Grants
Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, director of the OSUCCC and CEO of The James, and E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, have received a five-year National Cancer Institute (NCI) Program Project Grant of approximately $8.4 million (CA163205-01A1) titled “Circumventing Barriers to Effective Oncolytic Virotherapy of Malignant Gliomas.”
Chandan K. Sen, PhD, professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Surgery, director of the Comprehensive Wound Center and of the Center of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Based Therapies, associate dean for translational and applied research in the College of Medicine, and an OSUCCC – James investigator, is co-principal investigator on a five-year, $2.1 million National Institute of Nursing Research grant (NR013898-01) titled “Biofilms and Immunity in Chronic Wounds.”
Sujit Basu, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology and a researcher in the OSUCCC – James Experimental Therapeutics Program, is principal investigator on a five-year, $1.5 million NCI grant (CA169158) titled “Dopamine as a Therapeutic Agent in Stomach Cancer.”
Awards and Honors
John C. Byrd, MD, director, Division of Hematology and professor of Medicine, of Medicinal Chemistry and of Veterinary Biosciences, and the D. Warren Brown Designated Chair in Leukemia Research, has received the Emil J. Freireich Award for clinical cancer research. The award is presented annually by MD Anderson Cancer Center to candidates 55 and younger who have made outstanding contributions to clinical research.
David Carbone, MD, PhD, professor of Medical Oncology and a lung-cancer specialist, has received the Sixth Annual Landon Foundation-AACR Innovator Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research. The honor recognizes meritorious research conducted collaboratively by investigators in different countries.
Carlo Croce, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, and director of Human Cancer Genetics, has been elected to the first class of Fellows of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). Read more. In addition, he has been awarded the Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship by the AACR, which recognizes an individual whose work has had a far-reaching impact on the detection, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of cancer, and who embodies the dedication of Princess Takamatsu of Japan to multinational collaboration.
Leadership Activities and Appointments
Steven Clinton, MD, PhD, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, and leader of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James, has been appointed to serve on the national 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Clinton and 14 other nationally recognized experts were appointed to the committee by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The committee’s recommendations will serve as a basis for the eighth edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published jointly by HHS and USDA.
Trainee Recognition
Parvathi Rangathan, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at the OSUCCC – James, has received a threeyear Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Special Fellow Award of up to $65,000 per year to support her research in the laboratory of Ramiro Garzon, MD, assistant professor of Hematology.
Faculty and Programs
Floor Backes, MD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Her clinical interests include all aspects of gynecologic oncology – minimally invasive and radical surgery as well as chemotherapy. Her research interests include clinical trials, sentinel lymph node mapping, and biomarkers for endometrial cancer treatment and outcomes.
Joseph Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP, associate professor of Internal Medicine, has been named associate physician-in-chief at The James. He is serving as co-director of the Division of Hematology and director of clinical operations within the Division.
Joanna Groden, PhD, professor of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, has been named vice dean for research for Ohio State’s College of Medicine (COM). She succeeds OSUCCC – James investigator CLAY MARSH, MD, who is now vice dean for innovation for the COM.
Christina Liscynesky, MD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor clinical in Ohio State’s Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. Her clinical interests include catheter-related bloodstream infections, immunocompromised hosts and hospital epidemiology.
Vinay K. Puduvalli, MD, has joined the cancer program as a professor and director of the Division of NeuroOncology in Ohio State’s Department of Neurological Surgery. His clinical interests include the use of new therapies for malignant gliomas. His research interests include identifying ways to accelerate tumor-cell death in brain tumors, and nove therapies for malignant gliomas. Puduvalli was recruited from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Robert Stillman, BSN, MA, RN, has joined the cancer program as director of Clinical Informatics. He came to the OSUCCC – James from Trinity Health in Farmington Hills, Mich., where he served as clinical applications manager.
Jennifer Woyach, MD, has joined the cancer program as an assistant professor in Ohio State’s Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology. Her clinical interests include chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and other lymphoid malignancies. Her research interests include experimental therapeutics for CLL and other hematologic malignancies.