January – March 2013
IBGP student
Elizabeth McMichael rotated through the Carson lab this winter. During her rotation Liz completed work on the clinical trial “Enhancement of Cetuximab-Induced Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) with Lenalidomide in Advanced Solid Tumors: A Phase I Study” and presented the unified data to the lab.
Carson Lab undergraduate researcher
Gregory Kemper received an honorable mention at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum for his poster presentation.
Gregory Kemper was awarded the prestigious DAAD RISE (Deutcher Akadmedischer Austausch Dienst [German Academic Exhange Service] Research Interships in Engineering) Internship. Greg will be conducting research in Germany for the summer of 2013 !!
Cristina Jaime-Ramirez successfully defended her thesis, entitled “The NK Cell-mediated Anti-tumor Effects of a Folate-conjugated Immunoglobulin are Enhanced by Cytokines”. Congratulations Dr. Jaime-Ramirez!
Dr. Joseph Markowitz was awarded the highly prestigious Postdoctoral Pelotonia Fellowship Program. This program “provides two-year research fellowships for up to 12 of the brightest and most promising postdoctoral candidates who want to help cure cancer”.
Accrual to
Dr. Carson's investigator-initiated trial of IL-12 and cetuximab in patients with head and neck cancer is continuing at a very successful rate.
September - December 2012
IBGP student Nicholas Chesarino rotated through the Carson lab. During his rotation Nick completed work on the clinical trial “Enhancement of cetuximab-induced Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) with lenalidomide in advanced solid tumors: A phase I study.” Megan Duggan joined the Carson Lab as a collaborator from Dr. Glaser’s lab to work on clinical trials. Dr. Neela Bhave has left the lab for an opportunity as a Clinical research Coordinator in the clinical trials office at OSU. During her 5 years in the Carson Lab, Neela worked on the characterization of the interaction between NK cells and Monocytes as well as the expression of IL-2Ra and IL21R in NK cells. Good luck Neela! The Carson Lab would like to welcome MD/PhD candidate Amanda Harper. Cristina Jaime Ramirez was selected to present her research at the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Annual Retreat.
July and August 2012
Kala Levine joined our group as a research assistant
Taylor Brooks was awarded a Pelatonia Grant to perform undergraduate research on the role of immune suppressor cells in patients with pancreatic cancer
Liz Foust was married on August 11th and has left the lab and moved to Toledo to work at Promedica Hospitals as a Medical Technologist.
Dr. Joseph Markowitz was awarded $10,000 in Seed Funds from the OSU CCC for his project:
Synthesis of inhibitors of myeloid derived suppressor cell function.
Taylor Brooks is presenting a poster on his project at the OSU Undergraduate Student Poster Forum.
May and June 2012
Dr. Prashant Trikha has joined our group as a Research Scientist. He will be investigating mechanisms of immune suppression in the setting of cancer. Welcome Prashant!
Undergraduates Cassandra Skinner, ThaoVi Dao and Jennifer Clark all have graduated from The Ohio State University and will be moving forward with their careers.
ThaoVi Dao and Jennifer Clark were accepted to Wright State Medical School.
Cassandra and Jen passed their honors thesis with flying colors.
Dr. Eric Luedke finished his two year post-doctoral research project and has returned to the wards to complete his residency.
Dr. Luedke's manuscript "Cetuximab Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: Immune Modulation with Interleukin-12 and Other Natural Killer Cell Activating Cytokines" has been accepted to the journal Surgery.
Gregory Kemper and Mary Carson will be volunteering in the laboratory for the summer.
Dr. Sara Martin del Campo won 3rd place at the OSU Department of Surgery Annual Research Conference.
February 2012
Dr. Eric Luedke had a successful presentation of his data on the therapy of Head and Neck cancer with cetuximab and IL-12 at the Society of University Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 16. He fielded all questions with equanimity and aplomb.
IBGP student Ms. Priscilla Do is now rotating through the Carson Lab and she has made great strides in her efforts to stain tumors for various immune suppressor cells.
The next Carson lab meeting will be a special affair to be held in the context of the OSUCCC Annual Scientific meeting.
December 2011
The Carson lab celebrated the accomplishments of 2011 and the graduation of Dr. Bethany Mundy-Bosse at the restaurant "Buca di Beppo" in the Arena District of Downtown Columbus on December 23. A wonderful meal was enjoyed in the famous "Pope Room" - so named for its decorating theme honoring Pope Benedict XVI.
Joining the Carson lab for her honors thesis is Meghan Flannery. Meghan is a junior at Otterbein College.
Ian Landi joined the Carson Lab as an undergraduate volunteer.
Dr. Carson's clinical trial - OSU 11010 / IRB 2011C0019: "A Phase I/II Trial of Cetuximab in Combination with Interleukin-12 Administered to Patients with Unresectable Primary or Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck" is now IRB approved and ready to accrue new patients.
November 2011
November was an auspicious month for the Carson lab as undergraduate researcher Ms. Cassandra Skinner was awarded an OSU Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholarship for $6000 and an Academic Enrichment Grant for $500. IBGP student Juan E. Santiago Torres finished his fall rotation in the Carson lab and successfully presented his work concerning the regulation of the IL-21 receptor on natural killer cells. In addition, Dr. Eric Luedke found that he will be presenting his paper entitled "Cetuximab Therapy In Head And Neck Cancer: Immune Modulation With Interleukin-12" at the 7th Annual Academic Surgical Congress to be held February 14-16, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV. As the saying goes, "What gets presented in Vegas is later published outside of Vegas".
August 2011
Mundy Defends Thesis. Doctoral student Bethany Mundy-Bosse successfully defended her thesis on July 20th, 2011. The title of her thesis was "Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in tumor immunology". Bethany will graduate this summer and participate in the traditional hooding ceremony with Dr. Carson on August 28th.
Jaime-Ramirez Passes Candidacy Exam. Doctoral student Cristina Jaime-Ramirez successfully passed her candidacy examination on July 15th, 2011. The title of her thesis was “Characterization of the anti-tumor effects of a novel folate-immunoglobulin G conjugate.” Cristina is continuing her studies in Dr. Carson’s lab and is currently evaluating the activity of other folate immunoconjugates.
July 2011
Dr. Grignol Wins Surgery Award. Dr. Valerie Grignol won 1st place at the Wright State University Department of Surgery Dan W. Elliott Resident Research Symposium for her presentation of a project entitled "Increased miR-21 activity enhances invasion and directly targets TIMP3 expression in melanoma". Also during her time in the Carson Lab, Dr. Grignol showed that biodegradable microcapsules were capable of releasing the anti-tumor cytokine interferon-alph-2B in a continuous fashion and that this led to a potent anti-tumor effect in a murine melanoma model. Dr. Grignol was supported in Dr. Carson's laboratory by an NIH T32 award.
Bethany Mundy-Bosse Set to Defend. Doctoral student Bethany Mundy-Bosse has completed her thesis entitled "Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in tumor immunology" and will defend it following a public presentation on July 20th, 2011 at 9 am in Starling Loving Hall Room M100. Mrs. Mundy-Bosse recently published her novel work on myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the journal Cancer Research.
Carson Lab Barbeque a Success. Carson lab employees and their families gathered at Dr. Carson's home this past month to enjoy tasty food (thank you Mrs. Carson!), thirst-quenching libations, the bright Ohio sunshine, and a highly competitive game of Dallas Cowboy brand cornhole in celebration of another year of hard work in the pursuit of cancer cures. During the BBQ, Valerie Grignol was honored with the highly prestigious LT Furbrush Award. She also received the OSU Nanotechnology Medal of Honor.