called Sleeping Beauty to find genes that can drive colorectal cancer (Starr et al., Science, 2009). They will extend this work to study colorectal cancer in different genetic contexts and to study the function of new genes and pathways in this disease. Their studies demonstrate the power of combining transposon-based mutagenesis research with human studies in identifying the driver mutations that cause cancer. Similar results are accumulating for hepatocellular carcinoma, brain tumors, sarcomas, and several other types of cancer.

Vaccine therapy clinical trial for dogs with brain tumors expanded

Ohlfest receives two grants for brain tumor therapy clinical trials

Basic Science research programs featured in Recognition Program event

U of M cancer researchers discover 32 new genes linked to colorectal and liver cancers

Retreat offers members opportunities for collaborations

U of M College of Veterinary Medicine introduces collaborative cancer program