Awards and Honors
Martha Ann Belury, PhD, professor of Human Nutrition, of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, and of Public Health, has been elected an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow for contributions to the field of human nutrition, particularly for elucidating cellular mechanisms of dietary compounds that influence metabolism, inflammation and carcinogenesis.
E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, professor and chair of Ohio State’s Department of Neurological Surgery, and co-leader of the OSUCCC – James Viral Oncology Program, has been named the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus for The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.
Carlo Croce, MD, director of Human Cancer Genetics at Ohio State, has been named to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in medicine. Croce has also received the Association for Molecular Pathology Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics.
Arnab Chakravarti, MD, professor and chair of Radiation Oncology and co-director of the Brain Tumor Program, is part of an international team of investigators that has received the National Brain Tumor Society’s 2011 Award for Clinical Research Excellence. The team was recognized for research identifying methylation of the MGMT gene as a key predictor of outcome in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.
Rebecca Nagy, MS, a certified genetic counselor and assistant professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, has been named president-elect of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. She will move to the role of president in 2013.
Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research, director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, and associate director for Population Sciences at the OSUCCC – James, has received the American Society of Preventive Oncology’s Distinguished Achievement Award for 2012. The award recognizes excellence in research related to cancer prevention and control.
Amy Sturm, MS, certified genetic counselor and assistant professor of clinical internal medicine in the Division of Human Genetics, has received the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ 2011 Outstanding Volunteer Award, which recognizes dedication and significant contributions to the organization.
Christopher Pelloski, MD, associate professor of Radiation Oncology at the OSUCCC – James and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, received a $100,000 Hope Grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels and the Columbus Hyundai Dealers to support a program for pediatric radiation oncology translational research.
Grants
Barbara Andersen, PhD, a professor of Psychology and researcher with the OSUCCC – James Cancer Control Program, has received a $1.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to train mental health professionals in a biobehavioral intervention to help cancer patients cope with the stresses of diagnosis and treatment.
Qianben Wang, PhD, assistant professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, has received a $1.6 million, five-year grant from the NCI to study the regulation of androgen receptor function by H3K4 methylation in prostate cancer.
Faculty and Programs
Virginia Diavoltsis, MD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology. Her clinical and research interests are in thoracic, head and neck, and breast oncology.
Richard M. Goldberg, MD, professor of medicine and a GI medical oncologist, has been named physician-in-chief at the OSUCCC – James. His responsibilities include leading the transition into the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, which opens in 2014.
Charles Shapiro, MD, director of Breast Medical Oncology and professor of Internal Medicine, has been named to lead the breast cancer research program at the OSUCCC – James. He will lead an interdisciplinary team of clinical and research scientists whose sole focus is the study and treatment of breast cancer.
Cynthia Timmers, PhD, has been selected to develop and direct the new OSUCCC – James Solid Tumor Translational Science Shared Resource. The new shared resource will design and develop biomarker and diagnostic assays to support correlative studies associated with early-phase solid-tumor clinical trials.
Terence Williams, MD, PhD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology. His research interests include novel therapeutic methods to radiosensitize cancer cells, identifying biomarkers that predict outcome and response to therapy, and investigating processes that lead to metastasis.
Evan Wuthrick, MD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology. His clinical interests include radiation therapy (RT) for cancers of the GI tract, liver, skin, lung, bladder and prostate. His research interests include early-phase clinical trials; RT and immune-modulatory drugs in melanoma; and RT with novel radiosensitizers, radioprotectors and targeted agents.
Fen Xia, MD, PhD, has joined the cancer program as an associate professor of Radiation Oncology. Her clinical interests include comprehensive brain tumor treatment using intensity modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, brachytherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery. Her research interests include DNA damage repair, mechanisms of resistance and identifying molecular targets to enhance brain tumor treatment.
Ohio State’s Center for Retrovirus Research is granting its 2012 Distinguished Research Career Award to Warner Greene, MD, PhD, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, and professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is well known for research on the molecular biology, immunology and pathogenesis of HIV-1 and HTLV-1.
Ohio State's Medical Center, which includes the OSUCCC – James, completed its conversion to an electronic medical records system, called the Integrated Healthcare Information System, in mid-October
Leadership Activities and Appointments
Robert Bahnson, MD, chief-of-staff at The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, has been installed as first vice president of the American College of Surgeons. Bahnson is professor and chair of the Department of Urology and holds the Dave Longaberger Endowed Chair in Urology.