Ohio State Researcher Is PI for NIH Grant to Address Opioid Epidemic
Rebecca Jackson, MD, director of Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science and a member of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James, is principal investigator (PI) for a $65.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant to address the opioid epidemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the grant in April 2019 as part of more than $350 million committed to the HEALing Communities Study, a National Institute on Drug Abuse initiative. With Jackson as PI, the Ohio State College of Medicine will lead a consortium of academic, state and community partners that aims to reduce overdose deaths by 40% over three years. The project brings together experts from six universities — Ohio State, University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, University of Toledo and Wright State University — and leaders from state agencies and community organizations.
Cervical Cancer Prevention Is Focus of $11 Million NCI Grant
A major public health initiative aimed at preventing cervical cancer in at-risk Appalachian families in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia is underway with support from an $11 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to the OSUCCC – James. Ohio State’s cancer program is collaborating with 10 health systems throughout Appalachian Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia to conduct this research in partnership with the University of Kentucky, West Virginia University and the University of Virginia. Led by Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, associate director for population sciences and leader of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James, this initiative builds on a history of collaborative research and community partnerships. It will focus on reducing the burden of cervical cancer in at-risk Appalachian communities by targeting primary causes of this disease: tobacco smoking, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and lack of cervical cancer screening.
Childhood Cancer Research Team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Awarded $10.2 Million Moonshot Grant
The NCI awarded a $10.2 million Cancer Moonshot grant to researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) in support of multiple ongoing projects led by the Pediatric Ohio-New York Cancer (Peds-ONC) Immunotherapy Center, which includes collaborators at Ohio State, the New York College of Medicine and the University of Minnesota. The multiyear grant will fund an immunotherapy project led by Timothy Cripe, MD, PhD, and Elaine Mardis, PhD, along with a viral oncology project led by Kevin Cassady, MD, and a natural killer (NK) cell efficacy project led by Dean Lee, MD, PhD. Cripe, Mardis and Cassady are in the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, and Lee is in the Leukemia Research Program.
Grant Aims to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening, Follow-Up Care in Appalachia
Cancer control researchers at the OSUCCC – James and the University of Kentucky aim to increase colorectal cancer screening and follow-up care among underserved individuals in Appalachia through a multi-institutional $5.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute. Co-led by Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, of the OSUCCC – James, and Mark Dignan, PhD, MPH, of the University of Kentucky, this study will involve public health partners throughout Appalachia, a geographically unique and underserved area of the United States that spans 32 counties in Ohio and 54 counties in Kentucky. The five-year study will help community health centers and communities select strategies and implement a multi-level intervention to assure higher rates of guideline-recommended colorectal cancer screening, follow-up and referral-to-care among patients of ages 50-74 in their communities and the larger counties.
Study to Test Medically Tailored Meals for Patients With Lung Cancer
Carolyn Presley, MD, MPH, and Colleen Spees, PhD, MEd, RDN, received a three-year, $2.3 million grant funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to conduct a randomized clinical trial evaluating the impact of nutritional counseling and medically tailored meals for patients with lung cancer. The intervention aims to reduce malnutrition and treatment-related toxicity in patients and to improve patient-reported outcomes. The study will take place at the OSUCCC – James, Tufts Medical Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Presley, assistant professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at Ohio State and member of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James, is site principal investigator (PI). Spees, associate professor in the Division of Medical Dietetics & Health Sciences at Ohio State, and a member of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James, is the study PI.
$3.6 Million Cooperative Human Tissue Network Grant Renewed
The NCI awarded a five-year, $3.6 million renewal grant titled “Appalachian and Great Lakes Research Biospecimen Resource (AGL-RBR) of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN)” to principal investigator Anil Parwani, MD, PhD, MBA, a professor, vice chair and director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology at Ohio State. Parwani, a member of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James, says the CHTN grant functions in a regional consortium as the CHTN Midwestern Division with Case Western Reserve University and the University of Pittsburgh to provide human biospecimens to qualified and funded basic and translational researchers.
NCI Grant Will Help Assess New Treatment for Deadly Brain Tumor
The NCI awarded a five-year grant of nearly $2.83 million to help a research team at the OSUCCC – James conduct a clinical trial that will assess a potential new treatment for patients with glioblastoma, a lethal primary brain tumor with limited treatment options. The grant was awarded to a team led by co-principal investigators Vinay Puduvalli, MBBS, professor and director of the Division of Neuro-Oncology at Ohio State and member of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, and Deepa Sampath, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State and member of the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James.
NCI Grant Will Help Researchers Learn How Breastfeeding Protects Against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
The NCI awarded a $2.2 million, five-year grant to help OSUCCC – James researchers led by principal investigator Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy, MD, address cancer disparity by defining the molecular link between breastfeeding and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Ramaswamy, associate professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at Ohio State and member of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, and her colleagues state in their project abstract that African-American women with breast cancer face higher mortality rates due to a greater incidence of aggressive TNBC. The scientists say population studies have linked reduced rates of breastfeeding among black women to this higher TNBC, but the mechanism for this circumstance is unknown. Ramaswamy’s team proposes to define molecular changes that occur in the breasts after pregnancy, determine how a lack of breastfeeding leads to increased risk of TNBC and provide a treatment option for mothers who can’t breastfeed.
Study Will Examine Pain Sensitivity in Patients With Cancer, Alzheimer’s
Todd Monroe, PhD, RN-BC, associate professor in The Ohio State University College of Nursing, will help lead a multisite, five-year, $5 million grant project awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) to advance research on patients with Alzheimer's disease and cancer, and their sensitivity to pain. Titled “Pain Sensitivity and Unpleasantness in People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Cancer,” the study will be performed in partnership with Ronald Cowan, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Vanderbilt University. The research builds on studies by Monroe and colleagues over the past decade.
$2 Million Grant Will Help Ohio State Researchers Study Glioblastoma
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded a $2 million, five-year grant to help Ohio State researchers study glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer with a median survival of only 15 months. Principal investigators are Deliang Guo, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Ohio State, and Department of Radiation Oncology professor and chair Arnab Chakravarti, MD. Both are in the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James. Researchers hope to reveal the role lipid droplets play in the disease, its method of molecular regulation and its therapeutic potential, with the ultimate goal of devising treatment approaches.
Grant Awarded to Pursue Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Targeted Therapy
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a three-year, $1.17 million grant to help OSUCCC – James researchers develop a cell-surface molecule called RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products) as a biomarker and therapeutic target for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Principal investigator is Ramesh Ganju, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Ohio State and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at the OSUCCC – James. Ganju and co-investigators Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy, MD, of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, and Dinesh Ahirwar, PhD, a research scientist in the Department of Pathology at Ohio State, have shown that RAGE is expressed in a panel of aggressive breast cancer cell lines, TNBC and metastatic patient samples. They want to better understand its mechanisms so they can develop targeted therapies.
NCI Renews K-12 Training Grants in Oncology & Immunology
The NCI renewed a K-12 Training in Oncology Grant through June 2024 for William Carson, MD, and John C. Byrd, MD. The grant, which included first-year funding of $809,498, supports mentoring and training of junior faculty investigators in laboratory and/or clinical translational cancer research. The K-12 program at the OSUCCC – James “continues its focus on early drug development but now also extends to cancer prevention, control and survivorship research.” In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) renewed a $1.4 million T32 Tumor Immunology Training Grant for Carson. This grant, which extends through August 2024, will provide continued funding to train postdoctoral researchers for careers in immunologic research. Carson is a professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Ohio State and associate director for clinical research at the OSUCCC – James. Byrd is a Distinguished University Professor in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State and senior director for cancer experimental therapeutics at the OSUCCC – James, where he also co-leads the Leukemia Research Program.