December 3, 2010

December 3, 2010

Announcements

Roy Herbst Named Chief of Medical Oncology

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD to the positions of Chief of Medical Oncology and Associate Director for Translational Research at Yale Cancer Center. Roy is best known for his work in developmental therapeutics and the personalized therapy of non-small cell lung cancer, in particular the process of linking genetic abnormalities of cancer cells to novel therapies.

Beginning in March, Roy will lead the section of medical oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, integrating our clinical, laboratory, and research programs to bring new treatments to cancer patients. He is a natural leader and will have a critical role in building our cancer program while mentoring the next generation of cancer doctors at Yale. He joins Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Please join me on Monday, December 6^th at 6:00 PM in the Yale Cushing/Whitney Historical Library for a reception to welcome Roy to Yale Cancer Center. RSVP your attendance to Laura Olson.

2010 American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant Awards

Congratulations to the recipients of a 2010 ACS Institutional Research Grant (ACS-IRG). The ACS-IRGs support innovative work in the broad field of basic, translational, clinical, and prevention/control cancer research. These grants are restricted to investigators who have not already received federal research grant support or a previous ACS-IRG award.

Daniel Boffa, MD, Assistant Professor, Thoracic Surgery

Protein Signature to Predict Outcome After Curative Surgery in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

$34,500

Valentina Greco, PhD, Assistant Professor, Genetics

Stem Cell Regulation During Cancer

$34,500

Richard Kibbey, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Endocrinology and Physiology

The Role of Mitochondrial GTP as a Crucial Metabolic Signal for Cell Proliferation

$34,500

Kathleen McCarty, ScD, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Public Health

Genetic Susceptibility and Epigenetic Changes Associated with Environmental Exposures and Bladder Cancer

$34,500

Tara Sanft, MD, Assistant Professor, Medical Oncology

Delivery of a Survivorship Care Plan to Breast Cancer Patients. A Feasibility Study

$37,500

Stacey Stein, MD, Assistant Professor, Medical Oncology

Incidence of EGFR Activating Mutations in GI Malignancies and Clinical Trial to Test the Efficacy of Erlotinib in Patients Found to have Activating Mutations

$37,500

Postdoctoral Award Winners Announced

Congratulations to the following winners of the 2010 Leslie H. Warner Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards.

Each award is for $42,000 for one year.

Charles Jakobsche, Postdoctoral Associate

Mentor: David Spiegel, MD, PhD, Chemistry

A method to direct the human immune system against metastatic cancer cells

Mingyi Xie, Postdoctoral Associate

Mentor:

Joan Steitz, PhD, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry

A novel microRNA biogenesis pathway in an oncogenic Herpesvirus

Shira Landskroner-Eiger, Postdoctoral Fellow

Mentor:

Bill Sessa, PhD, Pharmacology

The role of endothelial derived miR17~92 in developmental, pathological and tumor angiogenesis

Azeet Narayan, Postdoctoral Associate

Mentor:

Abhijit Patel, MD, PhD, Therapeutic Radiology

Next-generation sequencing for measurement of circulating tumor-derived DNA

Ning Li, Postdoctoral Associate

Mentor:

Warren Shlomchik, PhD, Immunobiology

Dissecting the stalemate between alloreactive T cells and leukemia cells

Notables

Amy O'Malley will begin a new position at Yale Cancer Center on December 20^th as our Human Resources Generalist.

This newly created role reports directly to YCC leadership and to Yale University's human resources department. As we continue to expand our staff, Amy will be a strategic partner with YCC in all aspects of human resources management and available to assist our employees with any employment questions or concerns.

Yale Cancer Center members, M. Tish Knobf and Lyndsay Harris have been awarded a $180,000 Interdisciplinary Research Training in Breast Cancer Disparities Grant. The Susan G Komen for the Cure post-baccalaureate training in disparities grant is designed to recruit, educate, and mentor students from populations affected by disparities in breast cancer outcomes. The goal is to provide early career opportunities in research to understand and explore disparities in breast cancer.

Adomah Opong

and Ismaele Jacques, two graduate nursing students, have been chosen as trainees. They will engage in research that explores factors to help explain differences in African American versus White women with breast cancer based on genomic profiling of tumor characteristics and polymorphisms of CYP2C8/2C9 on treatment toxicity.

The Institute of Medicine, recently released its report recommending daily intake levels of Vitamin D and Calcium.

Susan Mayne, Associate Director for Population Sciences at Yale Cancer Center, is a member of the Food and Nutritional Information Board committee that reviewed the data and set the guidelines after reviewing nearly 1000 published studies.