Croce is Recipient of International Carcinogenesis Award
Carlo Croce, MD, director of Human Cancer Genetics at Ohio State, where he also chairs the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, received the 2012 Anthony Dipple Carcinogenesis Award at the 22nd meeting of the European Association for Cancer Research in Barcelona, Spain. The award, sponsored by Oxford University Press, is given to individuals who have made major contributions to research in carcinogenesis. Croce also is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, and the Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL in Italy. He is principal investigator on 11 federal research grants and has published more than 900 peer-reviewed research papers.
Gillison Lands Rosenthal Memorial Award for HPV Work in Cancer
Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, a member of the Cancer Control and Viral Oncology programs at the OSUCCC – James, received the 36th Annual Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Gillison accepted the award at the AACR’s annual meeting in Chicago. The award recognizes her contributions to understanding the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck cancers. As recipient, Gillison presented “Clinical Implications of HPV in Head and Neck Cancers” at the annual meeting.
Caligiuri Elected Vice President of Society for Natural Immunity
Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, director of the OSUCCC and CEO of The James, was elected vice president of the Society for Natural Immunity (SNI) in April 2012 at its 13th meeting. Caligiuri will serve in that capacity for three years and then become president for another three years. SNI meets every 18 months at sites around the world so investigators and trainees can hear about recent findings in the field of natural immunity. The focus is on natural killer (NK) cells, but related fields are included. The sessions blend basic science with clinical studies and advances.
OSUCCC – James Researchers Gain Multiple Honors at Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Meeting
Three renowned researchers at the OSUCCC – James were honored with awards or lectureships at the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology annual meeting in Chicago:
Richard Goldberg, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist and physician-in-chief, presented “Meaningful Outcomes: Lives Saved Due To Clinical Trials in Early-Stage Colon Cancer” as the first Charles G. Moertel Lecture, which was held during the plenary session of the Alliance’s meeting. It was the first Moertel lecture given through the newly formed Alliance, a cooperative group created by merging the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) and the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. This clinical research entity is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. NCCTG initiated the lectureship in 1995 and transferred it to the Alliance after the merger.
Clara D. Bloomfield, MD, a Distinguished University Professor who also serves as cancer scholar and senior adviser to the OSUCCC – James, received the 2012 Richard L. Schilsky Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Achievement Award. The award, which acknowledges individual contributions to cooperative group research, is presented annually during the plenary session of the Alliance Group Meeting, where Bloomfield presented a summary of her research done in collaboration with CALGB. In the past 20 years, Bloomfield and colleagues have conducted pioneering research on molecular changes in the approximately 45 percent of acute myeloid leukemia patients with cytogenetically normal chromosomes. Most of her talk focused on this work.
Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, associate director for population sciences at the OSUCCC – James, presented the 12th annual Jimmie Holland Lecture. Paskett, who also leads the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James, presented “Interventions to Address Cancer Health Disparities: The Case of Cervical Cancer in Appalachia.” She discussed methods to eliminate cancer health disparities, including community-based participatory research with transdisciplinary teams using multilevel interventions. She also reviewed past and current research projects in Ohio State’s Center for Population Health and Health Disparities that she leads in Appalachia Ohio.
‘Topping Out’ is Symbolic Milestone for New James Cancer Hospital
The final steel beam for completing the 21-story structure of Ohio State’s new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute was set in place at a May 21 “topping out” ceremony attended by hundreds of enthusiastic observers. This new hospital – the centerpiece of a $1.1 billion Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Expansion – is designed around a visionary construction model that integrates spaces for research, education and patient care, placing researchers and clinicians in closer working proximity so they can translate more discoveries to innovative care. Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, director of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of The James, says the hospital, when finished in 2014, will break down walls that historically have divided researchers and clinicians.
‘Build Out’ of Tower Floors Provides More Cancer Research Lab Space
2012 saw the “build out” of the previously unfinished fourth and fifth floors in Ohio State’s Biomedical Research Tower to provide an additional 64,000 square feet of lab space for OSUCCC – James investigators (32,000 gross square feet per floor). The fourth-floor “build out” was supported by an $8 million Extramural Research Facilities Improvement Program Construction Grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grant was awarded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Research Resources based on an application submitted by Michael Grever, MD, and others. This floor houses labs for researchers in the Experimental Therapeutics Program. The fifth-floor project, supported in part by philanthropic revenue, houses labs that support the cancer program’s commitment to expanding solid tumor basic and genetic research.
Drug Development Institute Boosting Clinical Research
The new Ohio State Drug Development Institute – a collaboration among the OSUCCC – James and the colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy and Business – is creating a cancer drug development pipeline to take promising new compounds through phase II clinical trials. Timothy Wright, director of the Drug Development Institute, says the endeavor holds great potential to benefit cancer patients in Ohio and beyond. Wright says his role is to facilitate the work of the nearly 300 cancer researchers at the OSUCCC – James and to work with Ohio State’s Technology Commercialization Office “to optimize value from our research inventions.” He notes that two targeted agents invented by OSUCCC – James investigators are already in early-phase clinical trials, and more “are in the pipeline.”
Nursing Unveils New Professional Practice Model
OSUCCC – James Nursing unveiled a Nursing Professional Practice Model (PPM) that “artistically portrays how our vision, mission and values come to life.” Nursing leaders say the PPM, inspired by the ancient mandala (see image, right), affirms a sense of professionalism and commitment to excellence; guides practice and depicts how James nurses contribute to the hospital’s patient care, education and research mission; and supports the OSUCCC – James vision of creating a cancer-free world. The PPM, which evolved through a grassroots approach that involved nurses in all roles, contains five core components: Leadership and Governance; Patient Care; Innovation and Research; Professional Relationships; Development and Recognition.
Pelotonia Raises More Than $42 Million in 4 Years
Riders and donors in Pelotonia 12, the annual grassroots bicycle tour that generates money for cancer research at the OSUCCC – James, raised a record $16.8 million, a 28-percent increase over the Pelotonia 11 total of $13.1 million. That brings the four-year fundraising total for Pelotonia, which began in 2009, to more than $42 million. Pelotonia 12, which took place Aug. 10-12 on routes between Columbus and Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, drew a record 6,212 riders, as well as 3,141 virtual riders and more than 2,000 volunteers. Among the participants were a record 1,635 members of Team Buckeye, the official superpeloton (riding group) for The Ohio State University – a team that included 1,198 riders, 336 virtual riders and 101 volunteers. Team Buckeye comprised 84 separate pelotons, whose members collectively raised more than $2.1 million of the Pelotonia 12 total.